TEHRAN – The Iranian National Commission for UNESCO announced on Tuesday the launch of an international prize to celebrate studies from across the world on the Persian poet Nemazi Ganjavi.

The studies must throw the spotlight on the significance and impacts of Nezami on Persian language, literature, art and culture, the prize policymaking council said in a press release.

The prize will be presented on Nezami Day, which will fall on March 12 this year.

“Due to our negligence, different aspects of Nazemi have been introduced among the younger generation and this negligence has caused some movements,” Iranian National Commission for UNESCO Hojjatollah Ayyubi said in a meeting with the council.

“Different books on Nezami’s works have been translated across the world this year, but none of them have referred to his language and identity origin,” he added.

He noted that the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO plans to hold the Persian poet in high regard in UNESCO programs more than ever.

“According to numerous documents, the origins of Nezami’s family can be traced back to Tad, a village near the town of Tafresh” Ayyubi noted.

He said that the National Museum of Iran plans a commemorative event for Nezami, which will be followed by another cultural program in Tafresh. 

Abdolmahdi Mostakin, the secretary of the prize, also said, “Different massive programs have arranged by the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO to celebrate Nezami’s works, which have inspired numerous literary, dramatic, and artistic works in Iran, the region and the world over the past 800 years.”

“Due to his creativity and unique innovations in Persian literature and his creative imagination, several countries in the region are trying to connect themselves to the great poet,” he stated.

“Regarding his great cultural potential and his Iranian origin, Nezami can join the neighboring nations to the eternal sources of Islamic Iranian culture and develop Iran’s soft power in the global culture and civilization,” Mostakin noted.

Earlier in January, Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance announced its plan to commemorate Nezami Ganjavi in a weeklong program in March.

The program, which has been set up as a hybrid event with virtual and live meetings, will begin on Esfand 21 in the Iranian calendar year (March 12), which is celebrated by Iran as Nezami Day every year.   

Photo: A portrait of Iranian poet Nezami Ganjavi. (Goethe Institute)

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