Vol. 15, No. 1 MEALAC-Columbia University-New York Spring 2003

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CENTER FOR IRANIAN STUDIES

NEWSLETTER

HAJI VASHANGTON, first Iranianambassador to Washington, 1888-89

Mahmoud KhayamiHeads The Persian

Heritage Foundation

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ENCYCLOPÆDIA IRANICAFascicles 5 and 6 of Volume XI Published;

Fascicle 1 of Volume XII in PressThe fifth and sixth fascicles of

Volume XI of EncyclopædiaIranica were published in the Win-ter and Spring of 2003. These fas-cicles feature over 120 articles onvarious aspects of Persian culture andhistory, including three major series ofarticles on specific subjects: three en-tries on Hadith; fourteen entries onHafez; and nine entries on Hamadan.With the publication of these fascicles,Volume XI of the Encyclopædia hasbeen completed, and its bound volumewill be distributed in the early Summer.

HADITH

Fascicle five features the remain-ing three articles, in a series of five, onvarious aspects of Hadith: These entriesfocus on HADITH IN ISMAILISM by I.Poonawala; HADITH IN SUFISM by H.Algar ; and the much-neglected topic ofHADITH AS INFLUENCED BY IRANIAN IDEAS

AND PRACTICES by S. Shaked. ProfessorShaked’s contribution, in particular, is

highly informative on the numer-ous Iranian influences on Hadith,from items of vocabulary to eventsin the biography of the Prophet(e.g. his heavenly journey, or

me’raj), acts of worship (e.g. five dailyprayers), and customs (e.g. the belief inreligious benefit through using a tooth-pick, or mesvak).

HAFEZ

Fascicle five also features 14 ma-jor entries on Hafez. The series openswith an overview by the Editor, whosums up the essence of Hafez’s poetryand positions and critically examinesand challenges some of the long-heldassumptions and often-repeated inter-

In the April meet-ing of the Board ofthe Persian Heri-tage Foundation,which was incor-porated in 1984 asa not-for-profitfoundation to pro-

mote Persian culture and assist schol-ars of Iranian studies in their work, theBoard elected Mr. Mahmoud Khayami,the renowned financier, philanthropist,and art collector as its new Chairmanof the Board and President.

The Persian Heritage Foundationhas been most active in the field of re-

Miami Benefit Gala RaisesOver $340,000 for the Endowment

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On Saturday, February 8, 2003,a Gala benefit dinner and auction or-ganized by Friends of theEncyclopædia Iranica (EIr.) was heldat the elegant Sheraton Bal HarbourBeach Resort in Miami Beach,Florida.

The theme of the Gala 2003 wasto honor modern Iranian-Americanwomen who have distinguished them-selves in various fields of human en-deavor and to celebrate their strongpresence in social, cultural, and po-litical arenas, and the inspiration theyhave provided by their accomplish-ments and excellence. Eight womenwere honored in the fields of humanrights, fiction, journalism, science,cultural activity, medicine, poetry, andvisual arts.

The Gala was organized by agroup of dedicated supporters ofEncyclopaedia Iranica who workedtirelessly over nine months to ensureits success. The event was Co-chairedby Dr. Nasser Eftekhari, a specialist

in rehabilitation medicine, and Dr.Parvin Ganjei-Azar, Professor of Pa-thology at the University of Miami.Shohreh Aghdashloo, the well-known actress and media personality,was the Mistress of Ceremony.

The Executive Committee con-sisted of Karim Atash , AhmadTavakoly (audio-visual), MitraHeyat (design), Shahrzad Khosravi(sponsorship), Ali Mahallati ( auc-tion), Jila Rezaie, Dr. EbrahimMostoufi, and members of PersianVillage, i.e., the Anasseri family:Babak, Siamak, Siavash and Shiva(Gala Journal/public relations).

Members of the Gala Commit-tees included: Sara Anasseri, Hastiand Armin Azar, Dr. Reza Azar, LiaBerton, Aydin Bonabi, AliciaCabrera, Fereshteh and Parisa Daee,Willette Davis, Sedi, Parham, andSamin Eftekhari , Sohrab Farshadi,Dr. Minoo Golkar , ZoyaHajianpour , Sheri Kamali-

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Cont inued f rom page 1Cont inued f rom page 1Cont inued f rom page 1Cont inued f rom page 1Cont inued f rom page 1pretations of Hafez’s poems. He dis-tinguishes three main themes in his po-etry: love; the satire of the hypocriticalpretenders of virtue among the Sufis andthe representatives of formal religion;and the praise of wine and the exalta-tion of the rends, the wine-sellers, andother social outcasts. The praise of thedebauchees and derelicts and holdingthem up as paragons of virtue is usedas an effective jibe against the hypo-crites and the people whom he desig-nates as shaiks (religious elders), moftis(clerics who issue religious rulings),judges, mohtasebs (officials chargedwith policing public morals), waezes(preachers), hafezes (memorizers andreciters of the Koran), faqihs (scholarsof religious law), zaheds (ascetics, butin Hafez’s Divan, practitioners of shampiety), imam-e jamaats (leaders of pub-lic prayer), and Sufis (practitioners ofIslamic mysticism).

The mocking satire of the groupcertainly is not a lyrical theme, butHafez’s passionate opposition to hypoc-

risy and deception on the part of thereligious figures made him turn to at-tacking with unparalleled wit and vervethe hidden unbelief of the whole gang.Rends and qalandars designate no oth-ers than debauchees and the derelictsof the society who frequent taverns andplaces of disrepute (kharabat). In hisjibes against the hypocrites, Hafezplaces rends, qalandars, and wine-sell-ers on a pedestal and presents them incontrast to the pretentious hypocrites assymbols of sincerity and virtue. Noth-ing mystical here. To read anything butinfamous outcasts of the society inrends and tavern-keepers is to missHafez’s point as well as his biting hu-mor. The Editor emphasizes that thelanguage of Hafez is a transparent onein the best tradition of Persian poetry.Hafez says what he means. It is onlythe mystical tendencies in some of hisreaders that imposes fancy metaphysi-cal and mystical interpretations ofHafez. Otherwise wine, rend, andshahed mean exactly what they do. Itis his abhorrence of the Sufis of his timethat makes a sage and an inspired phi-losopher of the pir-e moghan, an eld-erly Zoroastrian tavern-keeper. Evenhis frequent praise of wine and drunk-enness is meant to be a thorn in the sideof the hypocrites who pawn their prayerrugs in order to buy the forbidden wine.

The major entry on Hafez’s poeticarts is written by J. T. P. de Bruijn.Several other scholars discuss the vari-ous aspects of his poetry.

