پنجاه و سه نفر فارسی 1383

Alavi was born in Tehran into a wealthy merchant family. Both his father and grandfather were active supporters the Constitutional Revolution. His father, Mortezar Alavi, opposed the British and Russian presence in Iran and during World War I fled to Germany, where he became one of the founders of the Iranian exile journal Kaveh. In 1921, Alavi and his older brother joined their father in Germany; he finished high school there and completed the equivalent of a B.A. at the University of Munich. Alavi returned to Iran in 1928 and initially taught at a technical school in Shiraz. He joined the faculty of a German technical high school in Tehran during 1931. At this school he became acquainted with several other foreign-educated Iranians, especially Dr. Taqi Arani, and he eventually joined Arani's weekly study circle. In 1937 this group, which by then consisted of 53, were arrested and accused of government opposition. All were sentenced to prison; Alavi was given a seven-year sentence. Arani died in prison, but Alavi and the others were freed in 1941. This book is an account of his trial. The text is entirely in the Persian (Farsi) language.