Kader Abdolah
Hossein Sadjadi Ghaemmaghami Farahani (Persian: حسین سجادی قائممقامی فراهانی), better known by his pen name Kader Abdolah (Persian: قادر عبدالله) (Arak, 12 November 1954), is an Iranian-Dutch writer, poet and columnist. His books, written in Dutch, often contain Persian literary themes. He regularly appears on Dutch television as well.
Also recorded as Hossein Sadjadi Ghaemmaghami Farahani · Qadir Abdullah
Kader Abdolah

Sanderbakkes · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1954. · Arak.
- Nationality
- Pahlavi Iran, Iran and Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- Occupation
- writer, columnist, poet and novelist.
- Education
- Delft University of Technology.
- Known for
- The House of the Mosque.
- Honours
- Gouden Ezelsoor, Charlotte Köhler Stipendium, Edgar du Perron Prize and Charlotte Köhler Prize for literature.
- Languages
- Dutch and Persian.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Hossein Sadjadi Ghaemmaghami Farahani (Persian: حسین سجادی قائممقامی فراهانی), better known by his pen name Kader Abdolah (Persian: قادر عبدالله) (Arak, 12 November 1954), is an Iranian-Dutch writer, poet and columnist. His books, written in Dutch, often contain Persian literary themes. He regularly appears on Dutch television as well.
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Note VALÉORINE
Kader Abdolah (born 1954) is an Iranian and Dutch columnist, novelist and poet, among other activities. The columnist was born in Arak. Kader Abdolah studied at Delft University of Technology.
Works include The House of the Mosque. Languages used include Dutch and Persian. The columnist received Charlotte Köhler Prize for literature, Charlotte Köhler Stipendium and Edgar du Perron Prize, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q381254 · wikipedia · Kader Abdolah
In this article
Life
Life
Kader Abdolah studied at Delft University of Technology. The recorded working language is Dutch and Persian. Works named in the authority record are The House of the Mosque. Distinctions recorded are Gouden Ezelsoor, Charlotte Köhler Stipendium, Edgar du Perron Prize and Charlotte Köhler Prize for literature.
Kader Abdolah is one of the descendants of Mirza Abu'l-Qasem Qa'em-Maqam, the Iranian politician during the Qajar period who was also affiliated with art and literature. Kader Abdolah had long wished to become an author. He used his political passion to begin his career after the Islamic revolution in 1979 by writing articles in the leftist political newspapers. In the 1980s, he wrote two novels which were published illegally because of the political constraints: What are the Kurds saying? and Kurdistan after the resistance party. When he immigrated to the Netherlands, he felt as if political issues were no longer relevant to his life and he fell into a state of depression because he had thought of political activities as the essence of his life. Learning Dutch and to write in the language is therefore described by him as a political tool for fighting. Literature had turned into the incentive for a new fight.
Career
Career
Kader Abdolah studied physics in Arak College of Science (today's Arak University [although the Dutch and French articles say a different school]) in Arak, Iran, and graduated in 1977. After graduation he served his mandatory military service in the Iranian Navy in Bandar Pahlavi (today's Bandar-e-Anzali). During the revolution, he joined the left-wing movement opposing the Shah—and later the Khomeini—regimes. He fled to the Netherlands as a political refugee in 1988. In 2006, he was writer in residence at Leiden University. Today [when?] he lives in Delft, writing under a pseudonym composed of the names of two executed friends. Het huis van de moskee (The House of the Mosque) catapulted Abdolah onto the Dutch bestseller lists. In 2007 it was voted second best Dutch novel ever in the Netherlands in an online survey organized by NRC Handelsblad and NPS. The English translation was released worldwide in January 2010.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1954
Kader Abdolah born at Arak.
