Ehsan Yarshater

Ehsan Yarshater
احسان یارشاطر
Portrait photograph, January 1950
Born
Ehsanollah Yarshater[1]

(1920-04-03)April 3, 1920
DiedSeptember 2, 2018(2018-09-02) (aged 98)
NationalityIranian
Alma materUniversity of Tehran
School of Oriental and African Studies
University of London
Occupations
  • Historian
  • linguist
Years active1953–2018
Known forDirector of the Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University
Notable workEncyclopædia Iranica
SpouseLatifeh Alvieh (died 1999)
Parent(s)Hashem Yarshater (father)
Rohaniyeh Misaghie (mother)
AwardsBita Award (2015)
Ehsan Yarshater (2011)

Ehsan Yarshater (Persian: احسان يارشاطر; April 3, 1920 – September 1, 2018)[2] was an Iranian historian and linguist who specialized in Iranology. He was the founder and director of the Center for Iranian Studies, and Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University.

He was the first Persian full-time professor at a U.S. university since World War II.[3]

He was one of the 40 editors of the Encyclopædia Iranica,[4] with articles by 300 authors from various academic institutions. He also edited the third volume of The Cambridge History of Iran, comprising the history of the Seleucids, the Parthians, and the Sassanians, and a volume entitled Persian Literature. He was also an editor of a sixteen-volume series named History of Persian Literature.[5] He had won several international awards for scholarship, including a UNESCO award in 1959, and the Giorgio Levi Della Vida Medal for Achievement in Islamic Studies from UCLA in 1991.[6] Lecture series in his name have been instituted at the University of London, and the University of California, Los Angeles, and at the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique in Paris.

  1. ^ "Vol. 30, No. 2, Page 5, Summer 2015 Archives". IranNameh. 2016-02-12. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
  2. ^ Alavi, Hamid (September 2, 2018). "درگذشت احسان یارشاطر؛ مردی که زبان فارسی وطنش بود" (in Persian). BBC Persian. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  3. ^ Cohen, Patricia (2011-08-13). "A Lifetime Quest to Finish a Monumental Encyclopedia of Iran". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-08-15.
  4. ^ U.S.-funded encyclopedia revels in Iran's greatness. Associated Press, March 26, 2007.
  5. ^ "A History of Persian Literature". Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University, New York.
  6. ^ "Ehsan Yarshater". Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University, New York.