Alessandro Bausani (29 May 1921 – 12 March 1988) was a scholar of Islam, Arab and Persian studies,

interlinguistics Interlinguistics, also known as cosmoglottics, is the science of planned languages that has existed for more than a century. Formalised by Otto Jespersen in 1931 as the science of interlanguages, in more recent times, the field has been more fo ...

and the

History of Religion The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The Prehistoric religion, prehistory of reli ...

, translating many works into Italian. He was one of the greatest Italian scholars of

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 ...

, as well as a translator and commentator of one of the most important translations of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

into the Italian language. A great polyglot, he spoke more than 30 languages, including

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

, African and Native American languages such as

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

and several important languages in the islamic world such as Indonesian,

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 ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and Turkish.

Education

Bausani first studied Arabic with a neighbour, . By 1942, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was sufficiently fluent in

to deliver radio broadcasts for Radio Roma. In 1943–1944, he learned Turkish under Paul Mulla. He received his doctorate from the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

in 1943 for a thesis on Persian syntax. By 1949, Bausani had abandoned his

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

faith. He flirted with

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

before converting to the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

by 1955.

Academic career

From 1956 to 1971 Bausani taught

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and

Indonesian language Indonesian (; ) is the official language, official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standard language, standardized variety (linguistics), variety of Malay language, Malay, an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that has ...

as well as Indonesian literature at the' Istituto Universitario Orientale in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. There he instituted teaching of

Urdu language Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and

Urdu literature Urdu literature (, ) comprises the literary works, written in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal'' () and '' nazm'' (), it has expanded into other styles of writing, includin ...

' and Persian literature of

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 ...

'. Later he taught

Islamic studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

at the Scuola Orientale of the Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia of the Università di Roma "La Sapienza". Both universities, and the

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

were leading centres of

Oriental studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studie ...

, and his work drew great interest from students, created a school which is still today highly activity in studying the field of mystical-religious experience in the

Islamic world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

, as well as study of

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

and

Shi'ite Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

Islam. His work included the translation into Italian of the poetry of

Muhammad Iqbal Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 187721 April 1938) was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

(Parma, 1956), as well as that of Nizami,

Omar Khayyam Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīshābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131) (Persian language, Persian: غیاث الدین ابوالفتح عمر بن ابراهیم خیام نیشابورﻯ), commonly known as Omar ...

and

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...

. He also taught the

and was responsible for history and philosophy of the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

at the Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli and the Società Nazionale dell'Accademia dei Lincei. He served as the President of the Istituto per l'Oriente in Rome.

Influence

Alessandro Bausani's influence was recognised by diverse communities. His significance as an Italian scholar was noted in his inclusion in the Treccani Enciclopedia Italiana. His significance as a scholar of Iranian culture is reflected by the entry on his work in the

Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English-language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encyc ...

. The value of his work in the field of Indonesian studies was noted in an obituary published in the journal Indonesia Circle. An obituary published in the

Baháʼí Studies Review ''Baháʼí Studies Review'' was a peer-reviewed academic journal, published annually from 1991 to 2015, that covered contemporary issues regarding the principles, history, and philosophy of the Baháʼí Faith. Note that some formats, including th ...

demonstrates the recognition his work gained in the religious community to which he belonged.

Publications

A bibliography of his work up until 1 May 1981 is found in ''La bisaccia dello sheikh''. Omaggio ad Alessandro Bausani islamista nel sessantesimo compleanno, Venezia, Quaderni del Seminario di Iranistica, Uralo-Altaistica e Caucasologia dell'Università degli studi di Venezia, 1981. Here is a selection of his principal works:

Main translations of religious texts

* ''Il Corano'', introduzione, traduzione e commento, Firenze, Sansoni, 1955 (Translation of the

into

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

) * ''Testi religiosi zoroastriani'', Catania, Ed. Paoline, 1962 (Zoroastrian Religious Texts) * ''La bbona notizzia. Vangelo di Matteo nella versione romanesca di Alessandro Bausani'', Recco (Ge), Gruppo Editoriale Insieme, 1992 (The Good News, the Gospel of Matthew: a Romanesco Dialect version by Alessandro Bausani)

Translations from Persian

, ''Quartine (Roba'iyyat)'', Torino, Einaudi, 1956 (

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ''Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'' is the title that Edward FitzGerald (poet), Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian language, Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dub ...

) *

Avicenna Ibn Sina ( – 22 June 1037), commonly known in the West as Avicenna ( ), was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world, flourishing during the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian peoples, Iranian ...

, ''Opera poetica'', Roma, Carucci, 1956 (Poetic Works) *

, ''Poesie mistiche'', Milano, Rizzoli-BUR, 1980 (Mystic Poetry) * Nezami, ''Le sette principesse'', Milano, Rizzoli-BUR, 1982 (The Seven Princesses) *

, ''Il poema celeste'', Bari, Leonardo da Vinci, 1965 (The Heavenly Poem)

Monographs

* "Sguardo alle letterature del Pakistan", in ''Oriente Moderno'', XXXVII (1957), pp. 400–424 (An examination of the literature of Pakistan) * ''Storia delle letterature del Pakistan. Urdu, Pangiâbî, Sindhî, Beluci, Pasc'tô, Bengali, Pakistana'', Milano, 1958 (History of the Literature of Pakistan) * ''Persia Religiosa, da Zaratustra a Bahá'u'lláh'', 1959 (Persian Religion from

Zoroaster Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...

to Bahá'u'lláh) * ''Storia della Letteratura persiana'', 1960 (The History of Persian Literature) * ''I Persiani'', Firenze, Sansoni, 1962 (The Persians) * ''L'Islam non arabo'', in ''Storia delle religioni'', fondata da P. Tacchi Venturi (ed. interamente rifatta e ampliata), Torino, 1970-1 ("Non-Arab Islam" in "The History of Religions") * ''Le lingue inventate'', Roma, 1974 (trad. tedesca abbreviata e anticipata ''Geheim- und Universalsprachen: Entwicklung und Typologie'', Stoccarda, 1973) (

Constructed Languages A constructed language (shortened to conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary, instead of having developed natural language, naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devise ...

) * ''

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

'', Chiasso, 1973 * ''L'Enciclopedia dei Fratelli della Purità'', Napoli, Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1978. (Encyclopedia of the

Brethren of Purity The Brethren of Purity (; also The Brethren of Sincerity) were a secret society of Muslim philosophers in Basra, Iraq, in the 9th or 10th century CE. The structure of the organization and the identities of its members have never been clear."Ha ...

) * ''L'Islam'', Milano, Garzanti, 1980 * ''Una rosa d'Oriente: Tahirih'', Cosenza, Tipografia Gnisci, 1980 (A Rose of the East) * ''La fede Baháʼí e l'unità del genere umano''. (The

and the Oneness of Humanity) * ''Saggi sulla fede Baháʼí'', Roma, Casa Editrice Baháʼí, 1991 (Studies on the

)

Other

*
Can Monotheism Be Taught? (Further Considerations on the Typology of Monotheism)
'. Numen, Vol. 10, Fasc. 3 (Dec., 1963), pp. 167–201. Brill.

Bibliography

* * “In memoria di Alessandro Bausani nel decennale della morte (1988–1998)”, su: ''Oriente Moderno'', n.s. LXXVIII (1998), 3, pp. da 421 a 529. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bausani, Alessandro Islamic studies scholars Translators of the Quran into Italian Italian Arabists Writers from Rome 1921 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Italian male writers Italian historians of religion Italian scholars of Pakistan studies Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Italian Bahá'ís 20th-century Bahá'ís 20th-century Italian translators Iranologists