Hossein-Ali Kia Kojouri

Hossein-Ali Kia Kojouri (November 12, 1999 – September 21, 2022)

Hossein-Ali Kia Kojouri was born on November 12, 1999, in Nowshahr, northern Iran. He was a young man from a city surrounded by the forests and sea of Mazandaran—a place that was not merely his hometown, but the place where he imagined building his future.
Hossein-Ali was a student of Electrical Engineering at the University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran. According to those close to him, he was a quiet, modest young man who was devoted to his studies, university, and work. Alongside his education, he cared for his elderly grandmother, looking after her for years.
He had simple but meaningful dreams for his future. He wanted to become an electrical engineer and one day design the electrical systems of buildings throughout his hometown, Nowshahr. He hoped to use what he had learned at university to contribute to the development of the city he loved.
Those who knew him also remember his deep affection for nature. Growing up in the lush landscape of northern Iran, he was closely connected to the natural beauty surrounding his hometown.
But there was another love that revealed something deeper about him: his love for Iran.
According to one of his relatives, Hossein-Ali loved the patriotic song “Ey Iran.” A handwritten copy of the song, written in his own handwriting, was preserved as a keepsake after his death.
When one of his acquaintances shared a photograph of the handwritten text, they wrote:
“I am sending you a handwritten page left behind by Hossein-Ali, a keepsake for these days, when our hearts beat even more strongly for our homeland.”
Those few lines and that handwritten page later became part of Hossein-Ali’s memory—a young university student who had written the name of Iran and the words of a song he loved in his own hand.
In September 2022, following the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, protests spread throughout Iran. Nowshahr, too, became one of the cities where young people took to the streets.
On September 21, 2022 Hossein-Ali Kia Kojouri, a 23-year-old Electrical Engineering student from Nowshahr, was shot and killed during the protests in the city.
His death brought to an end the life of a young man who had not yet had the opportunity to fulfill many of his dreams. He had wanted to become an engineer, work for his hometown, care for his grandmother, and build a future for himself.
Hossein-Ali was killed on the same day as Hananeh Kia, one of his relatives. Their families were left to mourn two young lives lost on the same day.
Two days later, the bodies of Hossein-Ali and Hananeh were handed over to their families, and they were buried beside one another.
Yet his story did not end with his burial.
His name remained in the memories of his family, friends, and the young people of Nowshahr—especially among those who remembered him as a quiet and hardworking young man, devoted to his studies, his family, his hometown, and his country.
The chain of mourning continued at the fortieth-day memorial for Hossein-Ali and Hananeh, when Mohammad-Reza Bali Lashak, a friend of Hossein-Ali’s father, was also killed.
November 12 is Hossein-Ali Kia Kojouri’s birthday—a day that could have been celebrated every year as a reminder of his life. For his family and those who loved him, however, it has become a day of remembrance for a young man whose life ended at the age of 23.
Among the things Hossein-Ali left behind are the memories of his family and friends, photographs, and that handwritten page bearing the words of “Ey Iran.” Later, when young people from Nowshahr gathered at his grave, they sang the same song in his memory.
In this way, the song Hossein-Ali had loved became more than words written on a page. It became part of his legacy—the memory of a young man from Nowshahr whose life was shaped by education, work, family, nature, and dreams of becoming an engineer, and whose life ended on September 21, 2022, at the age of 23.
Hossein-Ali Kia Kojouri is remembered by his family and those close to him as a “Javidnam”—a name used in remembrance of those whose lives were lost and whose memory is intended to endure.
He did not have the chance to live a long life. But his memory remained: in the stories told by those who knew him, in the dreams he carried for his hometown, and in the handwriting he left behind.
And within that handwriting was the name of Iran.