1979: Eleven by a Firing Squad in Iran
August 27th, 2008 Headsman
On this date in 1979, the only anonymous photograph to win a Pulitzer Prize captured nine Kurdish rebels and two of the Shah’s policemen executed by firing squad in revolutionary Iran.
This shot, one of a series taken of the event with the permission of the judge who condemned the men to immediate death in a half-hour trial at the Sanandaj airfield, ran the next day in the Iranian paper Ettela’at, whose editor prudently kept the photographer’s identity secret. Within two days, the stunning photo had rocketed around the world.
It won the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography the following spring, still credited anonymously.
Two years ago, the Wall Street Journal revealed — with the photographer’s permission — the identity of the man who shot this indelible image: Jahangir Razmi, who had gone on to a career as one of Iran’s top photographic journalists. He came to New York to collect the prize 27 years late.
The article breaking the story is still available on the Journal‘s website, and on the personal site of reporter Joshua Prager. An NPR story discussing the search for Razmi’s identity is here.
Also on this date
- 1628: Milady de Winter, Three Musketeers villainess
- 1500: 18 thieves in Rome
- 1679: St. David Lewis, the last Welsh martyr
- 30 B.C.E: Caesarion, "Little Caesar"
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Arts and Literature,Capital Punishment,Death Penalty,Execution,Hanged,History,Iran,Malaysia,Mass Executions,Mature Content,Murder,Popular Culture,Power,Public Executions,Ripped from the Headlines,Shot,Summary Executions,Treason
Tags: 1979, august 27, ettela'at, iranian revolution, joshua prager, journalism, photography, pulitzer prize, sanandaj, wall street journal
October 5th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
one of them is my grandfather.. who is standing there. fuck ayatollah fuck him
January 27th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
my god ????????????????????????????????????????
why ……………………………………….
July 21st, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Death to all traitors and lackeys of the shah!!!!
February 10th, 2012 at 10:35 am
These are lies
Shah of Iran was a terrorist and killed many people in Iran
He was the worst people on earth
Down with the monarchy
Death to the global arrogance
Death to the Shah of Iran
Death of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Death to all his agents
Punishment in Islamic Iran
March 7th, 2012 at 1:43 am
Iran should be bombed off the face of GODS earth.
November 28th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
EXCELLENT!!!
The only good thing mullahs ever did…these neo-nazi-communists deserved nothing but a bullet in the head…we have one of these terrorist rats in Montreal, Dr Amir Khadir…wish the mullahs send a suicide bomber to rid us of the vile scumbag!
May 8th, 2013 at 10:04 am
[...] Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of a dramatic firing squad execution in Sanandaj, August 1979. [...]
May 19th, 2013 at 7:53 pm
Ming the Merciless ,
you are ?????