The Final Days of Mushegh
As a new page in history was unfolding with the Islamic revolution of Iran, Mushegh was also approaching the final chapter of his life.
FAMILY ALBUM
9/25/20261 min read
For a man remembered by his family for seemingly inexhaustible energy, humor, and optimism, the figure sitting grimly at his son's apartment table appears unusually uncharacteristic. By 1981, Mushegh was approaching the final chapter of his life—and the world around him had changed dramatically.
The hopes that he and many other Iranians had attached to the 1979 Revolution were giving way to a far more troubled reality. Political space was rapidly narrowing, and by 1981 leftist and other opposition groups were facing arrests, violence, executions, and increasing repression.
For Mushegh, the political turmoil was accompanied by deeply personal losses. Within a relatively short period, the Sarvarian School was lost amid the changes brought by the new government, and his wife, Jenia, whom he loved so dearly was died. He watched a country he deeply cared for descend into turmoil while confronting difficult questions about the ideals of justice that had shaped so much of his life.
Perhaps one of the few great sources of happiness remaining to him during this period was the presence of his three grandchildren.
That knowledge makes this photograph difficult to look at as simply another portrait. The energetic Mushegh familiar from so many earlier photographs seems momentarily absent. In his place is a man carrying grief, disappointment, and exhaustion—and the fake seashore wallpaper in the background seems to be exemplifying a mirage of the life he had envisioned.
Mushegh died at his daughter Silva's home during the late-night hours of August 13, 1981.
Seen today, this photograph captures more than the final months of one man's life. It captures that painful moment when a person who had spent a lifetime believing that the world could be made better was forced to reckon with how differently history had unfolded.