Richard Nelson Frye (January 10, 1920 – March 27, 2014) was an American scholar of
Iranian
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 ...
and
Central Asian studies Central Asian studies is the discipline of studying the culture, history, and languages of Central Asia. The roots of Central Asian studies as a social science discipline goes to 19th century Anglo-Russian Great Game. During the 19th century, C ...
, and
Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. His professional areas of interest were Iranian
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
and the history of
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 ...
and
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
before 1000 CE.
Born in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
, to a family of immigrants from
Sweden, "Freij" had four children, his second marriage being to an
Iranian-Assyrian scholar,
Eden Naby
Eden Naby (born 1942) is an Assyrian-Iranian cultural historian of Central Asia and the Middle East. She was born in the once important Assyrian village of Golpashan, located outside Urmia in Iran. Eden Naby has conducted research, taught and pub ...
, from
Urmia
Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an al ...
,
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 ...
who teaches at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. He spoke fluent
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...
,
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 ...
,
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
,
French,
Uzbek, and
Turkish, and had extensive knowledge of
Avestan,
Pahlavi,
Sogdian, and other Iranian languages and dialects, both extinct and current.
Although Frye is mostly known for his works about
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 ...
, the
Iranian peoples and Iranian Central Asia, the scope of his studies was much wider and includes
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
,
Caucasian
Caucasian may refer to:
Anthropology
*Anything from the Caucasus region
**
**
** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region
*
*
*
Languages
* Northwest Caucasian l ...
, and
Ottoman history,
Eastern Turkistan,
Assyria
Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...
and the
Assyrian people, ancient and medieval
Iranian art
Persian art or Iranian art () has one of the richest art heritages in world history and has been strong in many media including architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and sculpture. At different times, influences ...
,
Islamic art
Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...
,
Sufism, Chinese and Japanese archeology, and a variety of Iranian and non-Iranian languages including
Avestan,
Old Persian,
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...
,
Parthian Parthian may be:
Historical
* A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran
* Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD)
* Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language
* Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...
,
Sogdian,
Khotanese, and
Bactrian,
New Persian
New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thr ...
,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...
, Turkish, and even Chinese, beside research languages which include French, German, Italian, and Russian.
Early life and career
Frye was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He first attended the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
, where he received a BA in history and philosophy in 1939. He received his MA from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
in 1940 and his PhD from Harvard in 1946, in
Asiatic history.
Frye served with the
Office of Strategic Services during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. He was stationed in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and traveled extensively in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
,
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, and
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
. In 1948 he visited
Sar Masshad, and was the first European to find and report the existence of the
Gur-e Dokhtar tomb (meaning "Tomb of the Maiden" in
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 returned to Harvard to teach. He was a member of the Harvard faculty from 1948 until 1990. He then became a professor emeritus at Harvard. He also served as faculty, guest lecturer, or visiting scholar at:
*
Habibiya College in
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
(1942–44)
*
Frankfurt University
Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...
(1959–60)
*
Hamburg University (1968–69)
*
Pahlavi University
Shiraz University ( fa, دانشگاه شیراز ''Dāneshgāh-e-Shirāz'', formerly known as Pahlavi University دانشگاه پهلوی ''Dāneshgāh-e Pahlavi'') is a public university located in Shiraz, Fars, Iran, established in 1946. ...
of
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...
(1970–76)
*
University of Tajikistan (1990–92).
Professor Frye helped found the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard, the first
Iranian studies
Iranian studies ( fa, ايرانشناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...
program in America. He also served as Director of the ''Asia Institute'' in
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...
(1970–1975), was on the Board of Trustees of the
Pahlavi University
Shiraz University ( fa, دانشگاه شیراز ''Dāneshgāh-e-Shirāz'', formerly known as Pahlavi University دانشگاه پهلوی ''Dāneshgāh-e Pahlavi'') is a public university located in Shiraz, Fars, Iran, established in 1946. ...
at
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...
(1974–78), and Chairman, ''Committee on Inner Asian Studies'', at Harvard (1983–89), and as Editor of the ''Bulletin of the Asia Institute'' (1970–1975 and 1987–99).
Among Frye's students were
Annemarie Schimmel
Annemarie Schimmel (7 April 1922 – 26 January 2003) was an influential German Orientalist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam, especially Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.
Early life and education ...
,
Oleg Grabar
Oleg Grabar (November 3, 1929 – January 8, 2011) was a French-born art historian and archeologist, who spent most of his career in the United States, as a leading figure in the field of Islamic art and architecture.
Academic career
O ...
,
Frank Huddle (former US Ambassador to
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
),
John Limbert, and
Michael Crichton, whose
Hollywood film
The 13th Warrior
''The 13th Warrior'' is a 1999 American historical fiction action film based on Michael Crichton's 1976 novel ''Eaters of the Dead'', which is a loose adaptation of the tale of ''Beowulf'' combined with Ahmad ibn Fadlan's historical account of the ...
is loosely based on Frye's translation of
Ibn Fadlan
Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Rāšid ibn Ḥammād, ( ar, أحمد بن فضلان بن العباس بن راشد بن حماد; ) commonly known as Ahmad ibn Fadlan, was a 10th-century Muslim traveler, famous for his account of hi ...
's account of his travels up the river
Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...
.
Frye was also directly responsible for inviting Iranian scholars as distinguished visiting fellows to Harvard University, under a fellowship program initiated by
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
. Examples of such guests include
Mehdi Haeri Yazdi (1923–1999),
Sadegh Choubak
Sādeq Chubak ( fa, صادق چوبک, sometimes Sādegh Choubak; August 5, 1916 July 3, 1998), was an Iranian author of short fiction, drama, and novels. His short stories are characterized by their intricacy, economy of detail, and concentrati ...
,
Jalal al Ahmad, and others.
Frye as a proponent of Persian culture
Frye felt that
Persian civilization was under-appreciated by other
Muslims, and
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Muslims in particular. Frye wrote:
In August 1953, shortly before the fall of
Mosaddegh
Mohammad Mosaddegh ( fa, محمد مصدق, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 35th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, after appointment by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of ...
, prominent Iranian linguist
Ali Akbar Dehkhoda
Allameh Ali Akbar Dehkhodā ( fa, علیاکبر دهخدا; 1879–March 9, 1956) was a prominent Iranian linguist and lexicographer. He was the author of the Dehkhoda Dictionary, the most extensive dictionary of the Persian language p ...
gave Frye the title: "Irandoost" (meaning "a friend of Iran").
In addition, Frye was a long standing supporter of
Assyrian continuity; the historical and ancestral connection between modern
Assyrians and the Ancient Mesopotamians.
A ceremony was held in Iran on June 27, 2004 to pay tribute to the six-decade endeavors of Professor Frye on his lifetime contribution to
Iranian Studies
Iranian studies ( fa, ايرانشناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...
, research work on 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 a ...
, and the history and culture of
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 ...
.
In his will, Professor Frye expressed his wish to be buried next to the
Zayandeh River
Zayanderud ( fa, Zāyanderud, script=Latn, from "fertile" or "life giver", and "river"), also spelled as ''Zayandeh-Rood'' or ''Zayanderood'', is the largest river of the Iranian Plateau in central Iran.
Geography
The Zayandeh starts in t ...
in
Isfahan. This request was approved by Iranian president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in September 2007.
Two other American scholars of Iranian Studies,
Arthur Pope
Arthur Upham Pope (February 7, 1881 – September 3, 1969) was an American scholar, art historian, and architecture historian. He was an expert on historical Persian art, and he was the editor of the ''Survey of Persian Art'' (1939). Pope was also ...
and
Phyllis Ackerman
Phyllis Ackerman (1893–1977), was an American art historian, interior designer and author. She was a scholar of Persian art and architecture and she worked alongside her husband Arthur Upham Pope. Her legacy was as an editor of the six volume pu ...
, are already buried there.
In 2010 the Iranian government gave a house in
Isfahan to Professor Frye in recognition of his services to Iranian studies.
On June 8, 2014, the family of Dr. Frye decided to cremate his remains after waiting more than 2 months for official Iranian permission to bury him in Isfahan. His death coincided with growing resentment by Iranian hard-liners over signs of reconciliation with the United States after decades of estrangement. It is not clear what the family intended to do with his ashes.
Frye as a public speaker
Frye was a popular public speaker at numerous Iran-related gatherings. In 2005, he spoke at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
, encouraging the Iranians present to cherish their culture and identity.
Professor Richard Nelson Frye Lecture at UCLA Royce Hall – March 13, 2005
/ref> In 2004, he spoke at an architectural conference in Tehran, expressing his dismay at hasty modernization that ignores the beauties of traditional Iranian architectural styles (see Architecture of Tehran
Tehran has grown dramatically since Mohammad Khan Qajar chose it as the capital of the Qajar dynasty in 1796. Despite the occurrence of earthquakes during the Qajar period and before, some buildings still remain from Tehran's era of antiquity. H ...
).
