TEHRAN – A bust of the Persian lexicographer Mohammad Moin was unveiled on Friday at the Moin Home and Museum in Tehran.

The bronze bust was created by Hadi Arefi to be set up at the site to celebrate Moin’s 105th birthday. 

The celebration was held by Municipality District 14, where the Moin Home and Museum is located, the Iran House of Music, and the Iran Calligraphers Association.

Moin’s daughter, Mahdokht, who is also a Persian literature professor at Allameh Tabatabai University, shared fond memories from the past.

“Cultural and literary luminaries have undeniable roles in the development of our society,” she said and added, “Their memories live on even without making a memorial.” 

Moin was a prominent lexicographer and compiled one of the most outstanding lexicons in the Persian language.

He was a university professor and his lexicon was second to that of Ali Akbar Dehkhoda (1879–1959). Dehkhoda was a prominent Iranian linguist, and author of the most comprehensive Persian language dictionary ever published.

Born in Rasht in 1914, Moin was the first student to graduate from the University of Tehran with a doctoral degree in Persian literature. He completed Dehkhoda’s unfinished volumes in compliance with Dehkhoda’s request.

Moin was also head of the Literature Commission at the International Congress of Iranology. He died in 1971 and was buried in Astaneh Ashrafieh, Gilan.

Persian poet and musician Mohammad-Ali Amirjahed (1897-1978), who was Moin’s father-in-law, was also remembered on the sidelines of the birthday celebration.

A bas-relief bearing images of Moin and Amirjahed was also unveiled.

Iran House of Music managing director Hamidreza Nurbakhsh gave a short speech about the key role Moin and Amirjahed played in Iran’s cultural arena and thanked the Beautification Organization of the Tehran Municipality for their contributions to converting Moin’s house into a museum.    

The celebration ended with a performance by the Amirjahed ensemble featuring Reza Tayyebi on vocal, Omid Amiri and Hossein Ruzbehani on tar, Saeid Mirzahosseini on ney, and Babak Banihosseini and Mostafa Moharrami on tombak.

Photo: Beautification Organization Deputy Director Majid Qaderi (L), Mahdokht Moin (C) and Iran House of Music managing director Hamidreza Nurbakhsh unveil a bust of the Persian lexicographer Mohammad Moin in Tehran on May 5, 2023.

MMS/YAW