Jes Peter Asmussen (2 November 1928 – 5 August 2002), was a Danish

Iranologist Iranian studies ( '), 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 is a part of the wider field ...

. Asmussen was born and raised in

Aabenraa Aabenraa (; , ; South Jutlandic: ''Affenråe'', also known as Åbenrå) is a town in Southern Denmark, at the head of the Aabenraa Fjord, an arm of the Little Belt, north of the Denmark–Germany border and north of German town of Flensburg. It ...

. He studied theology and the

Greenlandic language Greenlandic, also known by its Endonym and exonym, endonym Kalaallisut (, ), is an Inuit languages, Inuit language belonging to the Eskaleut languages#Internal classification, Eskimoan branch of the Eskaleut languages, Eskaleut language family. ...

at the University of Copenhagen and earned his candidatus theologiæ degree in 1954. He then studied

Iranistics Iranian studies ( '), 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 is a part of the wider field ...

in Cambridge, London, Hamburg, and Tehran, and earned his doctorate in 1965 at the University of Copenhagen. He was associated with the university throughout his academic career, becoming associate professor in 1966 and full professor in 1967, succeeding professor Kaj Barr. He retired in 1998. Asmussen's research focused on the religions of Iran. He was mostly interested in

Manicheism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

, but also wrote about

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

Islam 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 ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

in ancient Iran, as well as the

Judeo-Persian Judeo-Persian refers to both a group of Jewish dialects spoken by Jews and Judeo-Persian texts (written in Hebrew alphabet). As a collective term, Judeo-Persian refers to a number of Judeo-Iranian languages spoken by Jewish communities throughout ...

language and literature. He is counted among the central figures of the Danish Orientalist scholarship. He was elected member of the

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters ({{Langx, da, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab or ''Videnskabernes Selskab'') is a Danish academy of science. The Royal Danish Academy was established on 13 November 1742, and was create ...

in 1973 and corresponding member of

Saxon Academy of Sciences The Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig () is an institute which was founded in 1846 under the name ''Royal Saxon Society for the Sciences'' (). Notable people * Kurt Aland * Annette Beck-Sickinger * Walther Bothe * Alexander Car ...

in 1982. He was appointed a Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

in 1976 and received an honorary doctorate from

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

in 1986. Asmussen died in 2002 and is interred at the

Cemetery of Holmen Holmen Cemetery ( Danish: Holmens Kirkegård) is the oldest cemetery still in use in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was first located next to the naval Church of Holmen in the city centre but relocated to its current site on Dag Hammarskjölds Allé in ...

in Copenhagen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asmussen, Jes Peter Iranologists 1928 births 2002 deaths Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen People from Aabenraa Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters Burials at Holmen Cemetery