Mohammad Bahmanbaigi passed away on Saturday May 1st 2010, at Kowsar Hospital in Shiraz, at age 90 after a long illnesses. He was the founder of education for the nomadic and tribal population of Iran.
Mohammad Bahmanbaigi was the grandchild of Bahmanbaig and the son of Mahmoud Khan from the Ghashghai Tribe in Fars region. He was born in 1920 in a tent somewhere between Lar and Firoozabad. He studied law but spent all his private and public life on education for children and young adults of in the nomadic tribes of Fars region.
The history of literacy and schools in many tribes in Fars as well as the foundation of tribal mobile schools goes back to 1952, successful projects which were initiated and accomplished only through persistent efforts of a few people, namely Mohammad Bahmanbaigi. In 1956 he founded the Tribal College in Shiraz and through developing and incorporating tribal education in the Iranian educational system he established the General Tribal Education Office where he was the director for years. After the Islamic Revolution and during his retirement Bahmanbaigi spent his time with research and writing his memoir on Iranian tribes, education for the nomadic population and kept close contact with teachers who had worked with him for years.
The following are some of his works:
"Common Law and Habits among Fars Nomadic Tribes", 1945
"My Bokhara, my tribe", a collection of stories, 1989
"If I was not Ghareh Ghaj, passages from a memoir (1995)
"In honor of your fire" , memories of teaching, (2000)
"The gold of bravery", (2009)
The institute for Research on the History of Children's Literature expresses its sincere condolences to friends, supporters and his family for the passing of this honorable teacher of tribal education in Iran. We will remember him in honor of his work, efforts and experience in promoting culture and literature of children of Iran and will pass it to future generations.
May 2010