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Annemarie Schimmel (7 April 1922 – 26 January 2003) was an influential German Orientalist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam, especially Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.


Early life and education

Schimmel was born to Protestant and highly cultured middle-class parents in
Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...
, Germany. Her father Paul was a postal worker and her mother Anna belonged to a family with connections to seafaring and international trade. Schimmel remembered her father as "a wonderful playmate, full of fun," and she recalled that her mother made her feel that she was the child of her dreams. She also remembered her childhood home as being full of poetry and literature, though her family was not an academic one. Having finished high school at age 15, she worked voluntarily for half a year in the
Reichsarbeitsdienst The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major organisation established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ...
(Reich Labor Service). She then began studying at the
University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
in 1939, at the age of 17, during the Third Reich (1933–1945), the period of Nazi domination in Europe. At the university, she was deeply influenced by her teacher
Hans Heinrich Schaeder Heinz Heinrich Schaeder (31 January 1896 – 13 March 1957) was a German Orientalist and Iranologist. Life Heinz Heinrich Schaeder was born in Göttingen, Germany on 31 January 1896. He was the son of theologist Erich Schaeder, brother of h ...
, who suggested that she study the '' Divan of Shams Tabrisi'', one of the major works of
Jalaluddin Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...
. In November 1941 she received a doctorate with the thesis ''Die Stellung des Kalifen und der Qadis im spätmittelalterlichen Ägypten'' (''The Position of the Caliph and the Qadi in Late Medieval Egypt''). She was then only 19 years old and her thesis was awarded
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
. Not long after, she was drafted by the Auswärtiges Amt (
German Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (german: Auswärtiges Amt, ), abbreviated AA, is the foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with the European Union. ...
), where she worked for the next few years while continuing her scholarly studies in her free time. After the end of World War II in Europe, in May 1945, she was detained for several months by U.S. authorities for investigation of her activities as a German foreign service worker, but she was cleared of any suspicion of collaboration with the Nazis. In 1946, at the age of 23, she became a professor of
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
and Islamic studies at the University of Marburg, Germany. She was married briefly in the 1950s, but domestic life did not suit her, and she soon returned to her scholarly studies. She earned a second doctorate at Marburg in the history of religions (''Religionswissenschaft'') in 1954.


Later life and scholarly career


In Turkey (Ankara University, 1954–1967)

A turning point in Schimmel's life came in 1954 when she was appointed Professor of the History of Religion at
Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocati ...
. She spent five years in the capital city of Turkey teaching in Turkish and immersing herself in the culture and mystical tradition of the country. She was the first woman and the first non-Muslim to teach theology at the university.


Harvard University (1967–1992)

In 1967 she inaugurated the Indo-Muslim studies program at Harvard University and remained on the faculty there for the next twenty-five years. While living in quarters on the Harvard campus, Schimmel often visited New York City, where, as a consultant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she was famed for her ability to date manuscripts and objects from the style of calligraphy in or on them. Her memory of calligraphic styles was almost photographic. During the 1980s, she served on the editorial board of the ''Encyclopedia of Religion'', published in 16 volumes (Macmillan, 1988) under the aegis of
Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious ...
. In 1992, upon her retirement from Harvard, she was named Professor Emerita of Indo-Muslim Culture. During this period, she was also an honorary professor at the
University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...
.


Back in Germany (1992–2003)

After leaving Harvard, she returned to Germany, where she lived in Bonn until her death in 2003.Stephen Kinzer,
Annemarie Schimmel, Influential Scholar of Islam, Dies at 80
" obituary, ''New York Times'', 2 February 2003.


Religion

She was often asked by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike whether she was a Muslim or not. In such cases, she preferred to give an evasive answer, saying, for example, that only those who are not sure whether they are good Muslims or not can really be good Muslims.


Languages, interests and expertise

She was multilingual—besides German, English, and Turkish, she spoke
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
,
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, Urdu, and Punjabi—and her interests ranged across the Muslim landscape. She published more than fifty books and hundreds of articles on Islamic literature, mysticism, and culture, and she translated Persian, Urdu, Arabic,
Sindhi Sindhi may refer to: *something from, or related to Sindh, a province of Pakistan * Sindhi people, an ethnic group from the Sindh region * Sindhi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them People with the name * Sarkash Sindhi (1940–2012 ...
, and Turkish poetry and literature into English and German. Her particular fondness for cats led her to write a book about their role in Islamic literature, and her interest in mysticism resulted in a book about numerical symbolism in various cultures. Her consuming passion, however, was Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam. Even prominent Sufis acknowledged her as one of the foremost experts on their history and tradition. Schimmel was the cofounder of '' Fikrun wa Fann'', a multilingual cultural magazine.