Works/Publications
1993 – De adelaars 1995 – De meisjes en de partizanen 1997 – De reis van de lege flessen 1998 – Is dit mijn recht, mijn lief? 1998 – Buitenspiegels: verhalen over Nederland 1998 – Mirza 1998 – Short Shorties Kader, Abdolah (1999). El viaje de las botellas vacias. Galaxia Gutenberg/Circulo de Lectores. 1999 – Les jeunes filles et les partisans Kader, Abdolah (2000). My Father's Notebook: A Novel of Iran. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-060-59872-3. 2001 – De koffer Abdolah, Kader (2001). Il viaggio delle bottiglie vuote. Iperborea. ISBN 978-8-870-91096-4 2001 – Een tuin in zee Abdolah, Kader. Scrittura cuneiforme. Iperborea. ISBN 978-8-870-91118-3 2001 – Andere ogen: Een frisse blik op Nederland in verhalen 2002 – Kélilé en Demné 2002 – Sophia's droë vrugte 2003 – Portretten en een oude droom 2003 – Karavaan 2005 - Het huis van de moskee (The House of the Mosque) 2006 – II viaggio delle botiglie vuote Kader, Abdolah (2006). El reflejo de las palabras. SALAMANDRA. ISBN 978-8-498-38034-7 2007 – Voetstappen 2008 – De boodschapper: een vertelling / de Koran: een vertaling. A two volume set: De boodschapper: een vertelling ('The Messenger: a narration') about the life of the prophet Muhammad, and de Koran: een vertaling ('The Qur'an: a translation'), Abdolah's Dutch translation of the Qur'an Abdolah, Kader (2009). DZAMIJSKA KUCA. Dereta – Beograd. 2010 – Mohammad, der Prophet Abdolah, Kader (2010). Ritratti e un vecchio sogno (Narrativa). Iperborea. Abdolah, Kader (2011). Calila e Dimna (Narrativa). Iperborea. 2011 – De koning 2011 – De kraai 2012 – IL re 2012 – How Europe is changing ISBN 978-0-615-46655-2 Kader, Abdolah (2013). Il corvo. Iperborea. ISBN 978-8-870-91522-8 2014 – Papegaai vloog over de IJssel Kader, Abdolah (2014). The King: A Novel. Librairie Klincksieck. p. 401. 2016 – Messenger, The: A Tale Retold 2016 – Salam Europa! Abdolah, Kader (2016). Un pappagallo volò sull'IJssel (Narrativa). Iperborea. Kader, Abdolah (2016). A parrot flew over the Ijssel. Iperborea. ISBN 978-8-870-91466-5 2016 – Qur'an the ISBN 978-9-462-38023-3 2018 – Het pad van de gele slippers Kader, Abdolah (2018). Uno scià alla corte d'Europa. Iperborea. ISBN 978-8-870-91494-8 Kader, Abdolah (2018). Le Messager. Editions Gallimard. 2020 – The House of the Mosque ISBN 978-1-847-67240-7 Kader, Abdolah (2022). Il faraone d'Olanda (Narrativa). Iperborea. 2024 - Zarathustra spreekt 2025 - Ze vliegen nog altijd over de Schie ISBN 9789044659641
Honours and awards
Best selling debut of 1993 for his book De adelaars(Eagles). Dutch Media Prize, 1997 for his book Mirza E. du Perronprijs of 2000 for his novel Spijkerschrift. Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion (Dutch: Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw) in 2000. Knight in the French Order of Arts and Literature (French: Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) in 2008. Honorary doctor at the University of Groningen in 2009. Invitation to write the 2011 Boekenweekgeschenk, a gift (De Kraai) to buyers of Dutch books during the Boekenweek.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Words Without Borders. Freedom Can Be a Nightmare: An Interview with Kader Abdolah.
- 2.Dynarowicz, Ewa. A Migrant Writer's Manifesto: Kader Abdolah as a Public Intellectual. Dutch Crossing. 42. 1. 77–95. 2018. 10.1080/03096564.2017.1363023.
- 3.قادر عبدالله؛ قصه ایرانی به زبان هلندی.
- 4.'De ontdekking van de hemel' beste Nederlands boek. trouw.nl.
- 5.Berlin International Literature Festival. Kader Abdolah.
- 6.Akbar, Arifa. The House of the Mosque, By Kader Abdolah trans Susan Massotty. The Independent. 8 January 2010.
- 7.UCL. Iran: Kader Abdolah: In the kitchen of the writer.
- 8.Tilburg University. E. du Perronprijs 2000.
- 9.Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations). Kader Abdolah – De koning en de kraai. Nederlandse Grondwet.
- 10.French Embassy in The Hague. Kader Abdolah "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres".
- 11.Luc van Kemenade. Universiteit eert Kader Abdolah met eredoctoraat. Elsevier. October 2008.
- 12.Stichting Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek. Kader Abdolah schrijft Boekenweekgeschenk 2011. 13 April 2010.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- READINGS AND TALKS: KADER ABDOLAH. New Yorker. 1979-02-05. 0028-792X.
- Shirazi, Said. Losing Persian, Finding Iran: PW Talks with Kader Abdolah. Publishers Weekly. 2006-02-20. 0000-0019.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q381254: Kader AbdolahWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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