Siros Parham, known by his pseudonym Mitra, was born on January 23, 1930 in Shiraz, Iran. He was an important translator, editor, literary critic, art historian and one of the leading experts on Iranian carpets. Parham was one of the first to bring the Western form of literary criticism to Iran.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tehran in 1951, followed by a doctorate in political science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1954. His Realism and Anti-Realism (1954) was a groundbreaking publication that quickly went out of print and – together with Reza Seyed-Hosseini’s Literary Schools – was considered the standard work for Iranian authors for years.

Parham was also one of the co-founders of the National Archives of Iran and made important contributions to the preservation of cultural and historical documents. With his research and publications on hand-knotted carpets, he left his mark on international carpet studies and art history.

The poet and historian Mohammad Shams Langeroudi described him as “the most active literary critic of the 1950s”, a Marxist critic who consistently emphasized realism and drew a clear distinction between realistic and non-realistic art.

Siros Parham passed away on September 14, 2025 (24 Shahrivar 1404, Iranian calendar) at the age of 95. His legacy lives on in Iranian literature, art criticism and carpet research.