Adel Foundation Award
in Classical Persian Poetry

Classical Persian Poetry is the crowning achievement of the Iranian people.  Throughout the centuries, it has helped Persian culture spread through vast areas of the world, and has influenced numerous intellectuals and communities in search of wisdom.  Its beauty and mesmerizing effect on the readers has been acknowledged by many authors, both modern & ancient, across cultures and geographies.

Mahmoud-Adel-Sabzevari

The Adel Foundation established a permanent endowment at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2023 to create the Adel Foundation Award in Classical Persian Poetry in honour of Mahmoud Adel-Sabzevari.  After growing up as an orphan in poverty, Mahmoud Adel-Sabzevari studied History and Geography in the late 1930s at the University of Tehran.  His expertise was wide-ranging and endured throughout his life: he was a renowned author, editor, translator and teacher in the arts and sciences, and at the age of 90, he translated a defining encyclopedic volume of Quranic works into Persian.

UBC is home to four faculty positions focusing on Persian Language & Iranian Studies in areas including Modern Persian Literature & Culture, Persian Language & Culture as well as a new faculty position, jointly funded by the donor community and UBC, to research and teach Classical Persian Literature & Culture. This infrastructure allows the university to engage more than 340 students from diverse backgrounds in courses ranging from basic Persian language, to classical Persian poetry, to the experience of women as seen through literature, film and popular culture. In addition, UBC is proud to be home to the more than 600 international students from Iran studying at undergraduate and graduate levels across both campuses. UBC also connects students and faculty to the community through the UBC Persian Club and the donor-funded Alireza Ahmadian Lectures in Iranian and Persianate Studies.

Mahmoud Adel-Sabzevari held a significant passion for Persian literature, and the Adel Foundation Award in Classical Persian Poetry recognizes and supports outstanding students studying classical Persian poetry at the university. Preference will be given to students that have demonstrated an interest in Persian poetry through coursework and/or writing their own Persian poetry.

We invite you to invest in the research and teaching of Persian poetry, and the legacy of Mahmoud Adel-Sabzevari, by making a present-day gift, or a gift in your will to this important award.