I was enrolled in first grade at St. John Bosco,Tehran in September 1949; the school was located on Khiabane' Shahreza. I remember a sculpture studio with Shahs bust in the window, and a car dealership with only one car in the show room adjacent to the school building. During WW II the building was the headquarters of United Kingdom Commercial Corporation (UKCC). In the adjacent yard devided by a short wall from the school yard few army truks was parked that left shorty after the school year began. The school was established and opened at this location in 1944/45 as Salesian Don Bosco Boarding School with elementary grades.

Immediately to the left of the entrance in a large office sitting behind the desk was the school principle father Flavio Fedeli, as I stood by his desk a feeling of calmness and serenity came upon me. He spoke Farsi and registered my name in his roster.

The school building was two story brick with a large dirt yard in the rear bordering Alborz high school. The second floor housed the boarding rooms, the fathers’ quarters and a chapel, the kitchen and dining room was in the basement. The fathers wore long black robes with white collar the traditional attire of catholic padres. There were four other priests as I remember, Father Kevin Byrne, Father Armando Vettore, and Father Tinosseenee and very young brother Ometto comprised the entire priesthood faculty.

The school had few pupils perhaps less than fifty. On the first day of school the older boys played football and father Byrne was the referee blowing his whistle as he ran on the side of the field. These boys must have been in fifth and sixth grade attending the school since it was established in 1945. Some of the names I recall are: Raymond Romaia, Jack, Boris and Rostom (Bedjan) brothers, AssurHadoun, Hovaness Abass, Parviz Rezaie, Malek Asmar, Varoujan, Kolia Davido, and Nicola Zaisseff, Polus Bedbadel, Poletikoff.


Father Vettore was the music instructor, he played the accordion and taught us the lyrics to Italian songs to sing along. The teachers were Monsieur Jack Escandar, Paul Violonchi, Edward Avedissian, Khosro Rezaie, Nemrood Khachi, they taught Farsi and math and the fathers taught the English language. The school year went by quickly and after summer vacation we all returned to a different location on Khiabane' Kakh.

The year was 1950 and the school grounds was located on the cross streets of Sezavar and Kakh streets and the property was owned by Dr. Meer an affluent physician. The adjacent property was connected to the school main grounds by an arch opening in the wall that divided the two properties. The boarding rooms were housed on the second floor and the kitchen and dinning room was on the ground floor.


The main school building had two stories with exterior stairways on both side, the building was situated in the centre of the grounds. Beneath one of the stairs was a small storage area that Monsieur Taliano (the food buyer who rode a moped) had converted it to a tiny store selling candies. There was a pool and fenced garden in the front yard, a balcony overlooked the garden and the pool area. The boarding school kids swam in the pool during the summer.

The entrance had a large wooden gate and a covered driveway and a second wrought iron gate before entering the yard, the area must have been used to park car when it was a mansion. To the left side of the car port was a room that may have been the living quarters for a ground keeper or a chauffer. The school gatekeeper as we knew him by his first name MARKAR, always wore a cap lived there; he was a kind Armenian old man.

Along the path from the gate to the main building to the right were two room offices, occupied by Fr. Fedeli and Fr. Tinosseenee the accountant, pine trees on both sides shade the path. With passing of each year classrooms were constructed and added in the corners of the gardens to accommodate the growing student population and advancing students. There was a small chapel in the corner of the backyard, where on occasions Christian students gathered for mass and religious study and filed the chapel.

The school was officially named Andisheh in 1953, remained at this location until 1958, and had become popular and highly sought by affluent and elite families. Ninth grade was the highest grade the school offered and strict discipline was enforced by the fathers. Most of the older boys moved on to high schools around the city after completing the ninth grade at Andisheh. The school building and grounds no longer could hold the growing student population.

