Jafar Shahidi

In 1991, Shahidi donated his residential house to the Narmak Municipality of Tehran where it remains today as the Dr. Shahidi Public Library.

Dr. Shahidi played a pivotal role in the formation and compilation of the second largest Persian lexicon, known as the Moin Dictionary, was entrusted with the completion and publishing of the text upon Dr. Mohammad Moin's death in 1971.

In 1941, he moved to the town of Najaf, Iraq to pursue his studies in the field of Islamic jurisprudence and successfully surpassed the highest levels of education to receive the title of mujtahid. From there onward, Shahidi moved to Qom, Iran, where he was mentored by the leading scholars, most notably Ayatollah Boroujerdi. Falling ill, Shahidi resorted to the translation of Arabic in Iran alongside Doctor Sanjabi (the then Minister of Culture). He later received an offer to teach at the Abu Muslem School.

Jafar Shahidi known as Seyed Jafar Shahidi (Persian: سید جعفر شهیدی; March 21, 1919 in Borujerd, Iran – January 13, 2008 in Tehran) was a distinguished scholar of the Persian language and literature, and a renowned historian of Islam. Born in Boroujerd, Lorestan Province, Iran, Shahidi dedicated his life to Persian studies, acting as the director of the Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute and International Center for Persian Studies (ICPS), serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Literature and Humanities at the University of Tehran (UT), and mastering the fields of jurisprudence and Islamic history. As a member of the Faculty of Literature and Humanities at the University of Tehran, Shahidi specialized in the study of Persian language and literature as well as Islamic theology, jurisprudence, and history.