Encyclopædia Iranica is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times.^[2] It is a project of Columbia University, started in 1973 at its Center for Iranian Studies, and is considered the standard encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Iranistics.

The scope of the encyclopedia goes beyond Iran (formerly "Persia") and encompasses other geographical areas where Iranian languages dominated at certain times: Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Anatolia and Kurdistan, as well as some regions of the Caucasus, South Asia, Central Asia, and Mesopotamia. Relations of the Iranian world with other cultures (China, European countries, etc.) are also covered.

The project has published 15 volumes, and is planning on publishing a total of up to 45 volumes. The full text of most entries is available free for on-line viewing encoded with unicode.^{[f 1]}

The editor-in-chief is Professor Ehsan Yarshater and managing editor is Ahmad Ashraf. The editorial board includes Nicholas Sims-Williams, Christopher J. Brunner, Mohsen Ashtiany, Manuchehr Kasheff, and over 40 Consulting Editors from major international institutions doing research in Iranian Studies.^[3] A growing number (over 1,200 in 2006) of scholars from academic institutions in North America, Europe, and Asia have contributed articles to Encyclopædia Iranica.

Many foundations, organizations, and individuals have supported Encyclopædia Iranica. Since 1979, the encyclopaedia has been sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which, as of 2007^[update] has been covering one-third of the project's budget for a few years.^[2] The list of sponsors includes American Council of Learned Societies, Union Académique Internationale, Iran Heritage Foundation, and many other charitable foundations, philanthropic families and individuals.

Recent controversy[link]

On March 25, 2007, the Associated Press released a news report about Encyclopædia Iranica introducing it to the greater public.^[4] This story was picked up by the news media, both print and online. For example, CNN International published it (with modifications) on their website. The article was prepared without its writer contacting the Editorial office of the Encyclopædia Iranica and contained serious inaccuracies such as "the Iranian government bitterly opposes the Encyclopaedia" and also inaccurate biographical details of Prof. E. Yarshater.^[5] These inaccuracies prompted Encyclopædia Iranica to publish an official response.^[6]

See also[link]

	Iran portal
	United States portal

• Academy of Persian Language and Literature
• Dastur al-Muluk
• Iranology
• List of online encyclopedias

Notes and references[link]

1. ^ Earlier Windows and Mac users required a simple free font download to display words showing their correct characters and accents.

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Encyclopædia Iranica

• Encyclopædia Iranica Website. Full-text access to the Encyclopædia as it currently exists.
• Encyclopædia Iranica Events Website. Detailing future and past events sponsored or supported by Encyclopædia Iranica.
• Diverse information about Iranica
• Columbia College Today on Encyclopædia Iranica
• Guidelines for authors
• Scholars’ comments on Iranica

Fereydoun Farrokhzad, PhD. (دکترفريدون فرخزاد)
Background information
Birth name	Fereydoun Farrokhzad
Also known as	Farrokhzad
Born	(1938-10-07)October 7, 1938 Tehran, Iran
Died	August 8, 1992(1992-08-08) (aged 53) Bonn, Germany
Occupations	Singer, TV/Radio Host, Entertainer, poet, Writer, Activist
Years active	1962–1992
Labels	Taraneh Records Caltex Records Pars Video Avang Records
Associated acts	Mahasti, Googoosh, Sattar, Ebi, Shohreh Solati, Shahram Shabpareh

Fereydoun Farrokhzad PhD. (Persian: دکتر فریدون فرخزاد ‎) (October 7, 1938 - August 8, 1992) was a legendary Iranian singer, actor, poet, TV and radio host, writer, and opposition political figure.^[1] He was the younger brother of the acclaimed Persian poet Forough Farrokhzad.

