Abolhassan Ziyā-Zarifi

In 1991, Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi was among the founders of Iran's National Institute for Tuberculosis, which is recognized as a regional leader in research and education on pulmonary diseases.

Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi was very active in philanthropic work. After the 1990 Manjil–Rudbar earthquake, which resulted in the death of some 40,000 people and the displacement of half a million people from affected areas of Gilan province, Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi gathered a group of friends who helped rebuild homes and schools, and provided life-time assistance to some 150 people, including full assistance to more than 40 children to attend university. He was also instrumental in establishing the Zirakzadeh Science Foundation, in honor of Ahmad Zirakzadeh, which was dedicated to providing science education to underprivileged children.

Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi retired from government office in 1978 but continued working in the field of public health. After the 1979 revolution in Iran, Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi increasingly focused on passing on his experience and knowledge as an academic, writer, and health consultant. He was appointed a member of the Physicians' Reeducation Committee in 1990 and in the same year assumed his position as Professor of Laboratory Sciences at Iran's prestigious Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.

He has written, edited, and contributed to dozens of books, pamphlets, and scientific articles. His books have ranged from the earlier purely scientific volumes (The Bacteriology of Tuberculosis, 1973) to works on modern Iranian political history, including his biographies of Hassan Zia-Zarifi (his brother, one of the founders of Iran's Communist guerrilla movement), and work as editor of the autobiography of Ahmad Zirakzadeh (his wife's uncle, one of the founders of the liberal Iran Party and a member of Mohammad Mosaddegh's cabinet).

In 1971, he led efforts to extend health care and protection from venereal diseases to sex workers in Tehran's notorious Shahre Now red-light district, against significant religious and cultural opposition. During his tenure as Director General of Laboratories he successfully pushed for the establishment of more than 400 medical laboratories in Iran's most impoverished and remote regions.

As a result, he became a consultant to the World Health Organization in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, including stints working against cholera in Saudi Arabia in the early 1970s, in Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, and Congo (1972). He remained a proficient member of the WHO's Emergency Team from 1974 to 1996.

With the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi's political career ended abruptly. His political activity significantly influenced his younger brother, Hassan Zia-Zarifi, who went on to establish the ideological principles of leftist armed struggle in Iran and is considered one of the founders of the Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas. Hassan Zia-Zarifi's detention and extrajudicial execution in 1975 consumed much of Abolhassan's energy and placed him under constant supervision and suspicion during the Shah's reign.

In 1952 Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi was sentenced to internal exile for his political activity, but the verdict was delayed, and ultimately rejected.

Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi began his public health career in 1952 with the Iranian Ministry of Health, and culminated with his position as the Director General of Iran's Laboratories (1975–1979) and his establishing and directing Iran's National Reference Laboratories, equivalent to the Centers for Disease Control (1965–1975).

His work focused on pulmonary diseases, in particular legionnaire's disease and tuberculosis. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was instrumental in expanding laboratory coverage in rural Iran, and adapting international standards for Iran's difficult economic and physical conditions. Poverty and logistical difficulties often prevented rural laboratories from following strict international protocols. Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi and his colleagues set about adapting these protocols for use with limited resources.

He attended the University of Tehran from 1945 to 1952, where he met his wife, Dr. Touran Zirakzadeh, whom he married in 1952.

Abolhassan Ziyā-Zarifi (Persian: ابوالحسن ضیاظریفی; 20 August 1926 – 4 October 2010) was an Iranian scientist, academic, author, and political figure. In recognition of his lifelong work in combating pulmonary diseases he was voted an Honorary Member of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (IUTLD).

Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi was born on 20 August 1926 in Lahijan, Gilan Province, the eldest son of Hajji Issa Zia-Zarifi and Rukhsareh Monajjemi. His father was a prominent local merchant and a highly pious man. Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi was strongly inspired by paternal forebears, including two of his uncles, his paternal grandfather and great great grandfather, who were all physicians. His great great grandfather, the physician Mirza Rahim Lahiji, wrote poetry in the early 19th century under the pen name Zarif ("Delicate"), from whence the family name Zarifi. His grandfather Hojatollah Hakimbashi ("the physician") also wrote poetry under the name Atarod. Abolhassan Zia-Zarifi's paternal uncle, Mirza Abolfazl, was a prominent physician with the title Zia-ol Atteba ("Light of Physicians"), whose title, combined with the ancestral pen-name, created the family name Zia-Zarifi.