TEHRAN -- Prominent Iranian history scholar, geography researcher and university professor ‎Parviz Azkaei (Spitman) passed away on Friday morning in his hometown of Hamedan, ‎western Iran. He was 84. ‎
Born in April 1939 in Hamedan, Azkaei received education in his hometown Tehran and Manchester where he received his PhD under renowned British orientalist and historian John Andrew Boyle.
His scholarly work were centered on history and philosophy, including on the life and works of 12-century Iranian mystic and philosopher Ayn ul-Quzat Hamadani . He has written extensively on bibliography and the history of science.
‘Letter of Hamadan’ (Hamadan-Nameh), ‘Letter of Baba Taher’ (Baba Taher-Nameh), ‘Contemporary History of Hamadan’, and ‘Culture of Hamadan’ are among his best-known books.
In January 2015, Azkaei donated his personal library, containing 7,500 volumes of books and more than 6,000 volumes of scientific and cultural magazines, to Hamadan Central Library.
He also dedicated his residential house in Shokrieh neighborhood in Hamadan to be used as a public library.