It was truly a multicultural student buddy. Few boys were from displaced families from Eastern Europe and other parts of the world residing in Iran. We had Iranians kids, Iranian Jews, Assyrian, Armenian, German, Greek, Polish, Check, Romanian, Italian, Russian, Georgian, Lebanese and Syrian as I remember. We all played and had fun without any consideration to ethnicity or religion. Few names I remember: John, Fredrick, George, Edmond, Reegus, Morris, Paul, David, Joseph, Nicola, Edgar, Henry, Edward, Albert, Constantine… Along with all of the beautiful, ancient and historical Persian names, Khosro, Behrouz, Kaveh, Bijan, Siamak, Feerouz, Shahriyar, Bahram, Manoucher, Darioush, Ahmad, Farhad, Annoushirvan, Seerous, Kavous, Farrouk…

There were three Armenian orphans among us that the fathers had received in true spirit of St. John Bosco.

Then there was the visiting father Manuel Pooladian the red bearded priest, who rode his bicycle to the school early in the mornings, gathered the few Armenian students before regular classes resumed, taught them to read and write the Armenian language. The Armenian boys were: George Vartanian, Missak Zakarian, Benjamin Keshishian, Levon Babaian, Armond Gorgorian, Mehran Khorikian, Vigen Khachaturian, Edward Navasartian, Albert Muradian, Valod Danielian and my cousin Yeghish… as I recall, It was a wonderful time, great fun and learning environment.

During the eight years that the school operated at Kakh location, few more fathers arrived, father Guzzetti, father Mulligan (moved to Salesin school in Abadan) and Brother Martini to name few. Most stayed for short period and left with exception of Fr. Guzzetti who continued teaching English in high school through the early sixties.

Father Del Mistro with a pointed grey beard was another rector I remember. He resided at the Italian church on France Street, apparently he was the first school principle when the school had been established 1945, he visited the school lunching with the fathers quite frequently, he drove a tiny Fiat. Also, visiting frequently was Fr. Streit energetic and jolly man.

During these years we had few other teachers who joined the school staff in addition to those that were teaching the elementary classes at Shahreza location, to name: Shahmiri, Ahour, Manoucher Khazeh, KhajehNassiri, Zoka and Mehri I do remember.

After the summer break of 1957 a new rector had arrived by the name of Alfredo Picchioni, his mission was to raise funds and construct a new school. He succeeded within a year and in September 1959 the school reopened at Abbasabad hills with 1200 students. The school facility and the grounds were spectacular; the classes were spacious with central heating system and fully equipped Lab. football field, basketball courts and a large yard, a second building was on the plans to be constructed and connect to the existing one. The high school classes were located on the second floor of the main building and the dormitory on the third floor. The school building and grounds was on top of a hill overlooking the city, there were 111 stairs from the main road (old shemiran road)to the top.

The small school charm had disappeared where everyone knew the other by name and had grown up together. As teenagers the world around us was rapidly changing, from the enclosed yard and limited exposure to the outside world, the loving care of the fathers, everything had changed, we were young adults and were treated as one. The school had turned into a large and elite school with elementary, middle and high school grades. There were new students and faces everywhere one turned. Soon we made friends with the new classmates but it was not the same as years past, when one knew every schoolmate by name or nicknames we had for each other.

In high school we had excellent faculty staff, perhaps the best in the country, some of the most distinguished teachers of the time. Who could ever forget Pariviz Shahriari, Shahmiri or Shafie, math, physics and chemistry professors respectively, together they prepared many students to continue higher education in elite and prestigious universities in the western world.

June of 1962 was the last year I attended Andisheh; I left with unforgotten memories that I have cherished for all of these years.

With this writing September 2009 will mark sixty years when I began first grade at St. John Bosco. In recent years I retired from work and I live on the north coast of San Diego, California.

Advancement of technology the advent of internet and the launching of the Andisheh website has enabled few to find fellow Andishe students from school years. I have found and met few of my schoolmates, spoken to few on the phone and exchange email with others. At first the feeling of meeting a stranger is undeniable. After remembering mutual friends and reminiscing the school days, the fathers and teachers, then we begin to share our life story after Andisheh, and soon get back to be where we left off decades ago. One thing has not changed over the years, the true and sincere friendships that once were forged in a small school ground.


In order to comprehend the feeling of the brotherhood that has bonded us. One must consider the era, the state of the country and the mix of young and naive kids from diverse social, economical and cultural backgrounds, taught by few loving European priests who had dedicated and devoted their life to education and humanity.