Ali Akbar Dehkhoda ( 1879-1956 )

Mirza Ali Akbar Ghazvini, known as Dehkhoda, the Persian literary scholar, poet, author, and a political and social critic, was born in Tehran circa 1879 (1297HG). He came from a traditional land-owning family in Ghazvin, but his father, Khan Baba Khan Ghazvini, had moved the family to Tehran not long before Dehkhoda was born and died when the boy was only nine years old.

Dehkhoda studied theology and Islamic law and literature under the tutelage of Shaykh Gholam-Hossain Borujerdi, but was also influenced by the liberal attitude and teachings of his neighbor, Shaykh Hadi Najmabadi. On December, 1899, Dehkhoda enrolled in the School of Political Science (Madreseh Olumeh Siasi) which had just been established primarily to educate the sons of aristocracy for later careers in the government. According to Dehkhoda's classmate and friend, Abdollah Mostofi, the initial enrollment was 16 students though apparently more enrolled later, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Moshir-al-doleh and his secretary Moshir-al-Molk lectured at the school. After completing his studies, Dehkhoda was retained as a secretary by the Ghajar dignitary and ambassador to Balkan countries, Mo'aven-al-doleh Ghafari ( later Ahmad Shah's Foreign Minister in 1915), a man of substantial means. Around 1903, Dehkhoda accompanied Ghafari on a mission to Europe where he traveled and studied for the next two years, primarily in Vienna, Austria.

The late scholar Ali Akbar Dehkhoda began compiling the Loghat Namah [The Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Dehkhoda] during World War 1. By the end of 1980, the last volume of this monumental work was published. The nearly 70 years of continuous effort to compile the work, and nearly 45 years to publish it, led to a multiplicity of problems with the first edition. Although these problems are small when compared to the original monumental task of bringing the work to print, the importance of the work and the place it occupies in the study of Persian language, literature and culture make it necessary to publish a second edition that eliminates these shortcomings.
In the new edition the entire work has been thoroughly edited and copy edited by a team of experts. The work has been typeset using the latest available Persian language typesetting machine. Each sentence has been checked and double checked for accuracy. Instead of being offered in individual fascicles, the work is now in bound volumes. Alphabetical order is carefully observed. Finally, the best possible paper stock for such works is used in the new edition. Known as the “Bible paper,” this is a very thin, but highly opaque paper that allows the ink to adhere to the surface without seeping through. Each volume holds approximately 1,500 pages of text, but does not exceed 3.5 centimeters in thickness and 1.5 kilograms in weight. As a result, the new edition is now available in 15 volumes.

علامه علي اكبر دهخدا در سال 1297 هجري قمري متولد شد .
در پي مهاجرت و اقامت خانواده دهخدا از قزوين به تهران وي در محله سنگلج در خانه اي همجوار خانه مرحوم حاج شيخ هادي نجم آبادي بدنيا آمد . پدرش خانباباخان هنگامي كه علي اكبر 9 ساله بود درگذشت . اين بي سرپرستي زودهنگام بر زندگي او تاثيري تام و تمام داشت تا آنجا كه يكي از دغدغه هاي هميشگي او گريز از فقر و چگونگي تدبير معيشت خانواده بود .
او در سال 1321 عازم اروپا شد و در مدت دو سال و نيم اقامت خود در آن ديار زبان فرانسه خود را تكميل كرد و از نزديك با فرهنگ و تمدن مغرب زمين آشنا شد .
وی حدود 9 ماه بعد از صدور فرمان مشروطيت به گردانندگان نشريه صوراسرافيل پيوست و براي اولين بار در صف مدافعان مشروطيت قرار گرفت .
در مورد او مي گويند : دهخدا پس از عبيد زاكاني دومين طنز پردازي بود كه دردها و نابساماني ها را با شهامتي كم نظير در چهارچوب طنز گزنده مطرح مي ساخت .
چرند و پرند عنوان قطعات طنزگونه روزنامه صوراسرافيل بود كه دهخدا آن را مي نوشت و با نام " دخو" امضا مي كرد .
دو اثر بزرگ وی در امر تحقيق ، " لغتنامه " و " امثال و حكم " مي باشند .
استادان و دانشجويان بسياري در كار تاليف لغتنامه با او همكاري داشتند از جمله اين استادان ، استاد جعفر شهيدي و استاد فقيه دكتر معين بودند .
دهخدا ، علاوه بر اين دو اثر آثار ادبي و تحقيقي ديگري نيز دارد كه برخي از آنها به چاپ نرسيده است و برخي به صورت مجموعه مقالات به چاپ رسيده است وی در زمينه ترجمه نيز تلاش هايي داشته است كه ظاهرا هيچ كدام به طبع نرسيده است .
او در شعر و شاعري قريحه و استعدادي بلند مرتبه داشت ، شعرهای وی را مي توان به شعر فكاهي ، متجددانه و سنتي مورد تجزيه و تحليل قرار داد .
علامه دهخدا در روز دوشنبه ، هفتم اسفندماه سال 1334 هجري دارفاني را وداع گفت .
جنازه وی را در ابن بابويه در مقبره خانوادگي اش به خاك سپردند .