Simin Daneshvar

Simin Daneshvar was born in Shiraz into a cultured family and earned a doctorate in Persian literature from the University of Tehran in 1949, later studying creative writing at Stanford University under Wallace Stegner. Returning to Iran, she became the first female professor of art history at the University of Tehran and married the celebrated social critic Jalal Al-e-Ahmad.

In 1969, Daneshvar published Savushun, a landmark historical novel set in Allied-occupied Shiraz during World War II, narrated through the eyes of Zari, a courageous wife and mother. Translated into seventeen languages, Savushun became the best-selling novel in modern Iranian history, establishing Daneshvar as the matriarch of modern Persian fiction.