Goelstan, 1st Persian masterpiece to be translated to Polish

1394/02/26-14:42

Head of Iran-Poland friendship group, Ali Reza Dolatshahi says Iran and Poland established diplomatic relations over 140 years ago however cultural exchanges between the two nations date back to centuries earlier.

The Iranian personality made the remarks in a panel discussion on Iran-Poland cultural relations held Thursday on the sidelines of the 28^th Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF).

Dolatshahi cited the translation into Polish of Golestan, the masterpiece of the renowned Iranian poet, Sa’adi in 1630 as proof that the two nations had cultural exchanges centuries ago.

The public diplomat said Polish people started to know Persian decades before the other European nations.

As for the status of Iranian studies in Poland, Dolatshahi said there is now an independent department on Iranian studies in Warsaw University, adding similar departments must be established in other relevant universities the world over.

Warsaw University’s Department of Iranian Studies is an independent teaching and research unit functioning within framework of the Institute of Oriental Studies. It conducts research in the fields of literature, language, history and culture of both Iran and Afghanistan, according to the faculty’s website

Persian language has been taught at Warsaw University since 1950, at first as one of the languages lectured at the Department of Islamic Studies. Later on, Iranian studies became part of the Middle East Department and then Department of Turkish and Iranian Studies.

The Department of Iranian Studies in its present form was established in 1996 as a unit of the Institute of Oriental Studies at Warsaw University.