Hooman Majd

Hooman Majd
Occupation Writer/Journalist

Hooman Majd, born 1957 in Tehran, is currently an Iranian-American journalist and author based in New York City, from where he makes frequest trips to Iran. Raised in a family involved in the diplomatic service, he attended boarding schools in England, and finished his college education in the United States of America.

His maternal grandfather was the Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Assar (1885-1975), who had been born in village Iraq "to an Iraqi mother and a Persian father". The Ayatollah, along with other contemporary ulema, overcame traditional opposition to serve as a professor of philosophy at the University of Tehran.[1] His own father, whose origins were in village Iran, became representative of a "middle class" that was "pro-democratic and pro-modernization".[2]

As a contributor to periodicals, Majd has written for GQ, The New York Times, The New Republic, The New Yorker, Salon, the New York Observer, and Interview, where he is also a contributing editor. Two of his books have been published:

Majd has also served as "an advisor and translator... on their trips to the United States and the United Nations" for two Iranian presidents:[3] the reforming, internationally oriented Seyed Mohammad Khatami (1997-2001, 2001-2005); and, the establishment nationalist and populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2009, 2009-present).

Evidently, following the controversial 2009 election in Iran, Majd continues to enjoy access to its politicians and officials, especially to former President Khatami. Admittedlly "emotionally invested in the politics of the country", a stated goal of the author is to shed light on the elusive "truth about Iran" that is fair for all of its people.[4]

References

  1. ^ Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Iranian Intellectuals and the West. The tormented triumph of nationalism (University of Syracuse 1996) at 95, 188-189.
  2. ^ Majd, The Ayatollahs' Democracy (2010): the Ayatollah at 89, his own father at 90-91. The Ayatollah's son Nassir Assar (born 1926), Majd's uncle, incurred controversy and later personal danger due to his appointment under the Shah as "deputy prime minister in charge of Oghaf" (an Iranian waqf [religious endowment]). Ibid. at 89-90. Apparently the expatriot singer and author Shusha Guppy (1935-2008), a daughter of the same Ayatollah, was his aunt.
  3. ^ "Hooman Majd". Huffington Post. 2008. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hooman-majd. Retrieved 2008-11-03. "Hooman Majd is a writer based in New York. He has written for GQ, the New York Times, The New Yorker, the New York Observer, Salon and is a contributing editor at Interview. He often writes on Iranian affairs, and travels regularly to Iran. He has also served as an advisor and translator for two Iranian presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on their trips to the United States and the United Nations, and has written about those experiences." 
  4. ^ Majd, The Ayatollahs' Democracy (2010): author's goals, at 44-46; Khatami, at 6, 14, 24-25, 34, etc.

External links

Iran portal
Biography portal