Draft:Mehdi Firouzan

Mehdi Firouzan
مهدی فیروزان
Born	1957 (age 68–69) Tehran, Iran
Occupations	Cultural executive, publisher, entrepreneur
Known for	Book City Institute, Soroush Publishing, Fidibo

Mehdi Firouzan (مهدی فیروزان; born 1957) is an Iranian cultural executive, publisher and entrepreneur. His career has included the management of Soroush Publishing, service as secretary of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, more than two decades as chief executive of Book City Institute, and investment in publishing and cultural-technology ventures including Fidibo and Behkhaan.

Firouzan first became prominent in the cultural sector through Soroush, the publishing organization affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). He was responsible director of the first issue of the influential youth magazine Soroush-e Nojavan in 1988. He later became closely associated with the expansion of Book City and with initiatives connecting traditional publishing to digital distribution. A 2017 report by the Dutch publishing-industry journal Inct described him as the early investor whose backing, office space and personnel helped launch Fidibo, an Iranian electronic-book platform.

Early life and education

Firouzan was born in Tehran in 1957. According to a biographical profile published by Peyvast, he studied agriculture at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and later pursued graduate studies in political science in Lebanon.

He comes from a family with longstanding religious and cultural connections. Firouzan is a nephew of the Iranian-Lebanese Shi'a leader Musa al-Sadr and is married to al-Sadr's daughter, Houra Sadr.

Soroush and broadcasting

Firouzan's early professional career was associated with Soroush Publishing, a publishing organization linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), where he held senior management positions.

During his management of Soroush in the late 1980s, Firouzan was involved in the establishment of Soroush-e Nojavan, a magazine for adolescent readers. Journalist Ebrahim Nabavi, who worked at Soroush during this period, recalled that Firouzan invited a group of writers and artists who had left the Hozeh Honari, including Qeysar Aminpour, Fereydoun Amouzadeh Khalili and Biuk Maleki, to establish the magazine. Contemporary retrospective coverage has likewise described Firouzan as director of Soroush Publishing during the formation of Soroush-e Nojavan.

National anthem project

Firouzan has stated in later interviews that, during Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani's presidency of IRIB, he was appointed project director for the process that resulted in Iran's present national anthem, the National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to Firouzan's account, the project involved consultation with dozens of musicians, a call for proposed compositions and a subsequent process for selecting music and lyrics.

Academy of Persian Language and Literature

Following his work at Soroush, Firouzan served as secretary of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, Iran's principal institution for the study and regulation of the Persian language.

His association with the Academy also included scholarly and cultural work. A Persian translation by Firouzan of Vladimir Minorsky's study of the old preface to the Shahnameh was published in the Academy's journal, Nameh-ye Farhangestan.

Book City and Hermes

Firouzan subsequently became closely identified with the development of Book City), a nationwide network of bookstores and cultural centres. Peyvast described him as an architect of the network's expansion, while a 2026 Tasnim history of Iranian publishing characterized Book City under his management as an influential cultural institution, particularly in Iran's larger cities.

By 2024, UNICEF described Book City as a network of more than 100 active branches, around 50,000 square metres of bookstore space and approximately 1,500 employees. Firouzan was then serving as the institute's chief executive and president of its board.

Book City's wider cultural group included Hermes Publishing, established in 1996, and Hermes Records, established in 1999. Firouzan remained involved in Hermes projects. At a 2025 event unveiling books translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence, Hermes director Morteza Kardar described Firouzan as a principal driving force behind the initiative.

Firouzan stepped down as chief executive of Book City in August 2025. At the ceremony introducing his successor, Ali Jafarabadi, his tenure at the institution was described as having lasted 23 years.

Fidibo and digital publishing

Firouzan became increasingly involved in technology-based cultural ventures during his leadership of Book City. His best documented role was in the creation of Fidibo, a Persian-language electronic-book platform.

A 2017 report by the Dutch publishing journal Inct described Fidibo founder Majid Ghasemi presenting his plan for a legal digital-book platform to Firouzan, then director of Book City. According to the report, Firouzan agreed to invest in the project, provided a small office and two temporary employees, and his reputation helped the new company gain the confidence of established Iranian publishers. The report described Firouzan as Fidibo's principal early investor.

Iranian reporting has likewise connected Fidibo's development with Firouzan's backing. Peyvast stated that Firouzan was for years the project's principal investor and discussed his subsequent movement from conventional cultural management into technology investment. Later media profiles have consequently associated him with the early development of Persian electronic publishing, although descriptions of him as the "father of Persian e-books" are journalistic characterizations rather than a formal title.

Behkhaan and other ventures

Firouzan later backed Behkhaan.ir (بهخوان), a Persian-language social network centred on books and reading. In an interview with Shanbe magazine, Behkhaan founder Hamed Hemayatkar said that Firouzan was the platform's initial investor and that his involvement also had a partnership and co-founding dimension.

Iran newspaper reported on the project during its early development, identifying Book City as its implementing institution and Firouzan as one of the figures publicly presenting the project. He described Behkhaan as a network intended to connect readers, writers, translators, publishers, digital reading services and book retailers.

By January 2025, the Iran Book News Agency reported that Behkhaan contained information on more than one million books and had around 5,000 active child and adolescent users.

Firouzan's other investments and cultural-technology projects have included the audio platform Shenoto, the Miz-o-Kar accelerator, the waste-management venture Jaroob and other startups. A 2024 profile in Shargh discussed these projects as part of his shift from conventional cultural management toward investment in innovation and social entrepreneurship.

Behkhaan itself was the subject of further national press coverage. In 2022, Shargh promoted on its front page an extended interview with Firouzan concerning the reasons for establishing the book-oriented social network.

Public and international activities

Firouzan has also participated in cultural and business activities outside Iran. In January 2016, he accompanied Iranian president Hassan Rouhani during Rouhani's official visit to Italy. The Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano interviewed Firouzan during the visit about Iranian–Italian relations, interreligious relations and the possibility of a papal visit to Iran.

References

Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:People from Tehran Category:Iranian publishers (people) Category:Iranian businesspeople