Other entries are: HAFEZ’S LIFE AND

TIMES, by B. Khorramshahi and EIr ;HAFEZ’ S POETIC ART, by J.T.P. deBruijn ; LEXICAL STRUCTURE OF HAFEZ’S

GHAZALS, by M. Correale; MANU-SCRIPTS OF HAFEZ, by J. Meisami;PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE DIVAN OF

HAFEZ, by B. Khorramshahi and EIr ;HAFEZ AND RENDI and HAFEZ AND MU-SIC, both by F. Lewis; TRANSLATIONS OF

HAFEZ IN ENGLISH, by P. Loloi; TRANS-LATIONS OF HAFEZ IN GERMAN, by H.Tafazoli; HAFEZ AND THE VISUAL ARTS,by P. Soucek; and HAFEZ’ S TOMB

(Hafeziya), by K. Kamali Sarvestani.HAFEZ AND ERFAN will be treated in theSupplement; for FAL-E HAFEZ see FAL-NAMAHA and DIVINATION .

HAMADAN

These fascicles feature a major se-ries of nine entries on Hamadan: GEOG-RAPHY, by P. Azkai and EIr ; POPULA-TION, by H. Zanjani ; HISTORICAL GEOG-RAPHY, by X. de Planhol; URBAN PLAN,

by A. Eshragh; HISTORY, ISLAMIC PE-RIOD, by P. Azkai; MONUMENTS, by A.Mousavi and EIr ; JEWISH COMMUNITY ,by H. Sarshar; and JEWISH DIALECT, byD. Stilo; for pre-Islamic history seeECBATANA.

HISTORY, PRE-ISLAMIC

Eight entries deal with pre-Islamichistory: HAFT TEPE, the Elamite archaeo-logical site in Khuzestan province, byE. Negahban; HAFTAVAN TEPE, a largesettlement mound in the Urmia basin,Azerbaijan, by C. Burney; two entrieson the HAJIABAD INSCRIPTIONS, bilingualinscriptions of Shapur I on the wall ofHajiabad cave near Persepolis: one onthe INSCRIPTIONS, by P. Gignoux, andone on the TEXTS, by EIr ;HALICARNASSUS, the ancient town ofCaria, once the seat of a kingdom tribu-tary to Persia, by B. Genito;HAMARAKARA , an Old Iranian title at-tested in various sources of Achaemenidand later times, by M. Dandamayev;

From the entryHAFEZ AND THE VISUAL ARTS

Hamadan in the 19th century, fromthe entry HAMADAN HISTORY

Tomb of Avicenna, from the entryHAMADAN MONUMENTS

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HALLOCK , the Elamitologist andAssyriologist, by C. Jones and M.Stolper; and HADRIAN, the Roman em-peror (117-38), by E. Badian.

MEDIEVAL TO QAJAR HISTORY

Medieval Islamic and Qajar historyare treated in thirteen entries: HAMD-AL-LAH MOSTAWFI, historian and geographerof the Ilkhanid period, by C. Melville;HAFEZ-E ABRU, the Timurid historian, byM. Subtelny and C. Melville; HANWAY,Jonas, the 18th century English mer-chant who traveled to Persia and wrotean account of his journey, by E. Tucker;two entries dealing with Hajeb, an ad-ministrative and later military office:HAJEB IN THE MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC PERIOD,by C. Bosworth, and HAJEB IN THE

SAFAVID AND QAJAR PERIODS, by R.Matthee; HARDINGE, Sir Arthur Henry,and HARDINGE, Lord Charles, Britishdiplomats, both by D. Wright ; HAJJI

BABA OF ISPAHAN, the hero of the popu-lar early 19th-century English novel, byA. Amanat; HAJI BABA AFSHAR, one ofthe first Persian students to study inEurope, and HAJI PIRZADA, the Persiantraveler, both by A. Vanzan; HAJJ

SAYYAH , Mirza MOHAMMAD ALI

MAHALLATI , the first Iranian-American,a world traveler, constitutionalist andhuman rights activist, by A. Ferdowsi;HAJI VASHANGTON, epithet for Persia’sfirst ambassador to the United States,by H. Kamaly; and HAKIMI , Ebrahim,the 19th-20th century Persian states-man, by A. Milani and EIr .

PRE-ISLAMIC RELIGION & CULTURE

These fascicles feature sixteen en-tries on topics of Pre-Islamic Religion

and Culture: HAFT, on the significanceof the haft in Persian culture and his-tory, HAFT KESHVAR, meaning seven re-gions, the usual geographical divisionof the world in Iranian tradition, HAREM

IN ANCIENT IRAN, the first of two entrieson harems, and HAFTVAD (Haftwad), onthe hero of a legend associated with therise of the Sasanian Ardashir I, all by S.Shahbazi; HAFTORANG, the circumpo-lar constellation of Ursa Major, andHAFT AMAHRASPAND YAST, the secondhymn of the Avestan corpus, both byA. Panaino; HAFTANBOXT, the legend-ary warlord in southern Persia, by M.Shaki; HAFTA, or “Week,” by EIr ;HAMESTAGAN, a word in Pahlavi litera-ture designating the stage between para-dise and hell, by P. Gignoux;HAM.VAINTI , the Zoroastrian divinity“Victory,” by B. Schlerath; HAMAZOR,a Zoroastrian-Persian adjective mean-ing “of the same strength,” and

HAMKALAM , a Zoroastrian-Persian ad-jective meaning “of the same word,”both authored jointly by M. Boyce andF. Kotwal; two entries on HAOMA, theAvestan name for a plant, and its divin-ity: BOTANY, by D. Taillieu, and RITU-ALS, by M. Boyce; HADOXT NASK, thesixth of the seven Gathic nasks, by J.Kellens; and HAMUN IN LITERATURE AND

MYTHOLOGY, the second of two entrieson Lake Hamun in Sistan, by G. Gnoli.

ISLAM AND SHIISM

There are seven entries dealingwith Islam and Shiism: HAMZA B.AZARAK, the Kharijite rebel in Sistanand Khorasan during early Abbasidtimes, by C. E. Bosworth; HALABI ,

Shaikh Mahmud, the charismatic clericand founder of the Hojjatiya Associa-tion, by M. Sadri; HALABI , the Imamijurist and theologian, by E. Kohlberg;HALAL O HARAM, Islamic legal termsmeaning “permissible” and “prohib-ited,” by D. al-Sajdi; HAERI, ShaikhAbd-al-Karim, founder of an institutionof religious knowledge (Hawza-yeelmiya) in Qom, by H. Algar ; twoschools of Sunni jurisprudence,HANAFITE MADHAB, named after AbuHanifa Noman b. Tabet, and HANBALITE

MADHAB, named after Ahmad b. Hanbal,both by M. Swartz; and HAKAMI , MirzaAli-Akbar, the 19th-20th century phi-losopher and theosopher, by M.Khalaji .

