Book City Institute will commemorate Gherardo Gnoli (1937-2012), Italian Iranologist and historian on religion, on July 19.
The cultural center of the institute in Tehran’s Ahamd Qasir Avenue will host a conference at 4:30 pm, where Gnoli’s works will be discussed by experts including Italian Carlo Cereti, 56, who has a doctorate in Iranian Studies, philologist Mahmoud Jafari Dehaqi, 66, associate professor at Tehran University, and Asgar Bahrami, 49, faculty member of the Encyclopedia of Islam Foundation, according to the website bookcity.org.
Gnoli studied Semitic languages and philology (Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic) and later turned to Iranian studies. The study of these languages and cultural traditions, combined with a profound and comprehensive knowledge of classical languages and of the ancient world, gave rise to a particular understanding of intercultural topics throughout his life.
He dedicated considerable efforts to the Encyclopaedia Iranica founded by Ehsan Yarshater, founder and director of The Center for Iranian Studies, and Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University. Gnoli as a member of the advisory committee from the very beginning contributed many remarkable entries to Encyclopaedia Iranica.
Among his many contributions to other reference works, one can cite the articles written for The Encyclopedia of Religion edited by Mircea Eliade, those contributed to the Lessico universale italiano, and those published in Giovanni Filoramo’s Dizionario delle religioni.
Broader View
Gnoli’s works helped an entire generation of scholars to fully understand the international dimension needed for research. Indeed, he never viewed his action as being limited to Italy alone or even to Europe.
Over the years he built up strong mutual respect with leading scholars in Europe, Asia, and America. Moreover, he always encouraged his graduate students to spend part of their study abroad in order to gain confidence with other methodologies of research while becoming familiar with international debate. This is one of the reasons that led him to take part in the scientific committees of many series and journals (Res Orientales, Acta Iranica, Silk Road Studies, Iranica Antiqua, Studia Iranica, Mediterraneo Antico, and Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia).
Gnoli’s works that have been translated into Persian include From Zoroaster to Mani (1985), Zoroaster in History (2000), Zoroaster’s Time and Homeland (1980) and a number of articles on Avesta, the ancient scriptures of Zoroastrianism.
Since Italy will be the guest of honor at the 30th Tehran International Book Fair to be held in May 2017, the cultural center of Book City Institute will organize meetings in Tehran, Shiraz, Rome, Florence and Bologna for better understanding of Italy’s culture and civilization. The cultural interaction between Iran and Italy will also be reviewed.
