.Jack Mahfar, also known as Zakariyya, was born in the Jewish district of Joubareh in Esfahan, Iran, in 19
Jack was the son of Haj Helel Mah-gerefteh, who due to work constraints, first began as a clothier, and later moved on to become a peddler. Haj Helel was among the first to graduate from the Alliance School of Esfahan, and was familiar with French. Jack’s father was a pious and faithful man. Prior to his marriage, he visited Solomon’s Temple in Ancient Jerusalem, having travelled on foot and used the inadequate facilities that were available in that period, such as donkeys and carts.
Jack Mahfar was first sent to study in Ayin School, which belonged to a Christian missionary, when he was just 4. He then proceeded to Alliance High School and participated in the entrance exam for the School of Literature, and was accepted.
Jack’s father was diagnosed with bone tuberculosis in 1948 and hospitalized in Tehran. Jack settled in Tehran since he had to accompany his father for his treatment. Since Haj Helel had become too weak to work, Jack became responsible for providing for his family. Therefore, he was forced to put his high school education on hold. They settled in the Oudlajan district of Tehran, where he had rented a basement. A relative helped him find a job as an apprentice on a 3 Toman (Iranian currency) per day wage in one of the most advanced pharmacies of the city, Rey Pharmacy in Istanbul Street. The pharmacy was administered by Dr. Musa Beral—a university lecturer and representative of the Jewish minority at the 16th Iranian parliament.
Dr. Beral noticed Jack’s chaotic situation and his strong commitment and candor. He introduced Jack to prominent physicians in Tehran, one of whom was Dr. Jahangir Vosooghi, the administrator of Sina Hospital, who gave them a discount for Haj Helel’s treatment. Dr. Beral introduced Jack to Khalil Dordashti too, who was a member of the board of directors of the Tehran Jewish Committee. They helped him in providing his father’s drugs.
Two years later, Haj Helel was finally cured and saved from death. Using his knowledge of the French language, Jack Mahfar decided to take his father to France in 1951 to make sure that he is cured. Meanwhile, he used the opportunity to investigate whether he could strike a trade deal with European pharmaceutical companies.
He stayed in France for seven months and returned after having successfully acquired permission to represent Dental Toothpaste Company in Iran.
Jack Mahfar resigned from Rey Pharmacy after having worked there for two years. Dr. Ruhollah Soft ran the Ittihadiyyeh Pharmacy with his brothers. They offered Jack a deal whereby he would provide them with the drugs they need. It turned out to be a successful deal. Jack Mahfar extended his contract to other pharmacies in Tehran and other cities. Dr. Soofer helped him reach an agreement to provide government organizations and the army as well.
As Jack Mahfar’s business grew, his former superior at Rey Pharmacy offered a partnership in pharmaceutics marketing. Jack accepted the offer. He rented a store in Naser Khosrow Street, which is well known for pharmaceutics, and founded the Rex Pharmaceutics Agency, hoping to turn a new page in his life.
Jack had expanded his business significantly, became the exclusive representative for several companies, and conducted trade with other cities, and yet, the agency failed. He had to terminate the partnership amid high losses. However, he had enough credibility in the market to be able to continue his Rex Pharmaceutics Agency business.
Later, Jack Mahfar followed his father’s advice and launched a company with his brothers, Siyon and Danial, as “Mahfar Co.” under “Zakariyya Mah-gerefteh and Brothers”. Mahfar Co. replaced Rex Pharmaceutics Agency. Jack himself became the CEO and also responsible for international trade, while his brothers handled other procedures and the business at the national level.
In 1954, Jack married Fereshteh from the Meraj family. They had a son, Ebrahim, and two daughters, Helen and Rebecca.
The determination that all three brothers demonstrated led Mahfar Co. into becoming a large company. They changed their system in order to target a broader audience. One of their highest priorities was to become Iranian representatives of European and international drug companies. They were successful in that, and also managed to become the representative of Lactisa to Iran, and sell low-fat and high-fat milk powder for them. They also became the representative of Astra Pharmaceutical Company, which would later support Mahfar Co. in producing drugs in-house.
Within less than a decade, Mahfar Co. had expanded greatly. Their business grew by the day, and so did their needs. They designed an advanced administration method for the company they ran, which now had over 75 specialists working for it, 25 of whom were pharmacologists. Soon, Mahfar Co. became a successful model for others to imitate.
Jack Mahfar began producing some of the most commonly used drugs in Iran in-house with licenses from Europoan and other countries, in order to reduce the country’s foreign currency spending and help in Iran’s self-sufficiency. They acquired a license from Astra Pharmaceutics to produce a certain dental anesthetic that was commonly used. Mahfar Co. was seen as a reliable source of drugs and one of the biggest producers for retail, hospitals, the army, and the Social Affairs Organization. It became one of the largest and most reliable pharmaceutics company.
The 1979 revolution in Iran, however, caused social and economic chaos, which led to uncertainty. Therefore, they decided to suspend some of their projects until the situation becomes clear. Drug production was one of the areas that was suspended. In the summer of 1979, Jack Mahfar was forced to hand over his company and all that they had achieved, which was the fruit of years of hard work by himself and his brothers, to the government. He left Iran shortly afterwards and settled in the United States, where he joined his family. He also left behind all his wealth.
For many years, Jack Mahfar was engaged in philanthropic activities next to his business. To name a few, he turned most Mahfar Co. workers into homeowners, built dozens of schools in poor villages as requested by the government, offered social and cultural aid, helped fight Cholera, addressed the needs of the Jewish community, donated to the construction of a retirement home and the Gisha synagogue, and donated for the preservation and expansion of several Jewish schools. Jack Mahfar also collaborated with the representative of the Jewish minority to the Iranian parliament, Yuosef Kohn, and the chairman of the Tehran Jewish Committee, Haj Habib Elghanian, in solving the problems the Jewish community faced, for which he forged a strong relationship with presidents, prime ministers, and other high level authorities of the country. Jack Mahfar supported academic and cultural activities and had a close relationship with researchers, inventors, and academicians in Iran and other countries.
On 27 September 2011, he received the Legion of Honor Award (Legion d’ honneur) from the then President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, in recognition of his quality philanthropic contributions to the Republic of France. On February 2014, Jack Mahfar received the [Israeli] President’s Award of Distinction, for his contribution to the human community. Jack also received letters of appreciation, insignias, and tablets of honor. He published an autobiography called “From Laborer to Entrepreneur, Memoirs of Jack Mahfar”, which narrates his life from the Jouybareh district of Esfahan to life in Tehran and later, Genève of Switzerland.
Jack Mahfar also helped other authors publish their books. He established the Jack Mahfar Foundation, which has funded the publication of more than 15 books up to now and distributed them in various countries in order to make them available to Iranians abroad. Furthermore, as encouraged and supported by Professor Yarshater, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Encyclopædia Iranica.
