New film about cryogenically frozen Iranian writer

FM-2030 is a recent biopic about a pioneering Iranian transhumanist named FM-2030, who has been cryonically suspended since his death in 2000.

He was one of the first to promote research in a technology-driven leap towards non-biological bodies and an end to aging and death.

Born as Fereidoun M. Esfandiary in 1930, he changed his name to FM-2030 because he believed that by 2030 “we will be ageless and everyone will have an excellent chance to live forever”.

FM-20320 studied at UCLA and Berkeley, served as a diplomat on the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine from 1952-1954, and wrote for the Nation, the New York Times, and the Saturday Review. He had a magnetic personality and a gift for snappy catchphrases.

His 1973 book UpWingers: A Futurist Manifesto, predicted a political future in which Left and Right would be irrelevant. The world would be divided into UpWingers and DownWingers, the former looking to the future and the latter to the past.

“I am a 21^st century person who was accidentally launched in the 20^th. I feel a deep nostalgia for the future,” he used to say.

Unfortunately FM-2030 died at the age of 69 of pancreatic cancer. His body was frozen by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in the hope of reviving him when technology advances enough.

Michael Cook is editor of BioEdge

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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