Hassan Barnaba Dehqani-Tafti was the Anglican Bishop of Iran from 1960 until his retirement in 1990.
12 Facts About Hassan Dehqani-Tafti
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Hassan Dehqani-Tafti spent the last ten years of his episcopate in exile after the Iranian Revolution and an assassination attempt in October 1979, in which his wife, Margaret, was wounded.
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Hassan Barnaba Dehqani-Tafti was born in the small village of Taft, near the city of Yazd, in central Iran.
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Hassan Dehqani-Tafti attended Stuart Memorial College in Isfahan, before moving on to Tehran University, where he trained to become a teacher.
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Hassan Dehqani-Tafti converted to Christianity and was baptised in Isfahan in 1938 and was seen a leader of the growing Christian youth group in the city.
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Hassan Dehqani-Tafti served as an officer in the Iranian Imperial Army from 1943 until 1945.
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Hassan Dehqani-Tafti decided to become an Anglican priest and left Iran in 1947 to attend Ridley Hall, Cambridge, a theological college, to prepare for his ordination.
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Hassan Dehqani-Tafti spent ten years at the Isfahan parish and did some missionary work within Iran.
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Hassan Dehqani-Tafti briefly became pastor of St Paul's Anglican Church in the capital city, Tehran.
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Hassan Dehqani-Tafti was appointed the Anglican Bishop in Iran to succeed William Thompson.
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Hassan Dehqani-Tafti became the first ethnic Iranian Christian bishop in Iran since the 7th century.
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Hassan Dehqani-Tafti established Iranian secondary schools for girls and boarding schools for boys.