HUR

 

HUR, name of a newspaper and a monthly journal published in Tehran.

 

(1) The newspaper Hur covered political issues and also carried advertisements. It began publication in Ordibehešt 1322 Š./May 1943 and continued until issue 19 of the third year, 2 Šahrivar 1324 Š./ 24 August 1945; but it suffered a number of closures in its short life. The newspaper was published by ʿAli Jawāher-Kalām (writer and translator, b. 1312/1896, Najaf), whose opponents accused him of supporting British policies. He was closely associated with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (q.v.) and supported its actions in the Iranian press (Rāʾin, p. 278, Ṭāher-Aḥmadi, p. 40). Hur joined the rank of the papers (known as Jebha-ye esteqlāl) that defended the government of Moḥammad Sāʿed and opposed the Freedom Front (Jebha-ye āzādi) on the oil question. Later the paper supported Sayyed Żiāʾ-al-Din Taṟbā-ṭabāʾi, who had been the prime minister after the 1921 coup d’état (q.v.).

 

Hur was closed down several times as a result of charges brought against it by some of its readers as well as by other journalists. The paper was first closed down on 19 Šahrivar 1322 Š./10 September 1943; it occasionally carried cartoons, and one of the shah was said to be disrespectful of the monarchy (Salāmi and Rustāʾi, pp. 33, 37). This closure lasted thirteen months. The paper was closed down again after issue 16 of its second year (12 Āḏar 1323 Š./3 December 1944) by the military governor of Tehran (Salāmi and Rustāʾi, pp. 62-63); it was rumored that this closure was due to pressure from the Soviet Embassy (Abutorābiān, p. 164). The paper was closed down at other times for short periods, but Jawāher-Kalām did not remain idle. Each time, he brought out other newspapers under different names: Nasim-e ṣabā, Sargozašt, Nasim-e šemāl, Ārezu, Bonyād, Kānun, Waẓifa. One of the last times the paper was shut down was when another paper, Irān-e mā (q.v.), brought charges against it of libel and insult to the opponents of Sayyed Żiāʾ. This resulted in the indictment of Jawāher Kalām.

 

Hur was published with red headings on four pages. Initially it carried five columns on each page of 30 x 42 cm. From its third year, each page carried six columns and was 35 x 49 cm. Its annual subscription rate was 400 riāls, and single issues were sold for two riāls. After it was printed on larger paper, its annual rate increased to 600 riāls. Incomplete series of the paper can be found at the Majles Library, the central library of Tehran University, Iran’s National Library, ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾi Library (Shiraz), and the Library of Congress.

 

(2) The bilingual (Persian and Armenian) monthly journal Hur was published in Tehran from Tir 1350 Š./July 1971 until Ḵordād 1353 Š./June 1974. The publisher and editor, who held a doctorate in chemistry, was Gāgig Howākimiān (b. 1309/1911). He worked with a number of Muslim and Armenian intellectuals; and the journal covered literary, cultural, and historical developments and carried news about the Armenian community in Iran. Hur was published in the printing office of Waḥid; the page size was 16.5 x 23 cm, in one column per page and with color photographs. Its annual subscription rate was 700 riāls for subscribers in Iran and 12 dollars for overseas. Series of the journal can be found in the Majles Library, the library of Tehran University, Iran’s National Library, the National Library of Tabriz, the library of Mirzā-ye Širāzi (University of Shiraz), the library of the University of Göttingen, the British Library, and the library of the University of Chicago.

 

Bibliography: Ḥosayn Abutorābiān, Maṭbuʿāt-e Irān az Šahrivar-e 1320 tā 1326 Š. (Iran’s press from 1941 to 1947), Tehran, 1987, pp. 163-64. L. P. Elwell-Sutton, “The Iranian Press 1941-1947,” Iran 6, 1968, pp. 65-104. Šahin Esfandiāri et al., Maṭbuʿāt-e Irān, fehrest-e taḥlili-e Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Majles-e Senā (Iran’s press, annotated catalogue of the Senate Library), Tehran, 1978. I. V. Pourhadi, Persian and Afghan Newspapers in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 1979, no. 80. Esmāʿil Rāʾin, Asnād-e ḵāna-ye Sedān (Documents from Sedan’s house), Tehran, 1979, p. 278. Wali-Morād Ṣādeqinasab, Fehrest-e ruz-nāmahā-ye fārsi sālhā-ye 1320-32 Š. (Catalogue of Persian newspapers, 1941-53), Tehran, 1981, no. 1407. Gōlām-Reżā Salāmi and Moḥsen Rustāʾi, eds., Asnād-e maṭbuʿāt-e Irān, 1320-1332 (Iran’s press documents, 1941-53) I, Tehran, 1995, pp. 33, 39, 62-63, 76. Bižan Sartipzādeh and Kobrā Ḵodāparast, Fehrest-e majallahā-ye mojud dar ketābḵāna-ye melli-e Irān (Catalogue of magazines in the National Library of Iran), Tehran, 1979. Ursula Sims-Williams, Union Catalogue of Persian Serials and Newspapers in British Libraries, London, 1985, no. 203. Giti Šokri, “Fehrest-e ruz-nāmahā wa majallāt-e fārsi dar Moʿassesa-ye Āsiāʾi-e Dānešgāh-e Širāz (Catalogue of Persian newspapers and magazines in the Asia Institute of the University of Shiraz),” Farhang-e Irān zamin 27, p. 357. Ḡolām-Ḥosayn Ṣāleḥyār, Čehra-ye maṭbuʿāt-e moʿāṣer (Profile of the contemporary Persian press), Tehran, 1966, pp. 28, 71. Majid Tafreši and Maḥmud Ṭāher Aḥmadi, eds., Gozārešhā-ye maḥramāna-ye šahrbāni (Police confidential reports) II, Tehran, 1992, p. 40.

 

(NASSEREDIN PARVIN)

August 9, 2004

(Nassereddin Parvin)

Originally Published: December 15, 2004

Last Updated: March 23, 2012

This article is available in print.
Vol. XII, Fasc. 6, p. 581