ISMAILISM AND MYSTICISM

Three entries are concerned withIsmailism: HAMDAN QARMAT b. al-Ashath an Ismaili da’i and founder ofthe Ismaili movement in Iraq, by W.Madelung; HAMID -AL-DIN KERMANI,prominent Ismaili da’i, accomplishedtheologian and philosopher, and HAKEM

BE-AMR-ALLAH , Abu Ali Mansur, sixthFatimid caliph and sixteenth IsmailiImam, both by F. Daftary.

The fascicles also present four en-tries on topics related to mysticism:HAKIM AL -TERMEDI, Abu Abd-AllahMohammad b. Ali, on the 9th-10th cen-tury mystic author, by B. Radtke;HALLAJ, the controversial mystic fromFars, by J. Mojaddedi; HAMADANI ,Sayyed Ali, the Sufi author andpreacher, by P. Azkai; andHAGIOGRAPHIC LITERATURE, the bio-

HAJJ SAYYAH

HAJJI BABA OF ISPAHAN

The martyrdom of HALLAJ in Baghdad

CIS Newsletter 4

graphical genre devoted to individualsseen as “holy men,” by J. Paul.

JUDEO-PERSIAN

There are four entries on Judeo-Persian figures: HAMAN , chief courtierof King Ahasuerus according to theBook of Esther, by S. Shaked; HAIM ,Solayman, the 20th century lexicogra-pher, HAIM , Moreh Hakam, the eminentJewish scholar, and HAIM , Semuel, thejournalist and Majles deputy, all by A.Netzer.

PERSIAN LITERATURE

Twelve entries treat topics of Per-sian literature: HAFT KHAN, the title oftwo famous stories in the Shah-nama,by O. M. Davidson; HANG-E AFRASIAB,the cave where Afrasiab, fugitive kingof Turan, spent his last days in the Shah-nama, by S. Shahbazi; two entries onHAMZA-NAMA, the popular prose ro-mance: an overview, by W. HanawayJr., and HAMZA-NAMA IN THE SUBCONTI-NENT, by F. Pritchett; HAFT PEYKAR,Nezami of Ganja’s 12th century roman-tic epic, and HANZALA BADGHISI, one ofthe earliest known Persian poets, bothby F. de Blois; HAMMER-PURGSTALL,Joseph Freiherr, the prolific AustrianOrientalist, and HAJW, a Persian termdenoting satire, humorous writing, orlight verse, both by J. T. P. de Bruijn ;HAMGAR, MAJD-E, Majd-al-Din b.Ahmad, important poet of the 13th cen-tury, by D. Safa; HAMIDI SHIRAZI ,Mehdi, literary critic, translator, jour-nalist, and university professor, by J.M. Shirazi; HALAT , Abu’l-qasem, poet,writer, translator, songwriter, andscholar, by H. Ettehad; and HAJI AQA,Sadeq Hedayat’s satirical novella, by F.Farzaneh.

PERSIAN MUSIC

There are three entries on Persian mu-sic: HAFT KHOSRAVANI, the seven musi-cal modes attributed to Barbad, the leg-endary court musician, by A.Youssefzadeh; HAL, an abstract term inPersian art and music, by J. During;and HAJIANI, a term in Persian classicalmusic, by B. Nettl.

FOLKLORE & PERSIAN CUISINE

Folklore and Persian cuisine aretreated in five entries: HANIBAL , Ali,Russian-born Persian scholar andfounder of the first anthropology jour-nal in Persia, by A. Boloukbashi; HAFT

SIN, seven items beginning with the let-

ter “S,” a component of New Year’s Dayrituals, by S. Shahbazi; HAJI FIRUZ, themost famous traditional folk entertainer,by M. Omidsalar; and HALWA, a ge-neric term applied to various sweetdishes and fruits, and HALIM , a Persiandish traditionally made for breakfastwith lamb and wheat, both by E. Elahi.

PERSIAN PRESENCEIN NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES

Eight entries deal with the Persianpresence in neighboring countries. T.Yazici contributes four on the Persianpresence in the Ottoman empire: HAFEZ-E AJAM, Hafez-al-Din Mohammad b.Ahmad b. Adel Celebi, an author andreligious scholar; HALIMI , LOTF-ALLAH

b. Abi Yusof, an Ottoman poet and lexi-cographer of Persian origin; HAMZA

NIGARI, a Sufi and poet from Azerbaijanwho lived in Ottoman Empire andHAMEDI ESFAHANI, a poet of Persian ori-gin at the court of the Ottoman SultanMohammad Fateh.

There are three entries on the Per-sian presence in the Sub-Continent:HAMDARD ISLAMICUS, an English-lan-guage quarterly for Islamic Studies,founded in Pakistan in 1978, by A. Z.Khan; HAMID QALANDAR, author of theobiter dicta of Cheshti shaikh Nasir-al-Din Mahmud Cherag-e Dehli, by K.Nizami; and HANSAVI, Shaikh Jamal-al-Din Ahmad, 12th-13th century mystic,poet, and author, by S. H. Qasemi.

D. DeWeese contributes an entryon a Persian in Central Asia: HAKIM ATA,the early 13th century Central AsianSufi.

16th C. clock design by the engineerHAFEZ ESFAHANI

OTHER ENTRIES

Another twelve entries include twoon science, two on geography, two onarchitecture, three on the press, andthree on tribal communities: HAFEZ

ESFAHANI, Mawlana Mohammad, a15th-16th century engineer, by P.Mohebbi; HAMED b. AL -KHEZR AL -KHOJANDI, Abu Mahmud, a mathemati-cian and astronomer of the late 10thcentury, by D. Pingree; HALIL RUD, ariver in the Jiroft and Kahnuj districtsof Kerman Province, by M. H. Ganji ;HAMUN GEOGRAPHY, the second of twoentries on lake Hamun in Sistan, by E.Ehlers; HAIFA, the port city in north-western Israel and location of the shrineof the Bab, by H. Amanat; HAMMAM -E

WAKL , a historical monument in Shirazbuilt by Karim Khan Zand, by K. Afsar ;HAQIQAT, meaning “truth,” the name ofsix different Persian-language newspa-pers or periodicals, and HAJI BABA, thetitle of a satirical and politically orientednewspaper, both by N. Parvin; HAQIQAT,the name of several newspapers in TajikPersian, by H. Borjian ; and HAMAYD ,an Arab tribe of Khuzestan, HAMAVAND ,a Kurdish tribe of northeastern Iraq, andHAJI ALILU , a Turkic tribe of PersianAzerbaijan, all by P. Oberling.

HAFT SIN

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SUPPORT FOR

ENCYCLOPÆDIA IRANICA

The Encyclopædia Iranica is a projectof Columbia University carried out byits Center for Iranian Studies. Par-tially supported by the National En-dowment for the Humanities, the ex-ecution of the project is being madepossible by donations from institutionsand individuals who value a compre-hensive, meticulous and reliablerecord of Persian culture and history.

