The award ceremony for the winners of the first “The Book of the Year” regional contest in the field of academic research on Islam and Iran, which was conducted in Russia for the first time, took place on 1 December 2016 in the Great Hall of the Margarita Rudomino All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature. Dr Mehdi Sanai, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, noted that this contest demonstrated the high level of relationship between Russia and Iran and became a result of two countries' productive communication with regard to sciences. “Besides, scientific relations not only complement political and economical connections, but also encourage them”, — said the Ambassador.
The contest was organised by the Secretariat of the “The Book of the Year” World Prize of Iran, the Cultural Representative Office under the Embassy of Iran in Moscow, the International Fund of Iranian Studies in Moscow, the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Islamic Culture Research Foundation, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The international jury examined books on Iranian and Islamic studies, published in Russian language in 2014-2015 in Russia and CIS countries. The books were assessed in different categories: compilation, translation and generation of academic and critical editions of the classical texts. The co-chairmen of the jury were Vitaliy Naumkin, academic advisor of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Stanislav Prozorov, deputy director of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
According to the contest terms, the winner of the first three prizes received a money award: USD 2000, 3000 and 5000 respectively. The seven top winners were given valuable gifts and certificates, and the other participants received diplomas.
Master of Ceremonies, Ilya Zaytsev, alternative director of the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, did not disclose the names of the winners until the very last moment, and the guests could only guess by looking at the covers of the books displayed on the stage.
Apart from Mehdi Sanai, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iran in Russia, among the guests of honour there were Nikolay Martyanov, deputy director of the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of Russia; Golamreza Aawani, an eminent Iranian Doctor of Philosophy; Igor Manohin, interim principal of the Moscow State Linguistic University.
Majid Gholami Jalise, a member of the Organizing Committee and a chairman of the Iranian non-governmental organizations “Hanae ketab” (“The Book House”), said that “The Book of the Year” national contest, which takes place in Iran every February since 1994, allows to identify the most important academic works in the area of Iranian and Islamic studies worldwide. In these fields one book from each country is usually nominated for the contest. Last year Nazim Zeynalov, a Qur’an translator, participated in “The Book of the Year” contest as a Russian representative and received his award from the hands of the Iranian president. However, the contribution of Russian experts to Iranian and Islamic studies in the world treasury is so vast and diverse that the organizers decided to conduct a regional contest and to recompense several authors of the best academic works in Russian about Iran and Islam for their efforts. “While selecting works sent for the contest, we acquired a valuable experience of cooperation with Russian colleagues from leading centres for Iranian studies”, — said Mr Gholami, also mentioning a high level of the contest organisation done by the Cultural Representative Office under the Embassy of Iran in Moscow.
Following participants were among the top 7 winners in the “Islam” nomination:
7th place. “Commentary on the Qur’an. 30th juz. Volume 3”. Compiled and translated by Dmitriy Frolov.
6th place. Sharif Shukurov. “The architecture of a modern mosque. Origins”.
5th place. Farsi Nofal. “Ibrahim ibn Sayyar an-Nazzam”.
4th place. Leonid Syukiyaynen. “Islam and human rights in the cultural and religious dialogue”.
3rd place. Yanis Eshots. “The key to the hidden” (Miftah al-ghaib) of Sadr ad-Din al-Qunawi (translation from Arabic, introduction and comments).
2nd place: “Fawa’id ul-Fuad” by Lola Salomatshoeva.
The winner in this nomination became Ashirbek Muminov with his book “The Hanafi madhab in the history of the Central Asia”.
In the “Iran” nomination:
7th place. Andrey Smirnov. “Scattered” and “organized”: sense-making strategies of Arab and Islamic culture”.
6th place. Tamerlan Salbiyev. “Sacred marriage. Mythology and traditional choreography of the Ossetians”.
5th place shared by: Alsu Arslanova (“Description of the Persian manuscripts of the Lobachevskiy Academic Library of the Kazan Federal University”) and Vladimir Ivanov (“The Persian language textbook for first-year students”.
4th place. Dmitriy Mishin. «Khosrow I Anushiruwan (531–579), his epoque and his life and his edification in the story of Miskawayh”.
3rd place. Mehti Davud-ogly Kyazymov. Translation of the work of a Persian sufi of the 13th century, Najm ad-Din Razi — “Mirsad al-ibad min al-mabda ila’l-maad” (The path of God’s servants from the source to the return).
2nd place: Adel Adamova. “Panoram of P.A.Pyasetskiy’s Persia: from Enzeli to Tehran”.
The 1st place went to Anatoliy Ivanov, the author of the brilliant work entitled “Copper and bronze (brass) objects in Iran during the second half of the 14th — the middle of the 18th century”.
Here is some information about the winners of the “The Book of the Year: Islam and Iran in Russian speaking countries” regional contest. Anatoliy Ivanov, who won the 1st prize for his book on Iranian Studies, is the custodian of the collection of Iranian ornamental art in the State Hermitage Museum, was the head of the Oriental Department in the museum for a few decades, and is now the leading research worker in the Hermitage Museum. He was born in 1929 in Leningrad, graduated from the Oriental Department of the Saint Petersburg University. He is a candidate of historical sciences and the author of over 70 academic works.
The winner of the 1st prize for the book on Islamic studies, Ashirbek Muminov, was born in Tashkent in 1959, holds a degree in Arabic studies and philology from the Tashkent State University, in 1990 graduated from the full-time postgraduate studies in the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Currently he is a doctor of sciences, head of the Religious Studies Department of the Gumilyov Eurasian State University in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The full article is available here.