Awards and honors

For her works on Islam, Sufism, and
Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...
, a prominent philosopher and national poet of Pakistan, the government of Pakistan honored Schimmel with its highest civil awards, *
Sitara-e-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...
, or Star of Excellence, by Government of Pakistan * Hilal-e-Imtiaz, or Crescent of Excellence, by Government of Pakistan, She was given other awards from many countries of the world, including the 1995 prestigious
Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is an international peace prize awarded annually by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (English: ''German Publishers and Booksellers Association''), which runs the Frankfurt Book Fair. The award ceremony is held in the Paulskirche in ...
. This award caused a controversy in Germany, as she had defended the outrage of the Islamic world against Salman Rushdie, author of ''The Satanic Verses'' (1988), a novel, in a television interview. Schimmel's award speech is available online in translation, entitled "A Good Word Is Like a Good Tree." Among other awards and honors are the following. * 1965 Friedrich Rückert Prize of the City of Schweinfurt, Germany * 1978 Foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences * 1980 Johann Heinrich Voss Prize for Translation from the German Academy for Language and Literature * 1989 Grand Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany * 1990 Golden Owl award of the German Socratic Society, for outstanding scholarship * 1992 Dr. Leopold Lucas Prize of the University of Tübingen * 25 October 1996,
Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey The Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Liyakat Nişanı) is awarded by the President of Turkey with approval of the Prime Minister upon the proposal of the relevant members of the Cabinet considering the opinions ...
* 1996 Egyptian Order of Merit for Art and Science, First Class * 1997 Honorary membership in the Central Council of Muslims in Germany * 2001 Reuchlin Prize of the City of Pforzheim, Germany, for outstanding contributions in the humanities * 2002 Do'stlik Order of the Republic of Uzbekistan, for the promotion of friendship and mutual understanding between nations * 2002 Muhammad Nafi Tschelebi Peace Prize of the Central Islamic Archive Institute of Germany, Soen, a prestigious award for Jewish-Christian-Muslim dialogue * 2005 Name engraved in the "Walk of Fame" street in the City of Bonn Schimmel also received honorary degrees from three Pakistani universities (
Sind Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
,
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
, and Peshawar), from the Faculty of Theology at
Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...
, Sweden (1986),Uppsala University.
Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Theology
''
and from Selçuk University in Turkey.