He was stabbed to death on 6 August 1992 at his home in Bonn, Germany. Prior to his murder, Farrokzhad had been involved in producing an opposition radio programme and reportedly received death threats. In his show in London Albert Hall he criticized Khomeiny and made fun of Khomeiny's obsession with sex in his Ressaleh book, which followed death threats and concerns for him. ^[2]

Biography[link]

Fereydoun Farrokhzad was born in "Chahar Raheh Gomrok" (Gomrok Intersection), a neighborhood in Tehran, Iran.^{[citation needed]} He was the second of seven children (Amir, Mehram, Mehrdad, Forough, Pouran, Gloria). After graduating from high school he went to Germany and Austria for his post-secondary education. He got his Ph.D. in political science from a university in Berlin. At a young age Farrokhzad had a passion for poetry and for singing. He turned that passion to reality in 1962 when he started writing poems in Germany, which were published in two German newspapers. In 1964 Farrokhzad published his collection of poems called "Fasleh Deegar" (Another Season). His book was critically acclaimed and was honored by many famous German poets. Five months after the release of "Fasleh Deegar" Farrokhzad received the Poetry Award of Berlin. For a couple years Farrokhzad was a member of the Munich Academy of Poetry.^{[citation needed]} In 1966 he found his way to the Television and Radio of Munich. On Radio he had a comedy and music program which played middle eastern music including music from Iran. On TV he created and produced a show called خيابان های آلپ (Alpine Roads). In 1967 he returned to Iran and performed on successful radio and TV shows. His most successful and famous TV show was "Mikhakeh Noghrei" (Silver Carnation). The show was wached by millions of Iranians. On the show Farokhzad introduced and discovered many famous Iranian artists including Sattar, Shohreh, Shahram Solati, Ebi, Morteza, Rouhi Savoji, Hamid Shabkhiz, Leila Forouhar, Saeed Mohammadi and many more. After the 1979 revolution, Farroukhzad was imprisoned, then released. He escaped the country and settled in Germany.^[3]

Family life[link]

Farrokhzad married and divorced twice. His first marriage took place in 1962, to a German woman named Ania Buchkowski, whom he met at Oxford. Like Farrokhzad, she had a passion for poetry and theater; it was after meeting her that Farrokhzad started writing poems. They divorced, but they had a son named Rostam. His second marriage, to an Iranian woman, also ended in divorce.^{[citation needed]}

Political views[link]

According to Voice of America, Farroukhzad was known by his fans as an "educated patriot" who frequently criticized the Islamic Republic and its leaders and who was present during many demonstrations against the clerical government.^[4]

Death[link]

Fereydoun Farrochsad grave

Farrokhzad produced a weekly radio show for the "Voice of the Flag of Freedom Organization of Iran," the radio station of the Organization of Kaviyani Banner, an "organization of exiled supporters of the Iranian monarchy."^[2] Farrokhzad also participated in a film, "I Love Vienna",^[5] which was considered by some Iranian authorities to be anti-Islamic.^{[3][not in citation given]}

On Saturday August 8, 1992 Farrokhzad was stabbed 40 times by three Islamic Republic agents in his home in Bonn, Germany. His body was found five days later in a pool of blood in his kitchen.

According to the U.S. state-funded Voice of America (VOA), the murder was "widely believed to be the work of the Iranian government".^[4]

Legacy[link]

To this day Farrokhzad is considered one of the best entertainers and showman that Iran has ever had. His songs are still played on Iranian TV and Radio shows outside of Iran. Many artists like Saeed Mohammadi and Shahram Shabpareh have done covers of his famous songs. He is responsible for the success of many Iranian artists that are famous today. Singer Ebi has said that he owes his success to Farrokhzad.

See also[link]

Poetry portal

• Mina Assadi
• Simin Behbahani
• Ebi
• Forough Farrokhzad
• Pooran Farrokhzad
• Saïd Soltanpour

References[link]

External links[link]

• Farrokhzad Biography on BBC
• Fereydoun Farrokhzad at the Internet Movie Database

Simin Behbahani

Simin Beh'bahāni ^[1] (Persian: سیمین بهبهانی‎) (born July 20, 1927, Tehran, Iran) is one of the most prominent figures of the modern Persian literature and one of the most outstanding amongst the contemporary Persian poets. She is Iran's national poet and an icon of the Iranian intelligentsia and literati who affectionately refer to her as the lioness of Iran.^[2] She has been nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in literature, and has "received many literary accolades around the world."^[3]

