Bijan Jazani

Bijan Jazani (Persian: بیژن جَزنی, also spelled "Bizhan Jazani"; 9 January 1938, in Tehran – 19 April 1975) was an Iranian political activist and a significant figure among modern Iranian Socialist intellectuals.

A Marxist theorist, Jazani was one of the founders of the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas.

Bijan Jazani was born to Hossien Jazani (حسین جزنی) and Alamtaj Kalantari Nazari (عالمتاج کلانتری نظری).

He was born into a political family, and his parents' families, separately, began participating in the Tudeh Party during a period of political freedom that started from Reza Shah's exile until Mohammed Mossadegh's overthrow.

The children of these two families became attracted to and then joined the Tudeh youth party.

Their activities at the party grew, and they later gained important responsibilities.

His father, a military officer, joined the Tudeh party in 1945.

His mother, Alamtaj Kalantari, was a Women's Tudeh party member.

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In 1947, when Bijan Jazani was nine years old, his father joined the Azerbaijani Democrat Party.

Jazani, alongside his uncle, who was two years older than he was, joined the Tudeh Youth Organization in 1948 at the age of 10.

After the Tudeh party became illegal on February 4, 1949, Jazani continued participation in the youth party.

He was then chosen as the messenger of the youth organization because of his young age and family background.

The success of the company led to the creation of the Nabl Film Institution (موسسه نبلی فیلم) in the late 1950s.

The company developed TV advertising in Iran and gave financial stability to Jazani.

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But the hidden activities of the Tudeh party and the affiliated organizations did not last long, and from 1951, the activities slowly became semi-transparent.

In addition to this, the leaders of the Tudeh and the youth organization created the "Iranians in Favour of Peace", "National Organization in the Struggle against the Anglo-Iranian Oil Corporation", "Democratic Youth Organizations", and the "Student Organization of Tehran".

Jazani began his activities in the "Student Organization of Tehran" in 1951–1952 and was initially responsible for a small group.

He began a gym in 1951, which helped students and developed into a place for recruiting members into the youth organization.

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In 1953 he became semi-responsible for this organization.

He was also active in the circulation and sale of student newspapers.

These activities continued—except in a short two-month period with the death of his sister Manijeh (منیژه)—until the coup d'état of August 19, 1953 (٢٨ مرداد سال ١٣٣٢).

Jazani was arrested in December 1953 because of his political activities but gave the name Hossein Mahmoodi (حسین محمودی) to the court and, after three months in prison at a military court, was released under bond.

In the fall of the same year, he was summoned concerning the incident of December 1953 and served a 6-month prison term.

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After release from prison, he focused on family while keeping true to his political views.

He wasn't allowed back to high school, so he joined the art school of Kamal-ol-Molk.

He created the Persepolis Advertising Company (کانون اگهی پرسپولیس) with the help of a friend.

The company advertised in the form of paintings for local merchants.

Jazani drew the paintings, leaving the business side to his friend.

He continued his political activities but was arrested in May 1954 at an organization gathering—disguised under a wedding ceremony—and again gave a false name and was released under bond.

In 1959, with his company making enough money, he returned to his studies and received his diploma.

In the same year, with the fall of Pishevari, his father left for the Soviet Union and remained there until 1967.

For this reason, Alamtaj Kalantari took Bijan Jazani and his sisters to her parent's home.

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This period had a significant impact on the future political life of Jazani.

He lived in a household whose members had a professional role in the Tudeh party.

During this time, his mother expanded her activities in the women's Tudeh party.