Selected works

*''Mohammad Iqbal, Poet and Philosopher: A Collection of Translations, Essays, and Other Articles''. Karachi: Pakistan-German Forum, 1960. *''Islamic Calligraphy''. Evanston, Ill.: Adler's Foreign Books, 1970. *''Islamic Literatures of India''. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1973. . * ''Mystical Dimensions of Islam'' (512 pages). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975. . *''Classical Urdu Literature: From the Beginning to Iqbal''. A History of Indian Literature, v. 8. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1975. . *''Pain and Grace: A Study of Two Mystical Writers of Eighteenth-Century Muslim India''. Leiden: Brill, 1976. . * ''A Dance of Sparks: Imagery of Fire in Ghalib's Poetry''. New Delhi: Ghalib Academy, 1979. *''We Believe in One God: The Experience of God in Christianity and Islam'', edited by Annemarie Schimmel and Abdoldjavad Falaturi; translated by Gerald Blaczszak and Annemarie Schimmel. London: Burns & Oates, 1979. * ''The Triumphal Sun: A Study of the Works of Jalaloddinn Rumi''. London: East-West Publications, 1980. * ''As Through a Veil: Mystical Poetry in Islam'' (376 pages). New York: Columbia University Press, 1982. . *''Das Mysterium der Zahl'' (310 pages). Munich: Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 1983. English edition, ''The Mystery of Numbers'' (314 pages). New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. . * ''And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety'' (367 pages). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985. . * ''
Gabriel's Wing ''Bal-e-Jibril'' ( ur, بال جبریل; or ''Gabriel's Wing''; published in Urdu, 1935) was a philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal (Muhammad Iqbal), the great poet-philosopher of the Indian subcontinent. Introduction Iqbal's first book ...
: Study into the Religious Ideas of Sir Muhammad Iqbal''. Karachi: Iqbal Academy, 1989. . *''Calligraphy and Islamic Culture''. New York University Press, 1990. . *''Islamic Names: An Introduction'' (134 pages). Edinburgh University Press, 1990. . *''Islam: An Introduction'' (166 pages). Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992. . * ''A Two-Colored Brocade: The Imagery of Persian Poetry''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992. . *
Deciphering the Signs of God: A Phenomenological Approach to Islam
' (314 pages). The 1991–1992
Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in ...
. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994. . *''Nightingales under the Snow: Poems''. London and New York : Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1994. . *''Anvari's Divan: A Pocket Book for Akbar''. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. *Introduction to ''Cats of Cairo: Egypt's Enduring Legacy'', with photographs by Lorraine Chittock. New York: Abbeville Press, 1995. Reissued as ''Cairo Cats: Egypt's Enduring Legacy'' (96 pages). American University in Cairo Press, 2005. . *''Meine Seele ist eine Frau''. Munich: Kosel Verlag, 1995. English translation: ''My Soul Is a Woman: The Feminine in Islam'' (192 pages). New York and London: Continuum, 1997. . * ''Look! This Is Love''. Boston: Shambhala Centaur Editions, 1996. . *''I Am Wind, You Are Fire: The Life and Work of Rumi''. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1997. Reissued as ''Rumi's World : The Life and Works of the Great Sufi Poet''. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2001. . *''Im Reich der Grossmoguls: Geschichte, Kunst, Kultur''. Munich: Verlag C.H. Beck, 2000. English translation: ''The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art, and Culture'' (352 pages). London: Reaktion Books, 2004. . *''Make a Shield from Wisdom: Selected Verses from Nasir-I Khusraw's Divan'' (112 pages), translated and introduced by Annemarie Schimmel. London: I.B. Tauris, in association with the International Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2001. . *''Islam and the Wonders of Creation: The Animal Kingdom''. London: Al-Furqan, Islamic Heritage Foundation 2003. .


See also

*
Malamatiyya The Malāmatiyya () or Malamatis were a Muslim mystic group active in 9th century Greater Khorasan. The root word of their name is the Arabic word ''malāmah'' () "blame". The Malamatiyya believed in the value of self-blame, that piety should be ...
*
Iranology Iranian studies ( fa, ايران‌شناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...
* Famous Americans in Iran


References


Further reading

* ''Annemarie Schimmel Festschrift: Essays Presented to Annemarie Schimmel on the Occasion of Her Retirement from Harvard University by Her Colleagues, Students, and Friends'' (334 pages), edited by Maria Eva Subtelny. ''Journal of Turkish Studies'' 18 (1994). Published by the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University.


External links

*Burzine Waghmar
Professor Annemarie Schimmel (April 7, 1922 to January 26, 2003)
''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', 13 (2003): 377–79. *Burzine Waghmar
Annemarie Schimmel
''The Guardian'', 6 February 2003, p. 24. *Burzine Waghmar and M. Ikram Chaghatai, ''Bibliography of the Works of the Scholar-Hermit Prof. Dr. Annemarie Schimmel'', ed. M. Suheyl Umar, 3rd ed., Lahore: Iqbal Academy, 2004. *Burzine Waghmar
Annemarie Schimmel: Iqbal and Indo-Muslim Studies
''Encyclopædia Iranica'', New York: Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation, published online, 16 April 2018. *Burzine Waghmar
Annemarie Schimmel: Bibliography
''Encyclopædia Iranica'', New York: Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation, published online, 4 May 2018. *Shusha Guppy

''The Independent'', 30 January 2003. *Leonard Lewisohn
Annemarie Schimmel
''The Times'', 6 February 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schimmel, Annemarie 1922 births 2003 deaths German women academics German orientalists Iranologists Harvard University faculty Iqbal scholars German Islamic studies scholars Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz University of Bonn faculty Ankara University faculty Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz German Sindhologists Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Scholars of Sufism Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Women scholars of Islam Women orientalists Translators of Forough Farrokhzad Writers from Erfurt Archaeologists from Thuringia Reich Labour Service members 20th-century German women scientists 20th-century scholars German expatriates in the United States German magazine founders Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey