Top Kurdish scholar succumbs to cancer
One of the world’s leading Kurdish-studies scholars, who formed some of his theories while working at the University of Windsor, has died after a long battle with cancer. Amir Hassanpour, who died at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto Saturday morning after a 16-year fight with thyroid cancer that spread to his spine, was 73. “It’s so sad,” said his wife Shahrzad Mojab, who teaches education and women’s studies at the University of Toronto. “But I have been overwhelmed by the response on social media. There have been comments throughout the world, especially in the Middle East and Europe and among the Kurds, Palestinians, Latin Americans, Iranians, and friends in Canada and the United States. “It truly speaks to the qualities of a man who was very much dedicated to issues of justice and the desire for a better world for everyone.” Hassanpour was born in Mahabad, in northwestern Iran, and came to Canada in 1986. He taught in the communication studies department at the University of Windsor from 1989 to 1993, where he focused on the relationship between communication, history and social movements. “He was a great man,” said Ava Homa, a student of Hassanpour’s at the University of Windsor who kept in touch with him when he moved on to teach at the University of Toronto. “Like almost all Kurds, I loved and respected him for his pursuit of social justice in Kurdistan and beyond.” Hassanpour leaves behind his wife and their son, Salah, and a legacy of speaking on behalf of Kurdish people.