Simin Behbahani, whose real name is Simin Khalili ^[4] (سيمين خليلي), is the daughter of Abbās Khalili (عباس خلیلی), poet, writer and Editor of the Eghdām (Action) newspaper,^[5] and Fakhr-e Ozmā Arghun (فخرعظمی ارغون), poet and teacher of the French language.^[6] Abbās Khalili (1893–1971) wrote poetry in both Persian and Arabic and translated some 1100 verses of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh into Arabic.^[7] Fakhr-e Ozmā Arghun (1898–1966) was one of the progressive women of her time and a member of Kānun-e Nesvān-e Vatan'khāh (Association of Patriotic Women) between 1925 and 1929. In addition to her membership of Hezb-e Democrāt (Democratic Party) and Kānun-e Zanān (Women's Association), she was for a time (1932) Editor of the Āyandeh-ye Iran (Future of Iran) newspaper. She taught French at the secondary schools Nāmus, Dār ol-Mo'allemāt and No'bāvegān in Tehran.^[8]

Simin Behbahani started writing poetry at twelve and published her first poem at the age of fourteen. She used the "Char Pareh" style of Nima Yooshij and subsequently turned to ghazal.

Behbahani contributed to a historic development by adding theatrical subjects and daily events and conversations to poetry using the ghazal style of poetry. She has expanded the range of the traditional Persian verse forms and has produced some of the most significant works of the Persian literature in 20th century.

She is President of The Iranian Writers' Association and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999 and 2002.

In early March 2010 she was refused permission to leave the country. As she was about to board a plane to Paris, police detained her and interrogated her "all night long". She was released but without her passport. Her English translator (Farzaneh Milani) expressed surprise at the arrest as detention as Behbahani is 82 and nearly blind. "We all thought that she was untouchable."^[3]

Awards and honors[link]

• Human Rights Watch Hellman-Hammet Grant (1998)
• Carl von Ossietzky Medal (1999)
• Nomination for Nobel Prize (1997 & 2006)
• Norwegian Authors' Union Freedom of Expression Prize (2006)
• mtvU Poet Laureate (2009)^[9]

Poetical Works[link]

• The Broken Lute [Seh-tar-e Shekasteh, 1951]
• Footprint [Ja-ye Pa, 1954]
• Chandelier [Chelcheragh, 1955]
• Marble [Marmar, 1961]
• Resurrection [Rastakhiz, 1971]
• A Line of Speed and Fire [Khatti ze Sor'at va Atash, 1980]
• Arzhan Plain [Dasht-e Arzhan, 1983]
• Paper Dress [Kaghazin Jameh, 1992]
• A Window of freedom [Yek Daricheh Azadi, 1995]
• Collected Poems [Tehran 2003]
• Maybe It’s the Messiah [Shayad ke Masihast, Tehran 2003] Selected Poems, translated by Ismail Salami
• A Cup of Sin, Selected poems, translated by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa

Notes and references[link]

See also[link]

Poetry portal

• Forough Farrokhzad
• Parvin E'tesami
• Pegah Ahmadi
• Mina Assadi

• Iranian women
• List of famous Persian women
• Intellectual Movements in Iran
• Persian women's movement
• One Million Signatures

External links[link]

• Biography of Simin Behbahani
• Simin Behbahani UCLA Lecture
• Simin Behbahani, the greatest Persian lyricist of the modern age
• An International Symposium on The Life and Poetry of Simin Behbahani
• A Poet Who 'Never Sold Her Pen or Soul'
• Simin Behbahani reads poetry at SOAS, University of London, 6 February 2005, YouTube, (Part 1), (Part 2).
• Sārā Ommat-e Ali, Simin Behbahani: I am alive, in Persian, Sarmāyeh [Capital] Newspaper (Ruz'nāmeh-ye Sarmāyeh). Reprinted in: Association of the Iranian Women (Kānun-e Zanān-e Irani), Wednesday 5 December 2007, [4].
• Shahāb Mirzāi, A Line Made From Swiftness and Fire (Khatti ze Sor'at va Ātash), in Persian, Jadid Online, 2008, [5].
  A slide show of photographs with text spoken by Simin Behbahani, Jadid Online, 2008: [6] (3 min 56 sec).