TEHRAN – French linguist and Iranologist Gilbert Lazard will receive Iran’s Mahmud Afshar Historical Literary Award for his lifetime endeavors and research on various Iranian languages and translations of classical Persian poetry.

The award committee of the Mahmud Afshar Foundation selected Lazard for the 24th edition of the award this year.

Seyyed Mostafa Mohaqeq-Damad, the Head of Mahmud Afshar Foundation Trusteeship Council, will present the award, which includes a medal and a Persian carpet bearing the name of Gilbert Lazard, to the French scholar.

The award-giving ceremony will take place in Iran’s Cultural Center in Paris on July 4.

The 97-year old Lazard is the author of Grammaire du Persan Contemporain (A Grammar of Contemporary Persian, 1957) and the Persian-French dictionary (1990).

Lazard studied at the École Normale Supérieure and graduated in 1946. He became a professor of Persian at (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales) INALCO from 1958 to 1966.

From 1951 to 1969, he was in charge of the Iranian civilization course at the Sorbonne, where he became a lecturer and a professor of Iranian language and civilization.

His teachings and works on Persian language and literature have had a very strong influence on the whole of Persian studies in France since 1960. His work covers many fields, particularly early Persian language and literature. He has also translated several works by ?adeq ?edayat including “Haji Aqa” into French.

The Mahmud Afshar Foundation annually awards scholars who have contributed valuable literary work or research.

French Orientalist and expert on Hafez, Charles-Henri de Fouchecour and Austrian Iranologist Bert Fragner have received the award in previous editions of the event.

Scholars Ahmad Monzavi, Manuchehr Sotudeh, Mohammad Dabir-Siaqi and Gholamhossein Yusefi are other Iranian recipients of the award.

Photo: French linguist and Iranologist Gilbert Lazard in an undated photo

RM/YAW