چه خوشحالم که بالاخره تلاشی در خور معرفی کارنامه درخشان رضا قطبی سامان گرفت.  حقش این بود که چنین معرفی و قدر دانی بسی زودتر انجام میگرفت. ارزیابی های «سیاسی» زودگذر و عاطفی و حساب گرایانه اند. ارزیابی تاریخ از لونی دیگر است و به گمانم همان تاریخ قدرش را به عنوان یکی از موفق ترین و کار بلد ترین و مدبر ترین و درست کارترین مدیران دوران محمد رضا شاه خواهد شناخت.  متن معرفی زندگی او در اینجا تنها گامی در راه این بازشناخت است. 

ذکر خیر او را از طیف گسترده و‌ گونه گونی از کسانی که میشناختندش شنیده بودم. از ابراهیم گلستان و محمد رضا شجریان تا مژده شمسایی و فررانه میلانی. سالها پیش گلستان از اولین سفر دراز مدتش به پاریس میگفت. می کفت به همت دوستی آپارتمانی اجاره کرد. خانه به مادر قطبی تعلق داشت. از قضا پیش از گلستان رضا قطبی در ان زندگی کرده بود. میگفت کتاب های پسر همه در کتابخانه بود. میگفت از وسعت و گونه گونی و خط کشی های کتاب که حکایت از دقت نظر قطبی جوان داشت حیرت کردم. حتما دیگران که از او خاطره ها دارند دیر یا زود آنها را به چاپش خواهند رساند و قدرش را چنان که باید و شاید به نسل های جوان نشان خواهند داد. میدانم که ایرج پارسی نژاد هم در کتابی از خاطرات خود در مناقب رضا قطبی نوشته. 

برای من حتی متن مختصری که اینجا آمده اموزنده بود و  نکات مهمی در بر داشت. متن با دقت و احتیاط فراوانی نوشته شده. اطلاعاتش در موردسخنرانی بحث انگیز  «پیام انقلاب» شاه برای من تازگی داشت.  تا به حال همه شاه را تنها خواننده مطیع متن میدانستند. قطبی روایتی دیگر ارایه میکند. در این سالها که هزار و یک نیش به خاطر نقشش در این ماجرا خورد یک بار هم به پاسخگویی بر نخاست. شاید میدانست که در این زمان تفرقه و تنفر به نفع رژیم اسلامی است و او حاضر نبود به شرط نفع رژیم غاصب خود را تبریه کند. هنگام تدارک نگارش کتاب نگاهی به شاه متن دستنویس این سخنرانی به دستم رسید. فرستنده مدعی بود خط رضا قطبی است. تصحیحاتی در متن بود.  به خط شاه ظاهرا.  خط او را می شناختم.  پیامی به آقای قطبی دادم که چنین متن و مدعایی هست و بدستم رسیده. نظری دارید؟ قرار بود با ایشان هم در مورد دوران شاه گفتگو کنم. نشد. متاسفانه ملکه که خود نیز در واپسین لحظه از گفتگو با من امتناع کرد به رضا قطبی هم توصیه مشابهی کرده بود و او هم پذیرفت. هنوز در حسرتم که چرا آن مصاحبه انجام نشد. 

بزرگ مردی بود و معاندانش بیش و کم همه کوتوله های تاریخ اند.  هر روز هم به گمانم جایگاهش بلند تر و جای بد گویان پست تر خواهد شد

Reza Ghotbi was a man of extraordinary depth and complexity. To some, he was known by the monumental results of his work. To others, he was a colleague, a presence in professional circles, or a figure in government. But only a very few were privileged to understand him in his wholeness—the fire of his vision, the strength of his will, and the tenderness of his heart.

When I visited the website, my eyes were immediately drawn to his portraits—one capturing the radiance of his youth, the other the quiet dignity of his later years. And in both, his eyes spoke far louder than any words could ever attempt.

In his youthful photograph, I see a man alive with determination, compassion, and boundless hope. His energy seemed inexhaustible lifting everyone around him, inspiring them, propelling them forward with a force both unstoppable and gentle. His very presence was a gift: visionary yet deeply human, strong yet profoundly tender.

And in the portrait of his later years, I see another kind of truth. Those same eyes carried the unspoken weight of sorrow—not from personal defeat, but from the heartbreak of dreams left unfulfilled, visions left incomplete for the country he so dearly loved. Even so, his gaze never lost its depth, its resolve, its unwavering light.

Reza was not simply a great man—he was an exceptional soul. I am profoundly humbled, and forever honored, to have known him, to have walked beside him, and to have called him my friend.

May God, in His infinite mercy, bless Reza’s noble soul, and may He grant you and your family the strength to carry forward the brilliant light he leaves behind.

