Celebration of Life in Memory of Dr. Sia Nemat-Nasser
On Saturday, April 30, 2022, UC San Diego Arts and Humanities Dean Cristina Della Coletta and Department of Music Professor Shahrokh Yadegari organized a weekend of celebration of the artistic life of Siavouche “Sia” Nemat-Nasser who passed away on January 4, 2021.
A Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UCSD, Sia became close to the School of Arts and Humanities in 2016 when he and his wife Éva generously established the Roghieh Chehre-Azad Distinguished Professorship to foster new projects and future works exploring the music, art, literature, and history of Persian culture at UCSD.
At the time, Sia said the gift served to honor his mother Chehre-Azad, a well-known actor in Iran who pursued her passion of acting at great personal risk when women performing on stage in Iran was taboo.
Sia’s love for the arts and Persian culture continues to have a profound and long-lasting impact on the Arts and Humanities program and our regional community at large. His sharp mind, wisdom, equanimity, and wit will be remembered. As well as being a highly accomplished and acclaimed scientist, Sia was also a poet and a drawing artist. Sia and Éva translated the poetry of the Shahnameh and the work of Siavash Kasrai for “The Scarlet Stone” production.
The celebration of life took place at UCSD’s Atkinson’s Hall. The first part of the program consisted of speeches by family members and colleagues and music performance. In the second part, the video of “The Scarlet Stone” was shown. The celebration continued the next day with a concert by Master Ali Akbar Moradi Ensemble at the Conrad Prebys Concert Hall at the Conrad Prebys Music Center on the UCSD campus.
Book Signing
On the afternoon of Thursday, May 26, 2022, the second-grade students of Stella Maris Academy attended a book signing ceremony at the Perry Gallery in La Jolla Shores to celebrate their newly published children’s book, Welcome Baby Hummingbirds. Each of the children is a co-author of the book.
The idea for the book began when Essy Ghavamoddini, a professional photographer, visited a friend’s residence, where Noor, two years old at the time, drew his attention to a tiny hummingbird nest outside her bedroom window. Essy started shooting pictures of the nest daily. The result was a set of beautiful pictures documenting the birth of a pair of chicks. The pictures were then given to the second-grade students to write the story. Each child wrote a story for one picture. The book is now published with the help of local individuals and charity organizations. A friend of the Iranian School of San Diego kindly pre-purchased 150 copies for ISSD students. The books were presented to the students who were present at ISSD’s End of the Year celebration.
Remembering Amir Ali Mesbahzadeh (1976-2022)
Sadly, once again, I need to write and say farewell to someone I deeply cared for—Amir Ali had a special place in my heart. He grew up to be a gentle and quiet man, a considerate person with immense compassion for humanitarian causes and his family. I met him in 1988 when he, his sister Yassi, and the whole group of their young friends walked into the Iranian School of San Diego for registration. He and his family had moved to San Diego from New York when he was 10.
Journalism and writing were in his blood, inherited from his grandfather, Dr. Mesbahzadeh, the founder of Kayhan Publications.
In a piece offering his condolences to the Mesbahzadeh family, Ali Emad of Kayhan International eulogized Amir Ali as such: “he wrote articles on subjects such as Amnesty International working hard to improve human rights around the world, alternatives in medicine, police-imposed curfews (“Such activities smell suspiciously like the society that George Orwell envisioned in his futuristic novel, 1984,” he commented) and many more. … As a talented writer, he always looked to improve his skills and attended workshops where he met other writers and learned other ways to tell stories. He wrote scripts, short stories, horror stories and learned the art of actual verbal storytelling. He had a profound interest in reading other writers’ works. He read everything from children’s books to adult fiction and non-fiction and discovered the world of graphic novels. He spent a lot of time in libraries and enjoyed visiting them.”
Emad continued: “Amir Ali also loved art. He patronized art galleries frequently. Friends that shared that passion said his attention to detail was unmatched. He also ventured into creating his own art. He was intrigued by collage. The idea of taking a picture and marrying it with another to change the story of the picture was satisfying and challenged him. He created art in other mediums as well, such as oil and acrylic painting. Because of his love of the arts, he sold his work to benefit museums and bring critical education initiatives to schools. His spare time was devoted to caring about ordinary people and doing something to give them comfort. When he was in college, he participated in a program to help disabled students by taking notes for them in class. … Amir Ali’s life was defined by celebrating the beauty in the world, whether it was the beauty of nature or the beauty of something created through writing or art.”
Every time I spoke with Amir Ali, he requested we make sure his sister Yassi was okay. He was a child of this community and we share with his parents, Parvis and Leila, and his beloved sister Yassi the loss of his early departure. In his memory, his family has requested the community donate blood to the blood bank for the great need of many San Diegans. We are hoping PCC can arrange this.
Amir Ali passed on April 30, 2022, surrounded by his parents and Yassi. May he rest in peace and may his guardian angel hold him preciously and welcome him to his eternal home.
Shahri Estakhry
Former ISSD students James and Emma Hanson (children of Peyk’s Shaghayegh Hanson) each celebrated graduations in June. James graduated from La Jolla High School and plans to attend the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the fall. Emma graduated in Legal Studies from UC Santa Cruz and will be sitting for her LSATs this summer before heading to Washington, D.C., for an internship, with plans to eventually attend law school.
Armita Fazel, ISSD graduate and 6-year Teaching Assistant, has graduated from high school and will be attending the University of California, Irvine. She will be majoring in criminology.
Sara Zabihi graduated from ISSD in 2007 and continued with the Dance Academy and as a Teaching Assistant through 2011. She has since moved to New York and later this year will graduate with an M.S. in International Development and Data Analytics from New York University.
