Shahryar Adle was born in 1944 in Tehran to parents from Tabriz. After elementary and high school years in Tehran, Adle pursued higher education in France in 1959, in world-class Sorbonne School of historic studies; simultaneously, he was studying the history of Islamic arts, general history of arts, and oriental archeology in Louvre Museum School (École du Louvre). He also attended for a time École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in architecture (School of Fine Arts). His doctoral thesis was Imperial Conquests, which addressed Shah Abbas the Great conquests of Khorasan and Herat (now in modern day Afghanistan).
His research took a professional turn when he entered The French National Centre for Scientific Research (French: Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS). In the Center, Adle concentrated his research work on Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, and was promoted to High Research Management position.
Adle was also a member of editorial board of Studia Iranica, published in France in early 1970. There, Adle was colleague to famous names such as Gilbert Lazard, Paul Bernard, Jan Richard, Jean Calmard, and Philippe Gignoux.
In late 1970s, Adle became the head of the UNESCO Committee for Compilation of History of Civilizations of Central Asia published in volumes in English.
His research work covered mid-Islamic period and especially Safavid and Qajar eras; he published important papers on Mongol school of painting in India and painters of Safavid court.
His field work in archeology also focused on Islamic period. He led vast archeological workshops and fieldwork in Khorasan, Semnan’s Bastam, Rey, and Bam in Kerman.
Of important works of his is registration of first Iranian art and cultural heritage works in UNESCO World Heritage List, especially after the Revolution of 1979. In May 1979, Adle had an expedition to Egypt in line with efforts to register Isfahan’s Naqshe-Jahan square (Now Imam Square), Chogha Zanbil Ziggurat complex, and Persepolis in Fars.
In late 1990s, Adle, after 24 years of dormancy in registering Iran’s heritage, embarked on a second round of his efforts to register this time Takht-i Suleiman (Throne of Solomon). After an earthquake hit Bam in Kerman in January 2003, Adle established in the region to launch a decade of archeological work.
Among his monumental works are discovery of first photographic negative films taken in the time of Muzaffaruddin Shah of Qajar in Golestan Palace camera obscura, and repairs made into the negatives in French National Center for Cinematography, which was the first rays cast upon the early history of Iranian cinema.
Shahryar Adle had been awarded many UNESCO cultural honors and awards. In October 2009, Director General of UNESCO, Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, in the presence of his successor, Mrs. Irina Bokova awarded Mr. Chahryar Adle with UNESCO Medal of the Five Continents in Paris Headquarters.
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