We appeal to all such institutions andindividuals to assist the project bytheir donations. We acknowledge withthanks the donations by the followingindividuals for the period of Novem-ber 25, 2002-April 15, 2003.

PatronKhayami, Mr. Mahmoud

BenefactorsGhahary, Dr. AkbarIran Heritage FoundationKhosrowshahi, Mrs. NezhatNazem Family Foundation

SponsorsAdamiyatt , Mr. & Mrs. SamanAmirsaleh FoundationFriends of Iranica in DubaiFriends of Iranica in MontrealFriends of Iranica in ParisRezzadeh, Dr. RudySoltani Oriental Rugs (Y. Azad)

2000 ClubBekhrad, Ms. Fereshteh

1000 ClubAlemi, Mr. AliBolurfrushan , Mr. AbbasDanesh, Mr. H. DanHooshmand, Mr. & Mrs. HooshangHoushmand, Mr. Mark (Manouchehr)Kashani-Akhavan, Mr. A.Kashfi, Dr. AliKhosrowshahi, Dr. NasrollahMahdavian, Dr. Jalal (O’Mead Fndtn)Masoumzadeh, Mr. MortezaMirzai , Dr. M. A. (O’Mead Fndtn)Pahlavan, Dr. KambizSobhani, Mr. MouhebatVaseghi, Dr. Mehdi

SupportersFathie, Dr. KazemNour Foundation

Taghinia-Milani , Ms. Leila (Heller)Yeganegi, Mr. & Mrs. Parviz

FriendsBayevsky, Prof. SolomonBroumand, Mr. & Mrs. HormozDarki , Dr. & Mrs. Abdul H.Edison International (EmployeeMatch Program)Eghbali, Dr. HassanEmami, Dr. HosseinHaerian, Dr. AndreHaerian, Mr. MohammadJalali, Mr. Mohammad RezaKhosravi, Ms. Shahrzad ShawnLadjevardi , Mr. GhassemLadjevardi , Dr. HabibMortezai, Mr. & Mrs. MortezaParang, Dr. PirouzRezai, Dr. PartoSarabi, Ms. AndishehSharifian, Mr. MehdiZekavat, Dr. HassanZomorrodian , Dr. Shahnaz Erfani

GALA SPONSORSThe Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundationwishes to thank and acknowledge the

generosity of the following sponsors ofGala 2003:

Ruby SponsorsMahmoud Khayami

Khosrow Bayegan Semnani

Emerald SponsorAkbar Ghahary

Sapphire SponsorFred F. Nazem

Topaz SponsorSimin Nazemi Allison

Shirley Elghanian

Garnet SponsorAzi Hariri

Jade SponsorProfessor Kazem Fathi

Fred NazemSapphire Sponsor

Khosrow SemnaniRuby Sponsor

Akbar GhaharyEmerald Sponsor

CIS Newsletter 6

Auction Raises $60 K

The 2003 Gala’s auction was agreat success due to the efforts of manydedicated Committee Members andvolunteer presenters. The event raised$60,000.00 from over 75 lots donatedby a number of individuals and organi-zations from Florida and around thecountry.

The live auction commenced aftera fabulous dinner and included 8 lotsof exciting items including an antiqueIranian “Berno” rifle with RoyalCrown, an original photograph byShirin Neshat, an original oil paintingby Nasser Ovissi, two Persian carpets,and a beautiful South Sea Pearl ringfrom the estate of the late Mrs.Yarshater.

The silent auction lots were hand-somely displayed in the Reception Halland were open for competitive biddingduring the evening. They included ex-quisite Persian jewelry, a designer madeladies dress by Fay Zandi, Hermesscarf and tie, weekend packages at dif-ferent Miami hotels and resorts, airfareticket to Europe, an original artwork byIran Issa Khan, box tickets to a Mi-ami Heat Basketball game, Persian tap-estry work, books of interests, originalpictures by Aryana Farshad andFariba Azimi , and paintings by verytalented Iranian artists.

Auctioned photo by Shirin Neshat

Khosravi , Homa Maleki , PariMarciano, Dr. Marjan Mirzabeigi, AliMoztarzadeh, Heidi Nadjafi , Dr.Morteza Nadjafi , Jaleh Nadji , PantheaNamvar, Abbas Sadeghi, TaherehShah, Dr. Lina Samimy, SheriToufanian, Bianca Valme.

Dina Amin, Assistant Director ofthe Center for Iranian Studies at Colum-bia University, ably handled the admin-istrative aspects of the Gala. DanielaM. Cellini from That’s Amore SpecialEvents and Glenda Chorny fromSheraton Bal Harbour Beach Resorthelped with local organization. YasminSamimy from S2D2 Design, RayDehbozorgi from Minuteman Press,Mitra Heyat from Heyat HospitalityGroup, and Karim Atash were key par-ticipants in the design of the beautifulinvitation cards, the sophisticated deco-ration of the Ballrooms and auction dis-plays, and the magnificent audiovisualsystem at the event.

The Co-chairs were ably supportedalso by a number of loyal friends of EIr,including Dr. Shirin Semnani, Mrs.Homa Sarshar, and Mr. Shan Fazeli,the organizers of the 2002 LA BenefitGala.

The evening commenced with anelegant cocktail reception at theSheraton Bal Harbour Grand BallroomFoyer. Over 75 auction items werebeautifully exhibited by Gala Commit-tee members directed by Mitra Heyat .Items for live auction consisted of eightlots, all donated by various individualsand organizations and collected by GalaCommittee members. During the cock-tail reception, Sergei, the fine guitaristfrom California, played soft melodies.

Welcoming remarks were deliv-ered by Dr. Parvin Ganjei-Azar. Ms.Shahrzad Khayami extended further

welcome to the audience on behalf Mr.Mahmoud Khayami, her father andthe Chairman of the Board of Trusteesof Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation,who was traveling and was unable toattend, and Mr. Khosrow B. Semnani,the Foundation’s Vice-Chair. At theopening of the Award ceremony SiminBehhahani recited one of her poems.Ms. Aghdashloo then presented theawards to the honorees (see p. 7). Eachhonoree responded with a brief note ofthanks.

After dinner the Live Auction wasconducted by Christie’s Lee KoonceOgundiran. Upon completion of theLive Auction items, Dr. Ganjei re-quested Simin Behbahani to kindly addone of her poems to the Live Auction.Instead, Mrs. Behbahani graciouslydonated one of her recent books pub-lished in Iran entitled Yeki MathalanInke. This was the most memorable andtouching event of the evening. The bookwas sold for $5,000.00.

Following theLive Auction, Dr.Eftekhari ex-pressed the appre-ciation of theFriends ofEncyc lopaed iaIranica in SouthFlorida to the par-ticipants in the Mi-

ami Gala. The Award ceremony wasconcluded by Professor Yarshater’sacknowledgements and closing re-marks.

Music was provided by the melo-dies of the well-known violinist SoorenAlexander and guitarist and pianistSergei, who had replaced Armen, whowas not able to attend.

At the end of the evening eachguest took home as a souvenir a copyof the Gala Journal, tastefully preparedwith excellent editorial skills and artis-tic flair by Mrs. Jila Rezaie, Mr.Hassan Massoumi and members ofPersian Village.

In summary, the 2003 Miami Galawas an eloquent testimony to the dedi-cation of the many friends and support-ers of EIr who worked hard for a verysuccessful fundraising event.

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Miami Benefit GalaRaises Over $340,000

Dr. Ganjei-Azar Dr. Eftekhari

Ms. ShohrehAghdashloo

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Eight outstanding women in hu-man rights, poetry, visual arts, fiction,journalism, science, cultural activity,and medicine were honored during thisyear’s Gala Benefit Dinner in Miami.

Mahnaz Afkhami,active in the field ofwomen’s rights,was the recipient of“H UMAN RIGHTSAWARD.” A formerMinister of Statefor Women’s Af-fairs and Secretary

General of Women’s Organization ofIran, she has served as Founding Presi-dent of Women’s Learning Partnership(WLP) and Executive Director of theFoundation for Iranian Studies in theUnited States. Among Ms. Afkhami’spublications are In the Eye of the Storm:Women in Post-revolutionary Iran(Syracuse University Press, 1994),Women in Exile (University Press ofVirginia, 1994), and Muslim Womenand the Politics of Participation (Syra-cuse University Press, 1997).

Simin Behbahani,the foremost figurein modern Persianliterature and themost outstandingcontemporary poetof the Persian lan-guage, was hon-ored with “THE PO-

ETRY AWARD.” As the “voice of freedomrising against repression,” Behbahaniwas nominated for the Nobel Prize inLiterature in 1997. She was alsoawarded a Human Rights WatchHellman-Hammet grant in 1998, andthe Carl von Ossietzky Medal in 1999.Simin Behbahani was honored in 2002at the Encyclopaedia Iranica’s Los An-geles Gala Benefit Dinner for the un-paralleled beauty of her poetry and herlifelong devotion to freedom and socialjustice, but could not attend the Galadue to travel restrictions.

An internationallyacclaimed and uni-versally recog-nized visual artistand filmmaker,Shirin Neshat hadreceived “THE VI-SUAL ARTS AWARD”at the Los Angeles

Gala in 2002. She graciously attendedthe Miami Gala, where one of her re-cent short works, “Tuba,” inspired by

Parsipour’s magical realist novel Tubaand the Meaning of Night was shownto great acclaim. Ms. Neshat is the win-ner of numerous awards and has beenincluded in many prestigious interna-tional exhibitions and film festivals.She has received critical acclaim in pub-lications such as The New York Times,Le Monde, The Los Angeles Times, ArtIn America, Art Forum, and Art News,among others.

The recipient of the“FICTION AWARD”was the outstand-ing novelist,Shahrnush Parsi-Pur . Her firstnovel, Sag vaZemestan-e Boland(The Dog and the

Long Winter) was published in 1974when she was twenty-eight. Her novelTuba va Ma’na-ye Shab (Tuba and theMeaning of Night, 1988) is generallyregarded as one of the first novels writ-ten in Persian in the magical realiststyle, and has been translated into En-glish, German, Italian, and Swedish.Zanan Bedun-e Mardan (Women With-out Men, 1989) has been translated intoEnglish, Swedish, Spanish, Italian andMalayan. “Tooba” a recently releasedfilm by Shirin Neshat, is an abstract ad-aptation of the novella.

Journalist, writer,speaker and mediapersonality, HomaSarshar was therecipient of “Jour-nalism Award.”From 1964 to 1971she worked forZan-e Ruz weekly

magazine. From 1971 to 1978 she waseditor and columnist for Keyhan news-paper. She worked as co-producer,writer, and talk-show host at NationalIranian Radio and Television (1972-78),Omid-e Iran Radio and Television(1982 to 1990), and Jaam-e Jam Tele-vision (since 1998). She has publisheda number of books, including Darkucheh paskucheh ha-ye ghorbat in1993 and Sha’ban Ja’fari in 2001. Shehas founded the Center for Iranian Jew-ish Oral History in Los Angeles in 1995,and served as a member of the Boardof Trustees of the Encyclopædia IranicaFoundation from 1993-97.

“T HE SCIENCEAWARD” was pre-sented to Dr.A z a d e hTabazadeh whoseoutstanding re-search and discov-eries have made

significant contributions to the field ofatmospheric science. She joined NASAas a Physical Scientist in the Atmo-spheric Physics Branch where she iscurrently a Senior Physical Scientist.She has published a number of researchpapers in prestigious science journals.In the cover story of the Proceedings ofthe National Academy of Science (2002,No.99), Dr. Tabazadeh presented for thefirst time the results of her research onthe correlation between volcanic activ-ity and the ozone hole. Her most recentwork on the connection between ozonedepletion and global warming is chal-lenging widely held views in strato-spheric science.

Dr. Monir Taha , anoted songwriter,poet, and writer,was the recipient of“The Cultural Ac-tivity Award.” Sheestablished theRoudaki CulturalFoundation in

1988 with the aim of promoting Persianculture in Vancouver, Canada. In 1994,she established an annual award namedafter Ehsan Yarshater to be given to out-standing Persian scholars, writers, po-ets or artists. Several volumes of Ms.Taha’s poetry have been published from1953-1996 and her songs were per-formed in the Golha-ye Rangarang ra-dio programs by such vocalists asBanan and Marzieh. In 1990 she com-posed the lyrics and music of“Sarzamin-e man” for an ensemble; ithas been performed several times by theVivaldi Chamber Choir of Vancouver.

An internationallyrecognized expertin Gynecologic andBreast pathologyand the author ofnearly 150 publica-tions, Dr. FattanehTavassoli was therecipient of “The

Medicine Award.” Her 1992 textbook(reprinted in 1999), Pathology of theBreast, soon became the standard workon the topic. She also served at the edi-tor of the World Health Organization’sbook (2003) on classification of Tumorsof the Breast and Female Genital Tract.She serves on the editorial boards ofseveral journals including Modern Pa-thology, Human Pathology, Interna-tional Journal of Surgical Pathology,International Journal of GynecologicPathology, Annals of Diagnostic Pa-thology and the Breast Journal.

Gala Honors EightDistinguished Women

CIS Newsletter 8

Matthee DiscussesThe Ambiguities of Wine

On February 1,2003, ProfessorRudi Matthee ofthe University ofDelaware beganthis year’s IranianSeminars serieswith a lecture en-titled, “The Ambi-guities of Wine:

The Safavid Period: Between Excessand Abstention.”

