Mohammad Ali Behmani has passed away
According to Cinamadrame, Abbas Sajadi, the spokesperson for the committee monitoring the health of Professor Mohammad Ali Behmani, has announced the poet’s passing.
Despite the doctors’ efforts to stabilize his condition through heart resuscitation, the two attempts were unsuccessful, and Professor Mohammad Ali Behmani passed away around 11 PM on Friday, September 9th.
It is important to note that the details of the memorial ceremony for this prominent contemporary poet in Tehran and his burial in Bandar Abbas will be announced in subsequent notifications.
Mohammad Ali Behmani had been hospitalized in the ICU in late June 2024 following a stroke, and doctors had reported that he had lost the ability to speak. However, his condition had improved in the following days, and he regained his speech. Unfortunately, on the night of Thursday, August 31, 2024, after another brain hemorrhage, his health worsened.
Behmani, a poet and ghazal writer, was born in 1942 in Dezful. Fereydoun Moshiri was the first to recognize his poetic abilities, and Behmani wrote his first poem at the age of 10 for his mother, which was published in the magazine Roshanghkar in 1952.
Behmani began his career with radio in 1966 and collaborated on the poetry program Safhe-ye She’r with the Khaleej Fars provincial network. He moved to Bandar Abbas in 1973 and returned to Tehran after the revolution, eventually returning to Bandar Abbas in 1984, where he remained.
He was one of the most influential and talented lyricists of his time, having collaborated with numerous musicians, including the late Nasser Abdolahi.
His first collection, Bagh-e Lal (The Silent Garden), was published by Bamdad Publications in 1972, followed by many other works reaching a wide audience. Two of his most famous collections, Gahi Delam Baraye Khodam Tang Mishavad and Sha’er Sheneedani Ast, have even reached their 10th edition. In 1999, Behmani was named a distinguished ghazal poet of the country, and in 2006, he won the first Poetry Fajr Festival award alongside Hussein Manzavi in the classical poetry section, later being named one of the Eternal Faces of Poetry.
Among Behmani’s works, Gahi Delam Baraye Khodam Tang Mishavad is a key influence on the growth of contemporary ghazal. His poems often explore themes of love. Many believe that his ghazals are influenced by the style and approach of Nima Yushij.
As he himself said, “My body is ghazal, but my soul is entirely Nimaist. In the mirror, this fusion creates a captivating face.”
