Kioumars Saberi Foumani - Education and Personal Life

Education and Personal Life

Saberi was born during the Second World War in Souma'eh Sara (Persian: صومعه سرا‎), a city in Gilan Province. His father, originally from Rasht, worked for the Ministry of Economy and Finance. He was transferred to Souma'eh Sara in 1938 and then to Fuman in 1942 where he died a few months later.

His mother, who was the daughter of a respected cleric and one of the few educated women in the city, taught the Quran after the death of her husband. His brother, who was 14 years older, had to leave school at the age of 15 to work to help with the family expenses.

Education for Saberi was hard because of his family's poverty and he had to start working in a tailor shop after finishing his elementary education. He also worked in his brother’s bicycle repair shop during elementary school and high school.

He started high school education at his mother’s insistence. At the age of 16, he gained entry to Sari's Keshavarzi teacher's college (Persian: دانشسراي كشاورزي ساري‎) that only accepted one student from Fuman each year. He continued his college education and graduated in 1959. He worked as a teacher during 1959-1961.

At the age of 20, he took his high school exams and received his high school diploma. He continued his education at the University of Tehran while working as a teacher. He achieved his bachelor of science degree in political science in 1965.

He spent most of the 1970s reading and teaching and in 1978 he obtained his master's degree in comparative literature from the University of Tehran.

Saberi got married in 1966 and he had a daughter and a son. His son died in a car accident in 1985 but this sad incident did not stop him from reaching his goal, which was to make people smile.

Kioumars Saberi Foumani died on April 30, 2004.