Professor Matthee began his talkby observing that Iran is likely to havebeen the world’s earliest area ofviticulture, and Iranian history could bewritten as the history of razm va bazm(fighting and feasting), in both of whichwine played a role.

He then proceeded to explain howthe advent of Islam formally made winedrinking illicit, but in fact did little tointerrupt its long tradition in Iran. Fa-mously celebrated in Sufi poetry, winealso remained central to court culture,its status reinforced by an influx ofmostly Turkic peoples from CentralAsia with a reputation for hard drink-ing.

In the Safavid period wine re-mained part of a shared cultural idiomin the eastern half of the Muslim world.Alcohol consumption by the elite recallsthe pre-Islamic razm va bazm traditionof hard fighting and hard drinking asthe expected pursuits of warriors. Con-suming alcohol in large quantities alsohad a spiritual, even sacral dimensionreminiscent of the ancient libation rite.The king was supposed to drink, bothas a sign of his stature as a “big man,”and as a demonstration that he occupiedhis own autonomous moral space—be-yond the strictures of Islam. Wine more-over served to mark the boundaries ofinclusion and exclusion. Who was andwho was not invited to join the shah in

his drinking parties betokened royalfavor and disfavor. That Western visi-tors might not just be included in theseassemblies but were even allowed toshare the shah’s own cup betrays theemphatically secular make-up of a courtthat was not just willing to transgressthe general Islamic ban on drinking butthe more specifically Shi’i one on ritualpurity as well.

Prof. Matthee noted that as muchas alcohol permeated early modern Ira-nian society, wine-drinking retained itsdubious status as a custom at variancewith religious prescriptions. Alcohol re-mained socially unintegrated. Wine wasa social lubricant, but its ultimate fatewas simultaneous furtive embrace andpublic disavowal. Little of this was vis-ible in early Safavid times, when winewas consumed in a quasi-ecstatic fash-ion by a cult-like group—the Qizilbashwarriors who formed the military main-stay of Safavid power. Over time, as theSafavid state and society moved towardgreater conformity to professed ortho-doxy, if not actual orthopraxis, the ap-proach to alcohol began to change. Ofcrucial importance in this transforma-tion is Shah Tahmasb’s famous repen-tance—his decision to give up wine.Aside from striking a blow at the hard-drinking Qizilbash, this decisionmarked a phase in the loss of the shah’sdivine pretensions that had begun withhis defeat against the Ottomans in 1514,and symbolized a switch in the shah’simage from incarnation of the divine tothat of trustee of the imam, guarantorof orthopraxis. Later shahs continuedto drink, but they no longer drank in anambiance that validated drinking. Shornof its orgiastic dimension, drinkingmight remain a source of raucous fun,but guilt was never far from the surface.This development culminated duringthe reign of the pious Sultan Husayn.Following a highly publicized yet short-lived ban, wine was still consumed atthe court, but, having lost its public vis-ibility, it was now relegated to the pri-vacy of the palace.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SEMINARS

ON IRANIAN STUDIES

Weekly Program on

Encyclopaedia Iranica

by Radio France

Internationale

Since April 2000 the Persian ser-vice of Radio France Internationale(RFI) has begun broadcasting on aweekly schedule a series of programscomprehensively outlining the complexchronological progression of the Iraniancivilization, culture and history. In a Q&A format, covering the whole historyof Iran from ancient to modern times,including profiles of famous Iranian in-tellectuals scientists, historians and po-ets, various scholars, many affiliatedwith the Encyclopaedia are interviewed.The interviews provide the listenerswith the most recent developments inthe academic research on the variousaspects of Iran’s history and culture. Thescholars highlight the articles in thepublished volumes of theEncyclopaedia Iranica, providing awealth of information on questionsraised in interviews. The approach hashad the welcome result of persuadingthe audience to further explore theEncyclopaedia Iranica itself, and hasdeepened their appreciation of their ownculture and heritage. Audience feedbackhas been enthusiastic and supportive.

The series titled Negahi beDaneshname-ye Iranica (A Look at theEncyclopaedia Iranica), started with anaccount of the migration of the Aryansfrom the Northern regions of Iran, theIranian culture and identity, and thedevelopment of a culture rich in cus-toms and religious traditions. In the firstforty programs of the series, as appearedin detail in the Fall 2000 issue of thisNewsletter, the earlier centuries of ourhistory that saw the rise of several dy-nasties and ended with the fall of theSasanian Empire were discussed by in-ternationally acclaimed scholars of thefield. So far more than one hundred fiftyprograms have been aired in the series,which is designed, produced and hostedby Mr. Farzad Djavadi, of the French

9 CIS Newsletter

Standing (from left to right):Hasmik Biyanjian, Dr. Vahe Boyajian-Surenian, Dr. Victoria Arakelova, LusyaGhazarian, Anahit Aghajanian, Dr. Vardan Voskanian, Dr. Samvel Karabekian,

Prof. Dr. Garnik Asatrian, Abdolhamid Sadeqi-nia.

Sitting (from left):Ekaterina Khachatrain, Dr. Arora Kumari Santoush, Dr. Raisa Amirbekyan, Dr.

Laura Shekhoyan, Hasmik Kyrakosian (in Persian - Gargusian).

The first meeting of the Arme-nian Association of Friends ofEncyclopædia Iranica met on Octo-ber 25, 2002 at the Caucasian Centrefor Iranian Studies and elected Prof.Garnik Asatrian as Chairman, Dr.Vahe Boyajian-Surenian as Secre-tary, and Dr. Victoria Arakelova asTreasurer of the Association. In ad-dition to those who were present in

Armenian Association of FRIENDS OF IRANICA

Radio Broadcast in Persian. Among thetopics covered are: the rise of theMedes; the powerful Achaemenid Em-pire; the history of Parthian and Sasa-nian Empires, the advent and develop-ment of Islam in Iran; the radicalchanges that transformed Persian lan-guage & alphabet after the advent ofIslam; the Iranian politico-religiousmovements under the Umayyads; AbuMoslem & the rise of the Abbasid Ca-liphate; Iran and the Abbasids; founda-tion of semi-independent states in Iranand the present-day Afghanistan; thesignificance of Greater Khorasan in thedevelopment of Persian identity; theshare of the Iranians in the Islamic civi-lization and culture; the rise of Persianpoetry and the first poets; the flower-ing of Persian poetry; Persian court po-etry; Ferdowsi and the Persian nationalepic; the origins and the developmentof the Persian ghazal; Persian histori-ography, the case of Balami andBeyhaqi; the emergence and doctrine ofthe Ismailis; the life and works of Naser-e Khosrow; Khayyam the poet, scien-tist and philosopher; Persian scientistsand philosophers like Khwarazmi, Razi,Ebn-e Sina, Farabi and others; Sana’iand the beginning of religious poetry;the life and works of Nezami; Sufism;Sufi prose works, Persian mystic poetry,the life and works of Attar; the Mongolinvasion; the ideas and beliefs of Rumi,his Mathnavi and his lyric poetry andthe wide reception of his teaching, andthe popularity of his poetry in the UnitedStates in recent years; Pre-Islamic artand architecture-Achaemenid, Parthianand Sasanian Empires; Persian art andarchitecture in the first Islamic centu-ries up to the end of Saljuq period.

