Homayoun Sanatizadeh was born in 1925 in a family of merchants with high cultural values. As a young adult during the time of Reza Shah, he learnt to become a tradesman in the Bazaars of Tehran and Kerman. After World War II he was known as a young merchant with exceptional talent and ability. Because he was engaged in the business of trading paper and other goods related to culture and education, he was drawn to cultural activities. After the coup d’ Etas of 1953, the American experts recognized his exceptional organizational ability and asked him to establish Franklin Publications, Pars Paper Factory, and the Offset Printing House; the largest printing house in the Middle East. Homayoun Sanatizadeh was extremely successful in his work and through founding the modern printing industry; he transformed the printing and publishing in Iran. He was a self-made and capable man. He knew the Iranian culture well and was very sensitive in transferring the culture of the world to Iranians. He was meticulous with translations; in his own work as well as in works of other translators. Homayoun Sanatizadeh was among those intellectuals who believed the path to progress in Iran goes through tireless work on cultural development.
Homayoun Sanatizadeh is no longer among us, but his great achievements undoubtedly have played a major role in transforming the lives of many children in the past decades.
We remember him with gratitude.
