Modernist Politician

History and Politics Service, Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), Reza Mokhtari Esfahani – History Graduate and Document Researcher: Accusations such as political mediator or broker, future leader of the Azali Bábis, political vacillation, and similar political and ideological charges have been leveled against Yahya Dolatabadi. However, his record reveals him to be a constitutionalist intellectual and an activist for modern education in Iran. Dolatabadi is also one of the narrators of the Constitutional Revolution’s history. Being in contact with many constitutionalists and political figures, he offers different accounts of the behind-the-scenes and details of certain events.

Therefore, the book ‘Hayat-e Yahya’ is not merely a memoir and autobiography. In this book, besides detailing his own life and that of his family, Dolatabadi also offers a precise view of important events, albeit from his own perspective. As he wrote in the introduction to his book, he sought to confront ‘history-makers’ by writing his memoirs: “Some scoundrels and oppressors have sought to conceal truths under the shadow of force and wealth, and with the pens of jesters, to present their actions as virtues, thereby making history. But it is clear that such books are not allowed by time, especially after their author’s death, to enter the realm of knowledge, and the hand of nature’s power will soon erase and destroy them.”

Reza Mokhtari Esfahani