In addition to scholars whosenames appeared in the previous issue,mention should be made of JalalMatini , Mohammad Ali Amirmoezzi,Hamid Dabashi, Amin Banani,Pavaneh Purshai’ati , Mas’ud MirShahi, Sharaf-al-Din Khorasani,Sadeq Ziba Kalam , Javad Tabatabai,Keyvan Najmabadi, Naser Kanani,Farhad Daftary , Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh , Abbas Milani , FranklinLewis, Nasrin Khazaii, Mohammad

the photograph (see below) the fol-lowing members were present in themeeting: Dr. Gurgen Melikian , Dr.Anush Stamboltian, Dr. TorkDalalian, Knarik Bakhshinian,Gagik Sarkissian, Mushegh As-atrian , Rzgan Lazgian, MohammadMalek Mohammadi and BellaHovsepian.

Cont inued on page 11Cont inued on page 11Cont inued on page 11Cont inued on page 11Cont inued on page 11

CHRISTOPHER BRUNNER REJOINS

THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA IRANICA

Christopher J. Brunner, who wasthe first Assistant Editor of theEncyclopaedia Iranica and contributedto the startup of the Encyclopaediaproject in mid-1970’s, has rejoined theproject as Associate Editor.

Dr. Brunner received his B.A. inthe Department of Near Eastern Lan-guages & Literatures, University ofMichigan, in 1966 and earned his doc-torate in pre-Islamic Iranian studies atthe Department of Oriental Studies,University of Pennsylvania, in 1971.He taught pre-Islamic Iranian languagesand religions at Columbia University inthe 1970s and, then he joined theEncyclopaedia Iranica project as itssole Assistant Editor. He spent 1973-74 in Afghanistan, and later he tutoredalso in Pashto. His dissertation, A Syn-tax of Western Middle Iranian, a workof serious scholarship, was publishedin the Persian Studies Series of the Cen-ter for Iranian Studies by the CaravanBooks (Delmar, NY, 1977). In1978 hisSasanian Stamp Seals in the Metropoli-tan Museum of Art was published bythe Museum. His journal articles and

also his Encyclopaedia Iranica entriesdeal with seals and other pre-Islamictopics, such as the Middle Persian textDraxt i asurig (The Assyrian Tree),“Abarsen,” “Abdagases,” “Adurfraz-gird,” “Ahlomog,” “Ahunwar,” “Airya-man,” etc.

In the early 1980’s, Dr. Brunner de-veloped an interest in Japanese lan-guage and literature and Buddhism aswell as specializing in the design anddevelopment of computer software towhich he devoted his professional car-rier.

Recalling his competent editingand his knowledge of Middle Persianand Parthian and other Iranian lan-guages, the Director of the projectsought his return to the Encyclopaediaafter he retired from the computer com-pany.

The Center is extremely pleasedthat his editorial skills and his knowl-edge of Iranian languages have becomeagain available to the EncyclopaediaIranica and welcomes his return.

CIS Newsletter 10

Franz Rosenthal(1914-2003)

With Franz Rosenthal’s passingwe have lost a great scholar and an ir-replaceable colleague. In the words ofhis colleague, B. R. Foster, Professorof Near Eastern Languages and Civili-zations at Yale University, “Rosenthalwas among the last of a distinguishedgeneration of scholars exiled from hishomeland by Nazism. At the time ofhis arrival in the United States, therewere few professional Arabists inAmerican universities. The growth ofa dynamic American discipline of Ara-bic and Islamic studies, with high schol-arly standards, was strongly stimulatedby his precept, example and prodigiousscholarly output.”

Franz Rosenthal had close ties withthe Center for Iranian Studies at Colum-bia. He was a member of the EditorialBoard of the Tabari Translation Projectand helped the formulation and execu-tion of the guidelines for it. He himselftranslated the first and the thirty-eighthvolumes of the annotated translation.The first volume contains the most de-tailed biography of the great historianand exegete, al-Tabari, with such thor-oughness that it has become a model ofbiographical writing. He was also acontributor to the EncyclopaediaIranica. With his passing, we have lostthe doyen of Islamic historians. Hisinterests and his scholarship, however,extended far beyond history. He wasan outstanding philologist of Semiticlanguages, a social historian, anArabicist, and an Aramaic scholar. Hismonumental translation of IbnKhaldun’s Muqaddima is probably hisbest-known work. It has assisted a largenumber of sociologists, historians, andpeople interested in the vicissitude ofworld history. His A History of IslamicHistoriography (1959) is the first of itskind and has become a classic.

The range of his scholarship cov-ered a vast area, from A Grammar ofBiblical Aramaic, to a monograph onHumor in Early Islam, to Muslim Con-cept of Freedom, to the Classical Heri-tage in Islam, to Gambling in Islam.

Franz Rosenthal was born in Ber-lin and studied Classics and Orientallanguages and civilizations at the Uni-versity of Berlin, from which he re-ceived a PhD in 1935. After teachingfor a year in Florence, Italy, and afterthe political situation worsened in Ger-many with the rise of the Nazis, he leftfor Sweden with the assistance of theSemitist and Iranist H. S. Nyberg. In1943 he became a U.S. citizen, and wasinducted into the U.S Army, where heserved during WWII. After the war, hereturned to academia and in 1948 tookup teaching at the University of Penn-sylvania. In 1956, he was appointed theLouis M. Rabinowitz Professor ofSemitic Languages at Yale, a SterlingProfessor in 1967, and Emeritus in1985. He was elected member of manyacademies, including the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Sciences, theMedieval Academy of America, theAccademia Nazionale dei Lincei(Rome), and the British Academy. Sev-eral universities offered him honorarydegrees, including the University ofHaifa, Hebrew University in Jerusalem,University of Tuebingen, and our ownColumbia University (1999). As Pro-fessor Foster remarked, “Rosenthal wasunpretentious in his manner, self-effac-ing and devoted to scholarship…. Hewas noteworthy for his integrity of char-acter, inspiring guidance of serious stu-dents, generosity with his knowledgeand scholarly resources, and his dry andsometimes cutting humor. He nevermarried and most of his extended fam-ily, including his older brother, Günther,perished in Nazi concentration camps.”

At Columbia, Professor J. C.Hurewitz , a former Director of theMiddle East Institute and I were per-haps his closest friends, and it was fol-lowing our proposal that he was hon-ored in 1999 with an Honoris Causaldoctorate. We both talked to him onthe phone during his last few days, whenhis voice had waned weak due to se-vere illness. Yet he never complained.He was a great scholar and a loyalfriend; he is deeply missed.

