Richard N. Frye | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Richard Nelson Frye (1920-01-10)January 10, 1920 |
| Died | March 27, 2014(2014-03-27) (aged 94) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois Harvard University |
| Awards | Farabi International Award Khwarizmi International Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Iranian studies |
| Institutions | Goethe University Frankfurt University of Hamburg Shiraz University Tajik State National University Harvard University |
| Academic advisors | Arthur Pope Walter Bruno Henning |
| Notable students | Frank Huddle John Limbert Michael Crichton Richard Cottam Richard Bulliet Roy Mottahedeh Jamsheed Choksy |
Richard Nelson Frye (January 10, 1920 – March 27, 2014) was an American scholar ofIranian andCentral Asian studies, andAga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies atHarvard University.[1][2] His professional areas of interest were Iranianphilology and the history ofIran andCentral Asia before 1000 CE.
Born inBirmingham, Alabama, to a family of immigrants fromSweden, "Freij" had four children, his second marriage being to a scholar, who teaches atColumbia University. He spoke fluentRussian,German,Arabic,Persian,Pashto,French,Uzbek, andTurkish,[3] and had extensive knowledge ofAvestan,Pahlavi,Sogdian, and other Iranian languages and dialects, both extinct and current.[citation needed]
Although Frye is mostly known for his works aboutIran, theIranian peoples and Iranian Central Asia, the scope of his studies was much wider and includesByzantine,Caucasian, andOttoman history,Eastern Turkistan,Assyria and theAssyrian people, ancient and medievalIranian art,Islamic art,Sufism, Chinese and Japanese archeology, and a variety of Iranian and non-Iranian languages includingAvestan,Old Persian,Middle Persian,Parthian,Sogdian,Khotanese, andBactrian,New Persian,Arabic, Turkish, and even Chinese, beside research languages which include French, German, Italian, and Russian.[4]
Frye was born inBirmingham, Alabama. He first attended theUniversity of Illinois, where he received a BA in history and philosophy in 1939. He received his MA fromHarvard University in 1940 and his PhD from Harvard in 1946, inAsiatic history.[citation needed]
Frye served with theOffice of Strategic Services duringWorld War II. He was stationed inAfghanistan and traveled extensively in theMiddle East,Central Asia, andSouth Asia. In 1948, he visitedSar Masshad, and was the first European to find and report the existence of theGur-e Dokhtar tomb (meaning "Tomb of the Maiden" inPersian).
He returned to Harvard to teach. He was a member of the Harvard faculty from 1948 to 1990. He then became a professor emeritus at Harvard. He also served as faculty, guest lecturer, or visiting scholar at the following:
Professor Frye helped found the Center for Middle Eastern Studies[5] at Harvard, the firstIranian studies program in America. He also served as Director of theAsia Institute inShiraz (1970–1975), was on the Board of Trustees of thePahlavi University atShiraz (1974–1978), and Chairman,Committee on Inner Asian Studies, at Harvard (1983–1989), and as Editor of theBulletin of the Asia Institute (1970–1975 and 1987–1999).
Among Frye's students wereAnnemarie Schimmel,[6]Oleg Grabar,[7]Frank Huddle (former US Ambassador toTajikistan),John Limbert, andMichael Crichton, whoseHollywood filmThe 13th Warrior is loosely based on Frye's translation ofIbn Fadlan's account of his travels up theVolga River.[8]
Frye was also directly responsible for inviting Iranian scholars as distinguished visiting fellows to Harvard University, under a fellowship program initiated byHenry Kissinger. Examples of such guests includeMehdi Haeri Yazdi (1923–1999),Sadegh Choubak,Jalal al Ahmad, and others.[9]
Frye felt thatPersian civilization was under-appreciated by otherMuslims, particularlyArabs. Frye wrote:
Arabs no longer understand the role of Iran and the Persian language in the formation of Islamic culture. Perhaps they wish to forget the past, but in so doing they remove the bases of their own spiritual, moral and cultural being... without the heritage of the past and a healthy respect for it... there is little chance for stability and proper growth.
— R. N. Frye,The Golden Age of Persia, London: Butler & Tanner Ltd., 1989, page 236
In August 1953, shortly before the fall ofMosaddegh, the prominent Iranian linguistAli Akbar Dehkhoda gave Frye the title "Irandoost" (meaning 'iranophile').[10]
In addition, Frye was a long-standing supporter ofAssyrian continuity, and valued the historical and ancestral connection between modernAssyrians and the Ancient Mesopotamians.[11]
A ceremony was held in Iran on June 27, 2004, to pay tribute to the six-decade endeavors of Frye on his lifetime contribution toIranian Studies, research work on thePersian language, and the history and culture ofIran.
In his will, Frye expressed his wish to be buried next to theZayandeh River inIsfahan. The request was approved by Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad in September 2007.[12]Two other American scholars of Iranian Studies,Arthur Pope andPhyllis Ackerman, are already buried there.In 2010 the Iranian government gave a house inIsfahan to Professor Frye in recognition of his services to Iranian studies.[13]
On June 8, 2014, the family of Frye decided to cremate his remains after waiting more than two months for official Iranian permission to bury him in Isfahan. His death coincided with growing resentment by Iranian hardliners 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.[14]
Richard Foltz dedicated his bookA History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East to Frye's memory.[15]
Frye was a popular public speaker at numerous Iran-related gatherings. In 2005, he spoke atUCLA and encouraged the Iranians present to cherish their culture and identity.[16][17] In 2004, he spoke at an architectural conference in Tehran and expressed his dismay at hasty modernization that ignores the beauties of traditional Iranian architectural styles (seeArchitecture of Tehran).[citation needed]
