Nima Yushij

(pen name of Ali Isfandiari). Born 1897 in Yush, Mazanderan; died Jan. 6, 1960, in Tehran. Iranian poet and literary and art critic.

Nima Yushij studied at the French Collège de St. Louis in Tehran. From 1938 to 1941 he edited the journal Musiqi. He headed the Sher-e nou (New Poetry) school. Nima Yushij wrote lyric poetry and the narrative poems Tale (1921), Poem About the Faded (1921), A Soldier’s Family (1925), and Manili (1957).

Nima Yushij’s poetry contains elements of symbolism, but it is close to reality and deals with important social issues. He combined the devices of aruz with free rhythm, thereby promoting the revival of the national poetic form. Nima Yushij expressed his views on aesthetics in Two Letters (1946) and The Meaning of Feelings (1956).