Poet, writer and filmmaker. A towering figure and potent symbol of intellectual conscience against tyranny and repression. He modernised the Persian poetry, edited literary and political magazines, a critic, scholar, translator, and scriptwriter and with his beautiful voice a gifted reciter of poetry. The Second World War and the suffering he endured inspired Shamlu's patriotic poems. He published many collections of poetry; the first The Forgotten Songs (1947), and The Fresh Air (1957) established him as a prominent poet. He was awarded the Freedom of Expression prize by Human Rights Watch for his efforts to fight oppression and promote human rights. Ahmad Shamlu was born in Tehran.