Ebrāhim Pourdāvoud (; February 9, 1885 – November 17, 1968) was born in

Rasht Rasht (; ) is a city in the Central District (Rasht County), Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is also known as the "City of ...

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 ...

, to a mother who was the daughter of a clergyman and a father who was a reputable merchant and landlord. He is one of the most formidable scholars of Iran during the 20th century. Pourdavoud translated

Avesta The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...

into Persian in six volumes. In addition, he made many other significant contributions to Iranian studies.

Life and career

Ebrahim Pourdavoud in Visva-Bharati University

At 20, Pourdavoud moved to

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. ...

to study traditional

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

but medicine proved not to be to his liking. In 1908, at the age of 23, he went to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

where he studied

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

for two and a half years. He then returned to Iran to visit his family but before long left for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Here, he published the periodical '' Iranshahr'' (the Land of Iran), with the first issue appearing in April 1914 and the fourth and the last issue on the day

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

erupted. During the War, he established himself in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

where he published the periodical '' Rastakhiz'' (Resurrection);See Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh. in total 25 issues of this periodical were published, publication lasting until March 1916. He left Baghdad for

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he stayed until 1924. His studies in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

led him to

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

history and teachings. After his return to Iran, in 1924, Pourdavoud founded the School of Ancient Languages where he initiated extensive research work concerning ancient history and ancient

Iranian languages The Iranian languages, also called the Iranic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian langu ...

, especially the

Avestan language Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family and was originally spoken during the Old Iranian period ( – 400 BCE) by the Iranians living in the eastern p ...

. In 1945, he founded the Iranology Society and, very soon afterwards, the School of Iranology. Pourdavoud's many and varied contributions fall into the following categories: :- translation of Avesta, :- investigations into ancient Persian languages, especially the Avestan language, :- interpretation of the contents of Avesta, including elucidation of signs and symbols, as well as terms and expressions used herein, :- studies concerning peoples, animals, plants, and :- research into the

history of Iran The history of Iran (also known as Name of Iran, Persia) is intertwined with Greater Iran, which is a socio-cultural region encompassing all of the areas that have witnessed significant settlement or influence exerted by the Iranian peoples and ...

, giving especial attention to the weapons used by ancient

Persia 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 ...

ns and the methods with which these were used. Pourdavoud was well-versed in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, English, French, German, and Turkish, in addition to his mother tongue and ancient Persian languages. Pourdavoud was awarded Germany's highest academic honour by the German President

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His civil demeanour and his cordial nature – something of a contrast to German nati ...

in 1955. Soon thereafter, he received the

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

Medal, which is conferred in recognition of outstanding contributions to literature, from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In 1965, he received from the representative of

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

in Tehran the order of Chevalier Saint Sylvester Pope (''Knight of Saint Sylvester Pope''). He was married to a woman of German origin; they had one daughter named ''Pourandokht''. In the morning of November 17, 1968, his family found him dead behind his desk in his study at home.

Notes

External links

* K. Movaghar, Editor-in-Chief, ''Ebrahim Pourdavoud''
Events
* Bouzarjomehr Parkhideh, ''Professor Ibrahim Pourdavoud, Author of a Report on Avesta'', 2004
Iran Chamber Society
* A video documentary about Ebrahim Pourdavood, with his daughter, Ms Pourandokht Pourdavood, relating some family history, in Persian
''bebin.tv''
(6 min 11 sec). *
Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World
an academic institute named for Pourdavoud in the UCLA College Division of Humanities.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pourdavoud, Ebrahim 1885 births 1968 deaths Iranian scholars People from Rasht Iranian expatriates in Germany Knights of the Order of St. Sylvester Members of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature Gilaki people Linguists of Persian Linguists from Iran Translators from Avestan Zoroastrian studies scholars 20th-century Iranian translators 20th-century Iranian linguists University of Paris alumni