Prods Oktor Skjærvø (sometimes written P.O. Skjaervo in English) is Emeritus Professor of
Iranian Studies
Iranian studies ( '), 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 is a part of the wider field ...
in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, where he succeeded
Richard Frye as
Aga Khan
Aga Khan (; ; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Imām of the Nizari Isma'ilism, Nizari Isma'ilism, Ismāʿīli Shia Islam, Shias. The current holder of the title is the ...
Professor of Iranian Studies.
Born in
Steinkjer
or is a municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Steinkjer (town), town of Steinkjer which is located on the inne ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, Skjærvø is a
hyperpolyglot, familiar with historical and living languages including
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
,
Norwegian,
English,
French,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
,
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 ...
,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
,
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
,
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
,
Larestani,
Kumzari,
Bashkardi,
Pashto
Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
,
Yidgha,
Yaghnobi,
Munji,
Old Khotanese,
Avestan
Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...
,
Old Persian
Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...
,
Pahlavi,
Manichean Middle Persian,
Parthian,
Sogdian,
Khotanese,
New Persian
New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () 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 three stages: Early New Persian (8th ...
,
Ossetic
Ossetian ( , , ), commonly referred to as Ossetic and rarely as Ossete, is an Eastern Iranian language that is spoken predominantly in Ossetia, a region situated on both sides of the Russian-Georgian border in the Greater Caucasus region. ...
,
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish language
** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji)
**Central Kurdish (Sorani)
**Southern Kurdish
** Laki Kurdish
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern ...
,
Tokharian,
Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...
, and
Classical Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest ...
.
Education
In 1963 Skjærvø enrolled at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...
where he studied French, Latin, and Sanskrit, with a semester in 1965 at the
Sorbonne in Paris. He earned his B.A. () in 1970. In 1974 he completed his M.A. with the thesis, (''Investigations into the verbal systems of Old Persian and Western Middle Iranian''), on which he subsequently based his “Remarks on the Old Persian Verbal System.” He then completed his Ph.D. in 1981 from the University of Oslo with the dissertation, ''The Paikuli Inscription, Restoration and Interpretation. Pt.1: Restored Text and Translation (109 pp.). Pt2: Introduction and Commentary''.
Chairs and Committees
Skjærvø served in several academic positions at Harvard including:
* Chair, Committee for Inner Asian and Altaic Studies, 1993–2000
* Chair, Department of Sanskrit, 1995–1996
* Chair, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilisations, 2002–2006 and 2009
He has also been invited as:
* Guest lecturer, Eötvös Loránd Tudomány University, Budapest, 1997
* Guest lecturer, Université de la Sorbonne, Paris
* Guest lecturer, Università di Studi di Roma, La Sapienza
* Visiting professor, Collège de France, Paris, May–June 2000
Skjærvø is also a Consulting Editor for ''
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 ...
''.
Encyclopædia Iranica Consulting Editors
Retrieved 2020-29-06.
Selected books
Skjærvø has been published widely in several languages:
English
*
*
*
*
*
*
Norwegian
*
*
References
External links
Faculty member page
Harvard University
Profile
on the Consulting Editors page of 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 ...
''
Official profile on Academia.edu
Curriculum Vitae
Complete list of publications
Prods Oktor Skjærvø’s textbooks
hosted online at Harvard University, on:
*
Old Avestan
*
Young Avestan
*
Old Persian
*
Manichaean Sogdian
*
Introduction to Zoroastrianism
*
Introductions to Manicheism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skjærvø, Prods Oktor
1944 births
Living people
American people of Norwegian descent
Iranologists
Harvard University faculty
Linguists of Persian
People from Steinkjer
Zoroastrian studies scholars
University of Copenhagen alumni
University of Oslo alumni
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni