Mírzá Aḥmad Sohráb (1893–1958) was a
Persian-
American author and
Bahá'í who co-founded the New History Society and the
Caravan of East and West in
New York, and was
excommunicated from the Bahá'í Faith in 1939 by
Shoghi Effendi.
Biography
Early life
Born a
Bahá'í in
Sedeh, Isfahan Province, Persia (now
Iran), Sohrab's father `Abdu'l-Baghi was a descendent of
Muhammad. `Abdu'l-Baghi was the chief dyer of the town. Both sides of Sohrab's family, his mother and his father, claimed descent from the Imam Husayn, grandson of Muhammad. His mother died when Sohrab was a few months old, while she herself was still a teenager, and he was taken to live with his maternal grandmother in
Isfahan.
New History Society
By 1911, he had founded an organization called the
Persian-American Educational Society. Later that year he sailed to Europe "in the interests of his work".
The Washington Post, November 13, 1911, p.4 Sohrab was secretary and interpreter to
`Abdu'l-Bahá from 1912 to 1919. Later, while living in
Los Angeles, he helped write a scenario for a movie dealing with
Mary Magdalene, for the actress
Valeska Surratt. In 1927
Cecil B. Demille released
The King of Kings which the duo claimed he had stolen from their scenario. Suratt sued
Cecil B. Demille and others in 1928, and mentioned that Sohrab had helped her write the play.
New York Times, February 28, 1928, p2 The case went to trial in 1930 and was...
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