Ann Katharine Swynford Lambton, (8 February 1912 – 19 July 2008), usually known as A.K.S. Lambton or "Nancy" Lambton, was a British historian, expert on medieval and early modern Persian history,

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

political theory, and Persian social organisation. She was an acknowledged authority on

land tenure In Common law#History, common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land "owned" by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement betw ...

and

reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

(including Saljuq,

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

and

Qajar The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran an ...

administration and institutions, and local and tribal histories).

Life

Lambton was born in 1912 in

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk (district), West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, 14 miles west of Bury St Edmunds and 14 miles northeast of Cambridge. In 2021, it had a population of 16,772. It is a global ...

. She was the elder daughter of the Hon.

George Lambton George Lambton (23 November 1860 – 23 July 1945) was a British thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse horse trainer, trainer. He was British flat racing Champion Trainer in the 1906, 1911 and 1912 seasons. Early life The Honourable George Lamb ...

, younger son of the 2nd Earl of Durham) and his wife Cicely Margaret Horner (1882–1972). Through the influence of

Edward Denison Ross Sir Edward Denison Ross (6 June 1871 – 20 September 1940) - known as Denison - was an orientalist and linguist, specializing in languages of the Middle East, Central and East Asia. He was the first director of the University of London's School ...

, a family friend, she studied Persian at

SOAS The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

under Ross and Hamilton Gibb, and others ( Arthur Tritton,

Vladimir Minorsky Vladimir Fyodorovich Minorsky (; – 25 March 1966) was a White Russian academic, historian, and scholar of Oriental studies, best known for his contributions to the study of history of Iran and the Iranian peoples such as Persians, Lurs, and ...

, and

Hassan Taqizadeh Sayyed Hasan Taqizādeh (; September 27, 1878 in Tabriz, Iran – January 28, 1970 in Tehran, Iran) was an influential Iranian politician and diplomat, of Azerbaijani origin, during the Qajar era under the reign of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar ...

). From 1939 to 1945, Lambton was Press

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

of the British

Legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, and then Professor of Persian at SOAS from 1953 to 1979, succeeding

Arthur Arberry Arthur John Arberry (12 May 1905, in Portsmouth – 2 October 1969, in Cambridge) FBA was a British scholar of Arabic literature, Persian studies, and Islamic studies. He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridg ...

as holder of that chair. In 1942, she was awarded the OBE and, later, honorary

DLitt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

degrees from the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

and the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. She was also an honorary fellow of

New Hall, Cambridge New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, SOAS and the University of London. She wrote several books on subjects ranging from Persian grammar and vocabulary to

land reform. Ann Lambton played a role in the overthrow of

Mohammed Mossadegh Mohammad Mosaddegh (, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 30th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, elected by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of the Iranian parliament from ...

. After the decision to nationalize Iran's oil interests in 1951, she advised the British government to undermine the authority of Mossadegh's regime. She proposed that Oxford University professor R. C. Zaehner should go to Iran and begin covert operations. In 1953, with the help of the CIA, the regime of Mossadegh was overthrown and the Shah,

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution, which ...

, was restored to the throne. As Professor Emeritus of the

Diocese of Newcastle The Diocese of Newcastle is a Church of England diocese based in Newcastle upon Tyne, covering the historic county of Northumberland (and therefore including the part of Tyne and Wear north of the River Tyne), as well as the area of Alston Moo ...

and Chairman of the Iran Diocesan Association, Lambton served on the Middle East Committee and advised Archbishops on inter-faith matters. She delivered Lent lectures biannually to clergy and laity for many years. She was later awarded the

Cross of St Augustine The Cross of St Augustine is an award of merit in the gift of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is awarded to members of the Anglican Communion who have made significant contributions to the life of the worldwide Communion, or to a particular auton ...

in 2004 by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

in acknowledgement of her work and commitment to Christianity and the Church of England. She was an honorary Life Member of the

Middle East Studies Association of North America Middle East Studies Association (often referred to as MESA) is a learned society, and according to its website, "a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and enco ...

. At the

, the Centre of Iranian Studies has instituted an annual Prof. A. K. S. Lambton honorary lectureship. Prof. Lambton delivered the inaugural lecture in this series in 2001. Lambton died at her home in

Wooler Wooler ( ) is a town in Northumberland, England. It lies on the edge of the Northumberland National Park, near the Cheviot Hills. It is a popular base for walkers and is referred to as the "Gateway to the Cheviots". As well as many shops and ...

, Northumberland, on 19 July 2008 at the age of 96 after a long illness.

References

Obituaries

* Arbuthnott, H.
''Professor Ann Lambton: Persian scholar''
Obituary, ''The Times'', 23 July 2008 . * McLachlan, K. S.

Obituary, ''Telegraph'', 8 August 2008. * Morgan, David
''Ann Lambton''
''The Guardian'', 15 August 2008, * Waghmar, Burzine K.

Obituary, ''The Independent'', 1 August 2008.

External links

''Funeral of SOAS Persian Scholar Professor Ann Lambton''
SOAS, 22 July 2008.

Payvand, 11 February 2008.

'' Dr Yarshater: Lambton predicted the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

'', in Persian, Radio Zamaneh, 13 August 2008
Audio

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, "Scholarship in the Service of Empire: The Legacy of Ann K.S. Lambton in 20th Century Iran"
Ajam Media Collective, 6 March 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambton, Ann 1912 births 2008 deaths Iranologists Historians of Iran Fellows of the British Academy Academics of SOAS University of London

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...

Officers of the Order of the British Empire British women academics British expatriates in Iran Alumni of SOAS University of London Recipients of the Cross of St Augustine 20th-century British historians British women historians People from Wooler Writers from Northumberland MI6 operatives in Iran 20th-century British women writers