Gilbert Lazard
TEHRAN.(Iranart) – F rench linguist and Iranologist Gilbert Lazard died of old age on September 6. He was 98.
Lazard devoted a great part of his life studying Iranian culture and Farsi language. His work on Persian language and translations of classical Persian poetry won him the prestigious literary prize Mahmud Afshar Award in 2017.
In appreciation of his contributions, in 2016 he was made honorary member of the Tehran-based Persian Academy of Language and Literature, which promotes efforts for research on the Persian language and its sister Iranian languages.
Lazard studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris and graduated in 1946. He was professor of Persian at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations in Paris from 1958 to 1966.
His teachings and works on Persian language and literature have had a strong influence on Persian studies in France since the 1960s.
Lazard’s works include A Grammar of Contemporary Persian, the Persian-French Dictionary, the acclaimed French translation of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and an excerpt translation of Divan-e Hafez. He has translated several works by the late Iranian writer, translator and intellectual Sadeq Hedayat, including “Haji Aqa” into French.
source: Financial Tribune