His father, Abol Hassan Alavi, took part in the 1906 Constitutional Revolution and later published (with Hasan Taqizadeh) the progressive newsletter Kaveh (Kaweh) in Germany.
In Berlin he established the Komiteh-ye Iran (Committee of Iran), and together with other prominent Iranian intellectuals, he published the influential periodical Kaveh (1916–1922), which was distributed in Europe as well as in Iran.
The Karenas, Karan-Vands, or Karen-Pahlevi as they are also called, claimed descent from Karen, a figure of folklore and son of the equally mythical Kava the blacksmith.
The flag of the Jangal movement was a red banner with the name Kaveh (a heroic figure in the Shahnama) written upon it.
In Berlin he established the Komiteh-ye Iran (Committee of Iran), and with other prominent Iranian intellectuals, published the influential periodical Kaveh (1916–1922), which was distributed in Europe and Iran.
During this time he also worked for the periodical Kāveh (1916).
Ben Wendel, Shane Endsley, Adam Benjamin, and Kaveh Rastegar met in the late 1990s as students at the Eastman School of Music.
After being owned by Farzaneh and Kaveh Moussavi, it was sold to Scot and Michele Young in May 1997 who sold it on to the Flemish family Pierre Lagrange, one of the founders of GLG Partners.