Kioumars Saberi Foumani

• Name — Kioumars Saberi Foumani • Born — August 29, 1941 • Birthplace — Fuman, Iran • Died — April 30, 2004 (aged 62) • Place of death — Tehran, Iran • Occupation — Writer, satirist and journalist

Saberi was born during the Second World War in Sowme'eh Sara, a city in Gilan Province. His father, originally from Rasht, worked for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance. He was transferred to Sowme'eh Sara in 1938 and then to Fuman in 1942 where he died a few months later. His mother, who was the daughter of a respected cleric and one of the few educated women in the city, taught the Quran after the death of her husband. His brother, who was 14 years older, had to leave school at the age of 15 to work to help with the family expenses. Education for Saberi was hard because of his family's poverty and he had to start working in a tailor shop after finishing his elementary education. He also worked in his brother's bicycle repair shop during elementary school and high school. He started high school education at his mother's insistence. At the age of 16, he gained entry to Sari's Agriculture teacher's college that only accepted one student from Fuman each year. He continued his college education and graduated in 1959. He worked as a teacher from 1959 to 1961. At the age of 20, he took his high school exams and received his high school diploma. He continued his education at the University of Tehran while working as a teacher. He achieved his Bachelor of Science degree in political science in 1965. He spent most of the 1970s reading and teaching and in 1978 he obtained his master's degree in comparative literature from the University of Tehran. Saberi got married in 1966 and he had a daughter and a son. His son died in a car accident in 1985 but this sad incident did not stop him from reaching his goal, which was to make people smile. Kioumars Saberi Foumani died on April 30, 2004.

During his first year at university, Saberi was arrested for participating in student demonstrations and started to write political satire in Towfigh magazine. Towfigh magazine was Iran's most respected pro-democracy political satire magazine, with the highest circulation in Iranian history. Its editor in chief was Hossein Towfigh who, along with his brothers Hassan and Abbas, turned Towfigh magazine into the most influential journal in Iranian history. Saberi became one of the many staff writers of Towfigh magazine. After the Iranian Revolution, he became the cultural advisor for Mohammad Ali Rajai. One of his other political posts was as the counselor to the minister of Housing and Urban Development of Iran.