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GREECE xvi. Greek Ideas and Sciences in Sasanian Iran The arrival in Iran of Greek ideas and sciences cannot be traced only through directly translated texts.  It must also be sought in the allusions and references that we can glean from Pahlavi literature, and on occasion in longer passages where…

GREEKS IN MODERN IRAN, economic and political trends beginning in the 19th century led to the establishment of a significant Greek community in Iran. The Arrival of Greeks in Iran in 19th century. The establishment of an independent Greek kingdom in 1830 and the significant role of Qajar Iran in…

GRIBOEDOV, ALEXANDER SERGEEVICH (b. Moscow, 15 January 1794; killed in Tehran, 11 February 1829; Figure 1), Russian writer, poet, and playwright, whose most famous work is the play Gore ot uma (Woe from wit). After graduating from Moscow University with a degree in literature and law, Griboedov first joined the…

GRIGORIAN, Marcos (Mārcos [better known as Marco] Grigoriān, b. Kropotkin, Russia, 5 December 1925; d. Yerevan, 27 August 2007), Iranian-Armenian artist, actor, teacher, gallery owner, and collector who played a pioneering role in the development of Iranian modern art (FIGURE 1). LIFE The youngest of three children, Marco was born…

GRĪW, a Middle Iranian word (in Manichean Mid. Pers. script gryw, rarely gryyw; in Sogd. script kryw; in Pahl. script rendered by the ideogram, q.v., CWLE) meaning “neck, throat” and “self, soul.” David Neil MacKenzie also mentions a homonym grīw, defined as “a grain measure, modius, peck” (MacKenzie, 1971, p….

GROTEFEND, GEORG FRIEDRICH (b. 9 June 1775 in Hannoversch-Münden, d. 15 December 1853 in Hannover), German philologist and scholar of oriental studies. His father, Johann Christian Grotefend, was the head of the shoemakers guild in Hannoversch-Münden. In 1795 Grotefend enrolled at the University of Göttingen to study theology and philology….

GROUSSET, RENÉ (b. Aubais, Gard, France, 5 September 1885; d. Paris, 12 September 1952; Figure 1), French historian who based his wide-ranging research on the studies of the leading French orientalists of his time, and wrote works of synthesis on various aspects of Oriental history and culture. He was forced…

GRUNDRISS DER IRANISCHEN PHILOLOGIE (Encyclopaedia of Iranian Philology; Strassburg, 1895-1904, reprinted Berlin and New York, 1974), the first attempt to summarize the knowledge of all subjects concerning Iran — the languages and literatures, history and culture of Iran and the Iranian peoples — that had been achieved by the end…

GRÜNWEDEL, ALBERT, prominent German Indologist, Tibetologist, art scholar, and archeologist (b. Munich, 31 July 1856; d., Lenggries, 28 October 1935; Figure 1). An outstanding scholar, Grünwedel’s importance for Iranian studies lies in his organization and administration of two of the four German expeditions to Turfan (see EXCAVATIONS iv.). The son…

GRYUNBERG TSVETINOVICH, ALEKSANDR LEONOVICH (b. St. Petersburg, 1 March 1930; d. St. Petersburg, 3 March 1995), Russian linguist who specialized in Iranian languages. Gryunberg worked primarily on Tati, Baluchi, Pamiri, Nuristani, Dardic, and Sistani languages, collecting and publishing a large number of their folklore and ethnographic texts. His father was…

GUARDIAN COUNCIL (Šurā-ye Negahbān), a powerful 12-member council with vast legislative and executive jurisdictions that forms a cornerstone of the Islamic Republic’s Constitution (q.v.). According to Art. 91 of the Constitution, it consists of twelve members, six of whom are theologians (foqahā) and six are jurists (ḥoquqdān) versed in different…

GUBARU, Babylonian rendering of the Iranian name Gaub(a)ruva (q.v.), which is best known in the Greek form Gōbryas.      

GUEVREKIAN, GABRIEL (b. in Istanbul, 1900, d. 1970), Armenian avant-garde architect, an influential figure in the development of modern architecture in Persia, linking Persian architects with Europe’s pioneers of the modern movement. Guevrekian was raised in Tehran and retained his Iranian citizenship most of his life (he was naturalized as…