Richard Nelson Frye

Richard Nelson Frye (born in 1920) is an American academic in the field of the Iranian studies and the Central Asia, and an Iranian professor emeritus to the Université of Harvard. Its centers of professional interests are the Iranian Philologie and the history of the Iran and the Central Asia before 1000 av JC.

Born with Birmingham, Alabama in a family of emigrants Swedish, " Freij" has four children, is married in second weddings with an Assyrian academic , Dr. Eden Naby originating in Orumieh, which teaches with the Université Columbia. He usually speaks the Russian , the German , the Arab , the Persan, the French, the Pashto, the Uzbek and the Turkish ; and has a provided knowledge of the Avestique, Pahlavi of the Sogdien and other languages and dialects of Central Asia, at the same time extinct or alive.

Career

Frye initially followed courses to the university of Illinois, where it accepted a diploma in history and philosophy in 1939. It accepted its MY Université of Harvard in 1940 and PhD of Harvard in 1946, in Asian history.

Frye served for the Bureau of the strategic services (OSI) during the Second world war. It was stationed in Afghanistan and travelled much to the Middle East, to Central Asia and South Asia.

It returned to Harvard to teach. He was member of the faculty of Harvard of 1948 to 1990. He is now professor emeritus in Harvard. He was also useful as a member of faculty, guest or in visit in the following institutions:

Habibiya College with Kabul (1942-44)
University Johann Wolfgang Goethe with Frankfurt amndt Hand (1959-60)
University of Hamburg (1968-69)
University Pahlavi with Shiraz (1970-76)
University of Tadjikistan (1990-92).

Professor Frye founded the Center of the studies of the Middle-East in Harvard, the first programme of Iranian studies in the United States. He was also Directeur of the Asia Institute with Shiraz (1970-1975), belonged to the Board of directors of the Université Pahlavi with Shiraz (1974-78), president of the Committee one Inner Asian Studies (" Committee for the studies asiatiques") with Harvard (1983-89), and editor of the Bulletin off the Asia Institute (1970-1975 and 1987-99).

Frye, in favor of the Persian culture

Frye thought that Persian civilization under-was appreciated by the other Moslems, Arabic in particular. He wrote:

" Arabic does not include/understand any more the role of Iran and Persan in the formation of the Islamic culture. Perhaps want they to forget the past, but by doing this, they withdraw the bases of their own being spiritual, moral and cultural… without the legacy of the past and a healthy respect for this one, it has only little chance there to know stability and a correct growth. "

^{(R.N. Frye, The Old Golden delicious off Persia , London: Butler & To tan Ltd., 1989, page 236)}

Iranian answered in an enthusiastic way its appreciation.

In August 1953, few before the fall Mossadegh, the Iranian linguist Ali Akbar Dehkhoda allotted to Frye the title (( laqab ) of: Irandoost (meaning " friend of Iran"). (Greater Iran, p.142)

A ceremony took place with Teheran on June 27th, 2004 in order to pay homage to the six decades of work of Professor Frye and its contribution to the Iranologie, its research on the language Persian and the history and the culture of Iran.

In his will, professor Frye expressed the wish to be buried beside the Zayandeh rud with Esfahan. Two other American iranologists, Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackerman are already buried over there.

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