FĪRŪZ BAHRĀM

 

FĪRŪZ BAHRĀM, one of Tehran’s oldest high schools, founded by Parsi philanthropist Bahramji Bikaji as a memorial to his son Fīrūz, who was lost at sea in the Mediterranean in 1915. Bikaji’s initial plan was to build an elementary school in Afghanistan, where his daughter and son-in-law served in the court. However, in a meeting in 1931 with Arbāb Keyḵosrow Šāhroḵ, head of the Zoroastrian Society of Tehran (see ANJOMAN-E ZARTOŠTĪĀN), it was decided that the school should be built in Tehran with a total investment of twenty thousand Rupees. Later, the Society voted for a much larger establishment suitable for a high school, for which Bikaji was persuaded to donate some extra fifty thousand Rupees. The high school was inaugurated in December 1932, having been constructed in only seven and a half months. It was initially a girls school, but with the creation of Anūšīrvān-e Dādgar high school, the girls were transferred to the latter and Fīrūz Bahrām became a high school for boys. The original construction consisted of a symmetrical, two-story, brick building in the middle of a courtyard. However, the construction was extended in 1948 and rooms were added to the west side of the courtyard. As a result the number of classrooms increased from 12 to 18 and the student enrollment from 678 to 834.

 

 

Bibliography:

F. Faḵḵār Tehrānī, “Dabīrestān-e Fīrūz Bahrām,” Madrasa, 1376 Š./1997, no. 9, pp. 30-35.

J. Ošīdarī, Tārīḵ-e Pahlavī o zartoštīān, Tehran, 2535=1355 Š./1976, p. 359.

K. Šāhroḵ, Yāddāšthā-ye Keyḵosrow-e Šāhroḵ, ed. J. Ošīdārī, Tehran, 2535=1355 Š./1976, pp. 91-94.

Sālnāma-ye [dabīrestān-e] Fīrūz Bahrām, 1322-23 Š./1943-44, p. 4.

(Fariborz Majīdī and Hūšang Etteḥād)

Originally Published: December 15, 1999

Last Updated: January 26, 2012

This article is available in print.
Vol. IX, Fasc. 6, p. 632