In the Memory of Dr. Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi (1926 – 2010)

Dr. Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi was born on 20 August 1926 in Lahijan, Gilan Province which lies along the Caspian Sea in northern Iran. He was the eldest son of Haj Issa Zia-Zarifi, a local merchant in Lahijan. Medical practice in Abolhassan’s family had around a hundred year history; his grandfather, Hojatollah Hakimbashi was a traditional physician and poet. Abolhassan’s paternal uncle, Mirza Abolfazl (Zia-ol Atteba, which means the light of physicians) was also a graduate of medicine of the Dar al-Fonun School in Tehran, which was founded in 1852.