Soleiman Haim

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Soleiman Haim (1897-1970) was an Iranian Jew and one of the first dictionary writers of the Persian language.

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[edit] Life

He was born in Tehran, where he spent all his life and edited the most popular dictionaries-- English to Persian and also Persian to English dictionary--which still after 36 years from his death are continuously reprinted in Iran. He started his education in a Maktabkhaneh (traditional type of elementary school prevalent in Iran in the 19th century). Later on he was able to continue his education at American high school (later renamed the American college, and yet later Alborz High School), which was run by a group of American missionaries under the supervision of legendary Dr. Jordan. At the college, young Soleiman excelled in English, Persian literature and music. He then started to teach English in 1915 at American College. Soon after, he began working on the first ever series of bilingual dictionaries printed in Persian; a task that earned him the pseudonym "Word Master." Later he switched to translation. He is known to have worked for the Iranian Ministry of Finance for a number of years as a translator to Dr. Arthur Millspaugh, an American adviser to Iranian government on fiscal metters.

He then moved on to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, where he headed the translation bureau until his retirement. His first published work (1928) is a play, entitled Yusef va Zoleikha, based on the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, Zelicha, from the Old Testament. Haim wrote this play to be performed by the students of Alliance school. His first reference work, the new English-Persian Dictionary, in two volumes, was published in the years 1929-31. This was later substituted by the larger English-Persian dictionary, and never reprinted.

He was knowledgeable in French language and Hebrew language as well as English and Persian, therefore he wrote and edited his series of Bilingual Dictionories from [French to Persian] and [Persian to French], and from [Hebrew to Persian] and [Persian to Hebrew]. He also wrote A compilation of Persian proverbs and their English equivalents with the name "A book of collected poems". He is the author of three plays too: "Esther and Mordecai", "Ruth and Naomi", "Yüsuf o Zulaykhä".

Other than writing these plays and composing their music, Haim also directed and performed in them. Soleiman Haim died in 1969 at the age of 82, with many projects left incomplete. Dariush Haim, Davood Adhami, Jahanguir Banayan, and Manouchehr Amiri have each written about their personal memories of Haim.

[edit] Books

His first published work is a 1928 play, entitled Yusef-O Zoleikha, based on the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife from the Old Testament. Haim wrote this play to be performed by the students of Alliance school. His first reference work, the new English-Persian Dictionary, in two volumes, was published in the years 1929-1931. This was later replaced by the larger English-Persian dictionary, and never reprinted.

Below is a list of Haim’s English-Persian and Persian-English dictionaries:

  • The larger English-Persian dictionary, first published 1933,revised 1945, reissused in one volume and two volumes subsequently, rejuvenated and freshly typeset 1997.
  • The One-volume Persian-English Dictionary, first published 1952.reprinted many times subsequently, freshly typeset and rejuvenated 1995.
  • The One-Volume English-Persian dictionary first published 1954.Reprinted many times subsequently.
  • The shorter English-Persian Dictionary first published 1956, revised 1962, reprinted several times subsequently, revised once again 1994.
  • The Shorter Persian-English Dictionary, first published 1957, reprinted several times subsequently, freshly typeset and reformatted 1996.

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