(Ehsan Yarshater)

Annemarie Schimmel(1922-2003)

Annemarie Schimmel, Professorof Indo-Muslim Culture Emerita atHarvard Universty, died in Bonn on 26January 2003, at the age of 80. A pro-lific scholar of Islam who earned muchrespect in the Muslim world as well asin the West, she was widely regardedas the doyenne of the study of Sufismand popular Islam in Persia and SouthAsia.

Born in Erfurt in central Germanyon 7 April 1922, Schimmel began tostudy Arabic at the age of 15, and earneda doctorate in Islamic languages andcivilizations from the University ofBerlin in 1941, when she was just 19years old. This was followed by a sec-ond doctorate in the history of religionsfrom the University of Marburg tenyears later, after she had already takenup the position of assistant professor ofIslamic Studies at that institution (1946-54). She taught History of Religions inTurkish at Ankara University between1954 and 1959, before taking up theposition of associate professor in Ara-bic and Islamic Studies at the Univer-sity of Bonn. She moved to HarvardUniversity in 1967 to take up the posi-tion of lecturer in Indo-Muslim Culture,before being appointed, in 1970, to thechair endowed by the Afghan entrepre-neur A. K. Ozai Durrani (the inventorof Minute Rice), as the first Professorof Indo-Muslim Culture. She held thischair until her retirement in 1992, afterwhich she returned to Germany andaccepted an honorary professorship atthe University of Bonn. The AnnemarieSchimmel Chair for Indo-Muslim Cul-ture was instituted there in 1997 on her75th birthday.

11 CIS Newsletter

Schimmel published over 100works, often in several editions, and in-cluding both academic and popularwritings. She was fluent in Persian, Ara-bic, Turkish, Urdu, Pashto and Sindhias well as several European languages.Her most famous works on Sufism wererelated to the Sufi poets of Persia andSouth Asia, among whom Rumi wasclearly her favorite. Two of her mostimportant monographs were publishedby Bibliotheca Persica in associationwith the Center for Iranian Studies,namely The Triumphal sun. A study ofthe works of Jalaladdin Rumi as part ofthe Persian Studies Series (No.8), andA Two-Colored Brocade. The Imageryof Persian Poetry as part of the Colum-bia Lectures on Iranian Studies Series(No. 5). The latter was in fact based onlectures that she delivered at the invita-tion of the Center for Iranian Studies.Professor Schimmel also served as amember of the editorial board for thefourteen-volume A history of Persianliterature, which was published in as-sociation with the Center for IranianStudies and the Persian Heritage Foun-dation, and she was a valued contribu-tor to Encyclopaedia Iranica, to whichmany of her former students have alsobecome frequent contributors.

Schimmel was the first femalepresident of the International Associa-tion of the Study of Religion (1980); amember of the American Academy ofArts and Sciences; and a recipient ofthe Grosses Bundesverdientskreuz(1989) and Friedenspreis des DeutscheBuchhandels (1995), among many otherhonors.

In Pakistan, Schimmel was reveredalmost like a Sufi saint, though she wasa Lutheran Christian. One of the numer-ous awards that she received during hercareer was the “Helal-e emtiyaz,”Pakistan’s highest civil honor, and amajor boulevard in Lahore has evenbeen named after her. Schimmel visitedIran shortly before her death, where abook about her life and scholarship hadrecently been published, entitledAfsana-khwan-e erfan (Tehran, 2002).In the last year of her life Schimmel alsosaw the publication of her own Germanautobiography, which is entitledMorgenland und Abendland : meinwest-östliches Leben (Munich, 2002).

Persian Heritage Foundation,Continued from page 1

search and academic publication as wellas translation of Persian texts. Amongits financial undertakings may be men-tioned the publication of the uniquecritical edition of the Shahnameh by Dr.Djalal Khaleghi of Hamburg Univer-sity; providing matching funds for the40 volume annotated translation ofTabari’s universal History and the an-notated translation of Tarikh-e Beyhaqi,both of which have been supported bythe National Endowment for the Hu-manities; and preparing a 14-volumeHistory of Persian Literature to updateprevious worthy attempts in this field,all of which figures among the pro-grams of the Center for Iranian Stud-ies, Columbia University. In the lastfew years it also undertook, in conjunc-tion with the Center for Iranian Stud-ies, the publication of several series ofbooks including the “Persian HeritageSeries” which consists of translationsof Persian classics into western lan-guages and Japanese; the “Persian Stud-ies Series” which consists of variousmonographs on Iranian studies; the“Modern Persian Literature Series” de-voted to the translation of contempo-rary Persian writing; the “ColumbiaLectures on Iranian Studies”; the “Per-sian Art Series” and the “Persian TextSeries” earlier published by BibliothecaPersica.

The Persian Heritage Foundationhas also recently published several vol-umes resulting from some lecture se-ries at UCLA, University of London,and Harvard University. The Founda-tion also raised funds for a biennial bookaward in the memory of Saidi-Sirjanias well as a memorial fund for LatifehYarshater for a similar award.

Mr. Khayami, who has helpedmany organizations and institutionsdedicated to serve the cause of Persianculture to get on their feet, is wellknown for his support of educationalenterprises and advancement of literacy.He recently completed the building ofeight remarkably well-designed andwell-equipped high-schools inMashhad, his hometown. He has many

Estelami, Peter Chelkowski, HouraYavari , Touraj Daryaee, Kamyar Abdi ,and Layla Diba.

The provisional list of future top-ics, discussing myriad aspects of thisvariegated civilization and its rich pastin pre-modern times are listed below:

1) Persian Art and Architecture underthe Mongols 2) The flourishing of the Persian ghazal3) Sa’di, his life and time, as well ashis Golestan, Bustan and lyric poetry 4) The life and times and the poetry ofHafez 5) Judeo-Persian culture and literature 6) Persian ghazal after Hafez 7) The life and times and works of Jami 8)The rise of Safavids 9) The spread of Shi’ism under theSafavids and its socio-political impacts10) Persian culture in India and Otto-man Turkey 11) Persian literature under theSafavids, Sabk-e Hendi 12) The post-Safavid dynasties 13) The Qajar dynasty 14) Literary renaissance and the adventof modernity in Iran15) The Constitutional Revolution

It should be mentioned that as partof its concerted effort to broaden the ap-peal of its programming, the RFI trans-mits its programs via short wave sig-nals which are distributed worldwideand also via the Internet.

plans to promote educational and cul-tural causes — from providing suitablereading material for Persian childrenand youth to cultivating a taste for Per-sian art among the Persians and othersto assisting cultural and educational so-cieties in the States elsewhere.

We congratulate the Persian Heri-tage Foundation for its brilliant fore-sight and excellent choice.

Radio France Internationale,Continued from page 9

CIS Newsletter 12

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