حمید اکبری

  Dr. Hassan Eghbali, 1934-2024 Dr. Hassan Eghbali belonged to an exceptional generation of Iranian-American doctors who came to the United States in the 1950s and 1960s—whom I think of as Romantic Medical Doctors . These Romantic MDs were, in fact, lovers of Persian poetry, literature, and history in disguise. Shortly after Azar and I arrived in Chicago in 1986, we were fortunate to become acquainted with several of them, including Dr. Eghbali, Dr. Mahmood Hashemi, Dr. Rahmat Pirnazar, Dr. Cyrus Serry, Dr. Cyrus Haery, Dr. Manouchehr Sohaey, and Dr. Ali Darki. We found them not only dedicated to their medical fields and the well-being of their patients, but also exemplary—along with their wives—in their love for family and service to their communities, especially the Iranian-American community. Dr. Eghbali was a prodigy who could recite long Persian poems from memory, a talent he maintained well into the last years of his life. I wonder whether, through his love for Persian poetr...