With love, prayers, and deepest compassion

I have tears in my eyes, moved by what I read. Much of my cultural education is thanks to your dad. I remember my English improving (though I went to Parthian, a joint British/American/Iranian school) by watching Sesame Street, and Julia Child! 

In hindsight, your dad offered programs, something difficult to do, for all socioeconomic levels in Iran. For my refined grandmother, Touri, (Louise Khanom’s classmate!) there was Peyton Place, and for my mother’s smart yet illiterate chambermaid from Rasht, Moloud, there was Rich Man, Poor Man (Dara o Nadar). All of these offerings kept us connected to the West, the world, in the pre-internet era. 

My sadness, and the sadness of all who lived through that time, is what we could have become, where we would be now as a nation if these regressive, phony, murderous sociopaths had not seized power and unfortunately continue to hold on.

In moments like this, I remember Dr. Martin Luther King’s words, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” 

On the bright side, that awesome lions logo!!! Still cool today. Also, I have an American born and raised friend here, in rural Texas, who went to the Shiraz Arts Festival! 

من افتخار میکنم که یکی از همکاران ایشان از سال 1350 تا پایان دوران ریاست ایشان بودم

Faranak Azad

I am sorry to say this but your father was a leftist and then later a member of pan-Iranist party. He was Mossadeq supporter as well. He and his fellow party men destroyed Iran and they were responsible to bring Islamic Republic to power. His legacy is nothing than an OCCUPIED IRAN, many generations suffering with no hope. HELL is not enough for Persian speaking traitors who destroyed Pahalvi Monarchy by the name of democracy but they brought misery and destruction.

B.A.

A most moving tribute to a man ahead of his time. A true patriot, i feel priviledged to have met him. His time was cut short but his vision remains alive in his children and grandchildren. روحش شاد باشه

It has been one year since Reza Ghotbi, that devoted son of Iran, took his final journey. One year since time, with its merciless passing, placed a distance between us and a man who dedicated his entire life to the service of Iranian culture, art, and identity. Reza Ghotbi was not merely an efficient and visionary administrator; he was a lover whose heart beat for Iran—whether in the days when he lived on his native soil and worked with passion to build its future, or in the bitter years of exile when his soul longed for the homeland he never abandoned.

He belonged to a generation that carried the dream of a modern and dignified Iran in their hearts. During his tenure at the National Iranian Radio and Television, he laid the foundation for a new medium and transformed it from a fledgling tool into a powerful cultural institution. Under his leadership, television was no longer a simple box of images; it became a window to the world, a bridge connecting homes to the stages of theater, to the voices of music, to cinema and literature, and to the rich heritage of Iranian thought. He was the one who brought traditional Iranian music to television screens, who introduced theater into people’s homes, who brought cinema closer to the public, and who opened the doors to world culture. In his time, the Shiraz Arts Festival was broadcast through television, and Iran was seen by the world through a new lens. He oversaw the arrival of color television to Iran, because his gaze was always fixed on the future, on a day when his homeland would stand side by side with global progress.

Beyond these great achievements, Reza Ghotbi was a steadfast supporter of artists and intellectuals. Many of the brightest names in art and media were introduced to the people during his leadership. He created an atmosphere in which talents could flourish, and their works could shine in Iranian households. For him, media was not a tool for power, but an instrument for culture, for raising thought, for binding hearts to truth and beauty.

Yet life placed the bitterness of exile upon his lips. He was forced to leave his homeland, but Iran never left his heart. In foreign lands, he followed Iran’s news each day, rejoiced at every achievement of Iranians abroad, and felt pride whenever the nation’s name brought honor on the world stage. With a heart full of love and hope, he lived Iran even in distance; exile could not sever the thread of his devotion.

And how moving, how extraordinary it was, that after his passing, no place in the world held a memorial for him—except the very land he loved so deeply. Only Iran lit a candle in his memory, only the homeland mourned its faithful son. It was as though the soil of Iran itself whispered: “My child, wherever you may be, you return to me.”

Today, one year after his departure, the memory of Reza Ghotbi is still alive: the memory of a leader who turned media into a cultural institution; the memory of a patron of artists who opened paths for them; the memory of a man whose honesty, humility, and warmth etched his name into people’s hearts. He has gone, yet his footprints remain on the history of contemporary Iranian culture. He has gone, yet the image of Iran’s cultural life still glows with his light.

Reza Ghotbi is a reminder of those who love their homeland more than life itself—even in distance, even in exile. A man remembered only with kindness, for his life was nothing but service to Iran and love for its people. A year has passed, and yet he is still with us: in memories, in the images he created, in the voices he brought to the people, and in the flame he lit in Iranian culture—a flame that will never be extinguished.

May his memory remain eternal, his name be remembered with honor, and the path he opened continue to shine for future generations.