An Iranian writer and political thinker. Ali Jamalzadeh was often described as 'father of modern Persian fiction'. He certainly made a success of the genre, and his style was widely emulated. He addressed himself to the daily problems of the urban poor and the peasantry. He was a prominent activist in the parliamentary reform movement of the first two decades of this century. This was largely due to the execution of his father by penultimate, Russian-backed Qajar monarch, Shah Muhammad-Ali in the civil war of 1905-11. Almost all his adult life Ali jamalzadeh spent in Europe. In Germany Ali Jamalzadeh fell under the influence of such Iranian intellectuals as Hassan Taghizadeh, and concluded that one of the reasons for the widespread illiteracy of his fellow countrymen was the preference of their educated elite to write only for one another, 'whereas in the civilised countries even great thinkers write their works in as simple a language as possible'. He wrote Yekki Bood, Yekki Nabood (One person Was, One Person Was Not) the title being the traditional opening of Persian fairytales. He launched on his prolific career as writer of short stories, novels, political tracts and histories. His satirical novel Dar ul Majanin was followed by his novel Qualtashan e Davin in 1946. Other works included Rah Ye Ab Nama, Sar U Tah Ye Yak Karbas Ya Eseahan Namah. He had also translated some works from German, French and English. Ali Jamalzadeh who supported Iran's Islamic revolution of 1979 died in Geneva.