Birth and Childhood

Reza Mahjubi was born in 1898 in Tehran, into a musical family. His father, Abbasali Nazer, used to play ney, and his mother, Fakhrosadat, played piano. Both Reza and his younger brother, Morteza,^[1][2] therefore developed an early interest in music and later pursued careers as musicians.

Teachers

Mahjubi's first teacher was Hossein Hang Afarin, an army music officer. He was later taught by Ebrahim Ajang, but left these lessons after disagreeing with Ajang's emphasis on musical theory over less formal learning. Instead, he trained with Hossein Khan Esmail Zade, a master player of kamancheh, from whom Mahjubi also learned to play the violin.

Professional life

When Mahjubi was 16 his father opened a cafe in Tehran's Lalezar Street. Mahjubi and his brother played to entertain the customers, and quickly attracted attention. At 25 Mahjubi began to teach music classes; he continued composing new works and performing concerts at the same time. In 1923 he conducted some popular concerts with Darvish Khan and Aref Qazvini. Poet Amiri Firuzkuhi^[3] was among his close friends.

Mahjubi suffered a nervous illness at age 24. He recovered through treatment, but underwent personality changes. Though he continued to recognize his friends, some of his speech became incomprehensible.

Death

Reza Mahjubi died at the age of 56, on 14 July 1954, and was buried in Zahiroddole cemetery.