Allameh Ali Akbar Dehkhodā ( fa, علی‌اکبر دهخدا; 1879–March 9, 1956) was a prominent

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian linguist and

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

. He was the author of the

Dehkhoda Dictionary The ''Dehkhoda Dictionary'' ( fa, لغت‌نامهٔ دهخدا) is the largest comprehensive Persian encyclopedic dictionary ever published, comprising 200 volumes. It is published by the Tehran University Press (UTP) under the supervision of ...

, the most extensive dictionary of the

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

published to date.

Biography

Dehkhoda was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

to parents from

Qazvin Qazvin (; fa, قزوین, , also Romanized as ''Qazvīn'', ''Qazwin'', ''Kazvin'', ''Kasvin'', ''Caspin'', ''Casbin'', ''Casbeen'', or ''Ghazvin'') is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran. Qazvin was a capital of the ...

. His father, Khan Baba Khan Ghazvini, died when he was only 9 years old. Dehkhoda excelled quickly in

Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and French. He enrolled at the School of

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, which employed, amongst other figures, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his Secretary as lecturers. He was also active in politics, and served in the

Majles The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The Pa ...

as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from

Kerman Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in ...

and

. He also served as Dean of

Tehran School of Political Science The Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Tehran ( fa, دانشکده حقوق و علوم سیاسی دانشگاه تهران), is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Iran. It was initially established in C ...

and later the School of Law of the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

. In 1903, he went to the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

as an Iranian embassy employee, but came back to Iran two years later and became involved in the

Constitutional Revolution of Iran The Persian Constitutional Revolution ( fa, مشروطیت, Mashrūtiyyat, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a par ...

. Dehkhoda,

Mirza Jahangir Khan Mirzā Jahāngir Khān (≈1870, or 1875, Shiraz — June 23, 1908, Tehran) ( fa, میرزا جهانگیرخان), also known as Mirzā Jahāngir Khān Shirāzi and Jahāngir-Khān-e Sūr-e-Esrāfil, was an Iranian writer and intellectual, and ...

and Ghasem Khan published the '' Sur-e Esrafil'' newspaper for about two years, until

Mohammad Ali Shah Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar ( fa, محمدعلی شاه قاجار; 21 June 1872 – 5 April 1925, San Remo, Italy), Shah of Iran from 8 January 1907 to 16 July 1909. He was the sixth shah of the Qajar dynasty. Biography Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar ...

disbanded the parliament and banished Dehkhoda and some other liberals into exile in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. There he continued publishing articles and editorials, but when Mohammad Ali Shah was deposed in 1911, he returned to the country and became a member of the new

Majlis ( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...

. He is buried in

Ebn-e Babooyeh Ibn Babawayh cemetery ( fa, گورستان ابن‌بابویه or ), also spelled as Ebn-e Babviyeh, Ebn-e Babooyeh, is located in Iran in the town of Rey (which is now inside Greater Tehran metropolitan area). About The cemetery is named af ...

cemetery in

Shahr-e Ray Shahr-e Ray ( fa, شهر ری, ) or simply Ray (Shar e Ray; ) is the capital of Ray County in Tehran Province, Iran. Formerly a distinct city, it has now been absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran as the 20th district of municip ...

, near Tehran. In his article "First Iranian Scholar who authored the Most Extensive & Comprehensive Farsi Dictionary,"

Manouchehr Saadat Noury Manuchehr, Manuchar, Manuchihr, or Manouchehr ( fa, منوچهر, ''Manūčehr'', Old Persian: Manōčihr, Avestan: Manuščiθra) is a Persian male given name meaning "Heaven's face". It consists of two parts ''Manu (Manou),'' which means "Heaven" ...

wrote that,

Works

Dehkhoda translated

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...

's ''De l'esprit des lois'' (''

The Spirit of the Laws ''The Spirit of Law'' (French: ''De l'esprit des lois'', originally spelled ''De l'esprit des loix''), also known in English as ''The Spirit of the Laws'', is a treatise on political theory, as well as a pioneering work in comparative law, publis ...

'') into

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 ...

. He has also written '' Amsal o Hekam'' ("Proverbs and Sayings") in four volumes, a French-Persian Dictionary, and other books, but his lexicographic masterpiece is '' Loghat-nameh-ye Dehkhoda'' ("

"), the largest Persian dictionary ever published, in 15 volumes. Dr.

Mohammad Moin Mohammad Moin ( fa, , his surname could also be transliterated as Mo'in) (July 12, 1914, Rasht, Iran – July 4, 1971, Tehran, Iran)Date of birth July 12, 1914, is according to Professor Mo'in's own notes. However, some sources indicate April 2 ...

accomplished Dehkhoda's unfinished volumes according to Dehkhoda's request after him. Finally the book was published after forty five years of efforts of Dehkhoda.

Notes

External links

ALÈ-AKBAR QAZVÈNÈ ''Dehkhodā'
@ ''

Encyclopaedia Iranica An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

''
''Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE'', "Dihkhudā, ʿAlī-Akbar", John R. Perry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dehkhoda, Ali Akbar * Iranian Iranologists

Iranian journalists Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

Linguists from Iran Iranian translators Members of the 2nd Iranian Majlis University of Tehran faculty Politicians from Tehran 1879 births 1956 deaths Iranian lexicographers Members of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature Moderate Socialists Party politicians 19th-century Iranian writers 20th-century Iranian politicians 20th-century Iranian writers

Biography

Works

See also

Notes

External links