Ahmad Samiei Gilani: A man who has lived in three centuries

Ahmad Samiei Gilani

By Alireza Bahrami

TEHRAN: A cultural figure lives in Iran who has lived in 3 consecutive centuries.

Ahmad Samiei Gilani is the most famous editor in Iran and whose life span was in the 13th, 14th and 15th solar centuries (Iranian calendar).

He was born on January 31, 1921, while there were about 7 weeks left to the end of the solar year 1299, in a city in the north of Iran. Accordingly, he spent a few weeks of the 13th solar century in his infancy.

Samiei has experienced the entire 14th century in his childhood, adolescence, youth, middle age and old age and has been living in the new Iranian century (1401) since about seven months ago.

He sees the secret for his longevity in the fact that he has never held a grudge against anyone, and as a result he has not been harmed.

Samiei Gilani, who has translated many books into Persian and is a master of editing, says he was not very creative and only tried to be a good receiver and transmitter.

He also believes that he is not a good editor either, because he interferes too much in other people’s work; But he has no choice, because he cannot control himself not to seek the best.

This Iranian translator and editor, who passed away last year, celebrated his centenary in a ceremony at the Persian Language and Literature Academy.

Another important feature is that he recalls the memories of several decades ago in detail, and in this sense, he is an accurate historical source in the field. Iranian culture.

Another interesting thing about him is that he was more than 40 years old when he started editing and he was more than 45 years old when his first book was published.

In these years, he has worked in the most important publishing houses and encyclopedias in Iran and he is highly respected by his colleagues and students.