Farabi International Award

At the closing ceremony of the 14th Farabi International Award, Professor Azarmi Dukht Safavi was recognized as a Distinguished Researcher in Iranian Studies by the jury committee, and her lifetime contributions to the field, particularly in Persian Language, were honored on Monday, July 10, 2023.

CV Prof. Azarmi D Safavi
Azarmi Dukht Safavi was born in India, in the city of Agra, in a renowned and educated family of Lucknow, now settled in Shamsabad, an old historical town in Uttar Pradesh. She is a Musavi Sayyed and has roots in Iran, as her family is a descendant of the Iranian Safavi dynasty. Her forefather Shah Rahmatullah Safavi migrated to India from Iran during the time of the later Mughal king Muhammad Shah. Prof. Azarmi Dukht’s family has preserved its Iranian culture and love for the Persian language and literature. Her (Late) Father, Sayyed Muhammad Sadiq Safavi, himself a scholar of Persian, motivated her to learn Persian. Azarmi Dukht began her Persian learning at home under her father's guidance. She still fondly remembers that her first lesson was the “manqabat” of Imam Reza of poet Qaani.
She completed her schooling at Agra and her college education at Aligarh Muslim University, securing high marks and receiving Gold Medals. She chose Persian Language and Literature for her Master's degree and topped her class, getting a Gold Medal. She did her Ph.D. from Aligarh Muslim University. The topic was: “Sādi as a Humanist and Lyricist.” She discussed the point that seeds of Humanistic philosophy are to be found in Sadi's works.
Dr. Safavi made her first visit to Iran during her Ph.D. to learn modern and spoken Persian. She was guided in Iran by renowned scholars, including Jafar Shahidi, Bastani Parizi, and Iraj Afshar.
She became an Assistant Professor and finally a full-fledged Professor and Head Department of Persian at Aligarh Muslim University. She introduced many new courses of study, guided Ph.D. and M.Phil, established the Persian language Lab. and motivated students to learn Persian.
Prof. Safavi married Sayyed Mahdi Abbas Rizvi, a renowned Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and traveled with him to London for higher studies. She did research work at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and at the British Museum Library on rare Persian manuscripts and published a few of them, including Unsut Taibeen by Ahmad Jami.
Safavi has held many important positions at the University. She was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, the Head of the Department of Persian, the Director Institute of Persian Research, and the Director of the General Education Centre.
Prof. Safavi is also the President of the All India Persian Teacher’s Association.
Her most outstanding contribution to the promotion of Persian is the establishment of the Institute of Persian Research at Aligarh Muslim University in 2006. She aims to highlight the role of Persian as a source language for research on India’s history and culture. It is a multi-disciplinary Research Centre, well-acknowledged in India and abroad, and Safavi is its Founder Director. More than 70 books have been published in this Centre till now, apart from other academic activities.
Safavi is an internationally known scholar of Persian. Her publications include over 50 books and 200 articles in National and International journals. She is the organizing Director of more than 50 seminars and conferences, has attended hundreds of seminars, and delivered lectures in India and abroad.
Safavi is the recipient of many prestigious National / International Awards, including:

1. President of India Award 2006

2. Life Time Achievement Award, Iran;

3. Saadi Award, Iran Culture House, New Delhi

4. Govt. of Iran Award

5. Ghalib Award

6. Maikash Award

7. Best Book Award 2019, Iran Culture House, etc.

Dr. Safavi is an Honorary Member of the Academic Committee of Farhangistan, Iran. She travels to Iran regularly for academic purposes. She is in continuous contact with scholars like Dr. Haddad Adel, Dr. Mahdi Mohaghegh, Dr. Ahmad Reza Khezri, Ali Muhammad Moazzeni, Dr. Mohd. Reza Nasiri etc.
She has devoted her entire life to serving the cause of Persian. Dr. Safavi is settled in Aligarh and working on Research Project under the prestigious Tagore National Fellowship, awarded to a Persian scholar for the first time. Her particular field of interest is Post Islamic Revolution Literature in Iran. Safavi’s book ‘Revolution and Creativity deals with this topic. Farhangistan-e-Zaban-u-Adab-e-Farsi, Tehran, published a book about Azarmi Dukht’s Life and Works in 1394 H.S.