
Cyrus Atabay
6 September 1929 – 26 January 1996
20 works on record
Biography
Cyrus was born to Princess Hamdam-al-Ṣalṭana, who was Reza Shah Pahlavi’s firstborn (from his first wife), and Hādi Atabay. He was sent by his father to Berlin to attend school before he was eight years old. Atabay lived in Germany during World War II and in Iran and Switzerland subsequently. In Switzerland the Swiss poet and writer Max Rychner (1897-1965), and in Germany the essayist, novelist, and expressionist poet Gottfried Benn (1886-1956), were impressed by his poetic talent and wrote favorably about him. Atabay’s poems were first published in 1948 in the Swiss journal *Die Tat* (The deed). He returned to Germany in 1951 and studied literature at Munich University from 1952 to 1960. His first three poetry collections, *Einige Schatten* (Some shadows, 1956), *An- und Abflüge* (Arrivals and departures, 1958), and *Meditation am Webstuhl* (Meditation on the loom, 1960), were published in Germany during this period. They were followed by the publication of *Gegenüber der Sonne* (Facing the sun) in 1964. This collection also included short pieces of prose, a trend that continued in several of Atabay’s later collections.
In 1978 he settled in London and became acquainted with Elias Canetti (1905-1994), the 1981 Nobel Laureate in Literature, and Erich Fried (1921-1988) the eminent Austrian poet. He returned to Munich in 1983 and remained there for the rest of his life.
Saeid Rezvani, "ATABAY, CYRUS," Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2014, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/atabay-cyrus (accessed on 02 September 2014).
Works

Gedichte
1991

Prosperos Tagebuch

Hafis, Rumi, Omar Chajjam
Die Wege des Leichtsinns
Die Wege des Leichtsinns
1994
Leise Revolten
Leise Revolten
1992
Puschkiniana
Puschkiniana
1990
Die Linien des Lebens
Die Linien des Lebens
1986
Stadtplan von Samarkand
Stadtplan von Samarkand
1983
Die Leidenschaft der Neugierde
Die Leidenschaft der Neugierde
1981
Das Auftauchen an einem anderen Ort
Das Auftauchen an einem anderen Ort
1977
An diesem Tage lasen wir keine Zeile mehr
An diesem Tage lasen wir keine Zeile mehr
1974
Die Worte der Ameisen
Die Worte der Ameisen
1971
Doppelte Wahrheit
Doppelte Wahrheit
1969
Gesänge von Morgen
Gesänge von Morgen
1968
Vādī-yi shāhparak-hā
Vādī-yi shāhparak-hā
1965
Gegenüber der Sonne
Gegenüber der Sonne
1964
Die Sonne von Tabriz
Die Sonne von Tabriz
An- und Abflüge
An- und Abflüge
Einige Schatten
Einige Schatten
Vādī-i shāhparakʹhā
Vādī-i shāhparakʹhā