Yunus Emre Institute’s office in Tehran has planned a series of meetings on old memoires and travelogues written by Iranian statesmen and literati during their stay in Turkey. The organizing institute is a non-profit Turkish cultural organization with 43 branches across the globe, established to promote Turkish language and culture. Located at No. 12, Saeedi […]
Yunus Emre Institute’s office in Tehran has planned a series of meetings on old memoires and travelogues written by Iranian statesmen and literati during their stay in Turkey.
The organizing institute is a non-profit Turkish cultural organization with 43 branches across the globe, established to promote Turkish language and culture. Located at No. 12, Saeedi Street, Nelson Mandela Blvd., the Tehran office of Yunus Emre Institute will host the first event of its kind on Nov. 12 at 5 pm.
‘An Account of Days and Nights Spent in Turkey’ is dedicated to the memoirs of statesman, physician and scholar Qasem Ghani (1893-1952), according to the website of the Written Heritage Research Center (Mirasmaktoob.ir).
The memoirs are in fact part of ‘Yaddasht haye (notes by) Dr. Ghani,’ a 12-volume series compiled and edited by his son Sirous.
Ghani traveled extensively and wrote copiously. The 12 volumes include his memoirs, diaries and letters. He is among the literati whose writings shed unique lights on Ottoman-Persian relations. The notes afford the reader an intimate glimpse of Ahmed Cemal Pasha (1872-1922), a member, with Enver Pasha and Talat Pasha, of the Ottoman Empire’s ruling triumvirate in the last years of its existence.
Ghani was an eminent scholar of Persian literature and history, specializing in Sufi literature. While practicing his medical profession in his native Khorasan Province (now Khorasan Razavi Province), he also began his literary activities as a scholar, editing Persian texts and assisting scholar, historian and literary researcher Mohammad Qazvini (1877-1949) in producing the critical edition of ‘Divan (poetry collection) of Hafez.’ His last publication was ‘A Discourse on Sufism’ (Tehran, 1952).
In the mid-1930s Ghani entered politics, serving several times as a member of parliament from the shrine city of Mashhad. In August 1948, he was appointed ambassador to Turkey. His memoirs in Turkey make up the third volume of his notes.
The Nov. 12 meeting in Tehran will be attended by writer, contemporary historian, literary researcher and editor Farhad Taheri. The veteran scholar will present a review on Ghani’s memoirs.