Bibliography
* ''Notes on the Early Coinage of Transoxania; Numismatic Notes, 113'', American Numismatic Association, New York 1949
* ''The Near East and the Great Powers'', Harvard University Press, 1951
* ''Iran'', George Allen and Unwin, London, 1960
* ''The Heritage of Persia: The pre-Islamic History of One of the World's Great Civilizations'', World Publishing Company, New York, 1963. Reprinted by Mazda Publishers, 2004. www.mazdapublishers.com
* ''Bukhara: The Medieval Achievement'', University of Oklahoma Press, 1965. Reprinted by Mazda Publishers, 1997. www.mazdapublishers.com
* ''The Histories of Nishapur'', Harvard University Press, ( Harvard Oriental Series, 45) 1965
* ''Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, vol. III'', Dura-Europos, London, 1968
* ''Persia'' (3rd edition) Allen and Unwin, London, 1969
* ''The United States and Turkey and Iran'', Archon Books, 1971
* ''Sasanian Remains from Qasr-i Abu Nasr. Seals, Sealings, and Coins'', Harvard University Press, 1973
* ''Neue Methodologie in der Iranistik'', Wiesbaden, 1974
* ''The Golden Age Of Persia: The Arabs in the East'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1988
*
* ''The heritage of Central Asia from antiquity to the Turkish expansion'' Markus Wiener, Princeton, 1996
*
*
* ''Greater Iran'', Mazda Publishers, 2005,
* ''Ibn Fadlan's Journey To Russia'', 2005, Markus Wiener Publisher,
See also
* Famous Americans in Iran
* Iranistics
Iranian studies ( fa, ايرانشناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...
; Other notable scholars of Iranian studies
: Mehrdad Bahar
: Mary Boyce
Nora Elisabeth Mary Boyce (2 August 1920 – 4 April 2006) was a British scholar of Iranian languages, and an authority on Zoroastrianism. She was Professor of Iranian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the Un ...
: Roman Ghirshman
Roman Ghirshman (, ''Roman Mikhailovich Girshman''; October 3, 1895 – 5 September 1979) was a Russian-born French archeologist who specialized in ancient Persia. Ghirshman spent nearly thirty years excavating ancient Persian archeological ...
: Michael Roaf
Michael Douglas Roaf(born in May 20, 1947) is a British archaeologist specialising in ancient Iranian studies and Assyriology.
Roaf studied the archaeology of Western Asia at University College London, and wrote his doctoral thesis, ''Sculptures ...
: James R. Russell
: Erich Schmidt
: Alireza Shapour Shahbazi
: David Stronach
David Brian Stronach (10 June 1931 – 27 June 2020) was a British archaeologist of ancient Iran and Iraq. He was an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Stronach was an expert on the city of Pasargadae. He was edu ...
: Ahmad Tafazzoli
, image = احمد تفضلی 1316 - 1375.jpg
, imagesize =
, alt =
, caption = Prominent Iranian Iranist
, pseudonym =
, birth_name =
, birth_date = December 16, 1937
, birth_place = Isfahan
, death_date = January 1997 (he was murdered ...
: Ehsan Yarshater
Ehsan Yarshater ( fa, احسان يارشاطر, April 3, 1920 – September 1, 2018) was an Iranian historian and linguist who specialized in Iranology. He was the founder and director of The Center for Iranian Studies, and Hagop Kevorkian Profe ...
: Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub
Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub ( Luri/ Persian: , also Romanized as ''Zarrinkoob'', ''Zarrinkub'', ) (March 17, 1923 – September 15, 1999) was a scholar and professor of Iranian literature, history of literature, Persian culture and history.
He was ...
References
External links
Iranians pay tribute to Richard Nelson Frye
''Mehr News Agency'', July 5, 2004.
* Waghmar, Burzine. Obituary: Richard Nelson Frye (1920–2014). ''Societas Iranologica Europaea'
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060223023921/http://www.persianmirror.com/community/2005/opinion/opinionRichardFRye.cfm anotherbr>Dr. Frye's statements at UCLA in March 2005
* ttp://www.iranian.com/Books/2004/June/Iran/ Excerpts from ''The Greater Iran: A 20th-Century Odyssey'', the memoirs of R. N. Fryebr>Dr. Frye's page at the ''Iran Heritage'' website
*Frye, R. N
''The History of Ancient Iran'', 1983.
* Syria and Assyria
*Frye, R. N
"Ethnic Identity in Iran." 2002.
*Prof. Richard Frye’s Memoirs in Persia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frye, Richard Nelson
American historians
American Iranologists
American Turkologists
American people of Swedish descent
University of Illinois alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Harvard University faculty
Iranologists
People of the Office of Strategic Services
Shiraz University faculty
1920 births
2014 deaths
Farabi International Award recipients
Zoroastrian studies scholars
American expatriates in Afghanistan
American expatriates in Iran
American expatriates in Germany
American expatriates in Tajikistan
University of Hamburg faculty