The Future of the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia in an interview with Kāẓim Mūsavī Bojnurdī

9/19/2023 08:27

The Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia (CGIE) is an Iranian scientific research institute which was founded by Kāẓim Mūsavī Bojnurdī in March 1984; it is dedicated to research, compilation and publication of reference sources, general and subject encyclopedias in particular, on different aspects of human knowledge.

We Are About to Start a Museum on the Basis of the Collections Donated to the CGIE Library.

Āzādeh Șālehī: The Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia (CGIE) is an Iranian scientific research institute which was founded by Kāẓim Mūsavī Bojnurdī in March 1984; it is dedicated to research, compilation and publication of reference sources, general and subject encyclopedias in particular, on different aspects of human knowledge. ‘The Great Islamic Encyclopedia’, ‘The Encyclopedia of Iran’, ‘The Comprehensive Geography of Iran’, ‘The Comprehensive History of Iran’, ‘The Encyclopedia of Iranian Culture’, ‘The Correction of Shāh-nāmeh of Ferdowsi’s Manuscripts’, ‘The Encyclopedia of the Persian Gulf’, ‘Index of Persian Books’, ‘The Encyclopedia of the Great Tehrān’, ‘The Collection of Studies on Ancient Persia’, etc. are some of the scholarly works which have been published by the authors and researchers at the CGIE throughout the recent years. In this interview, Kāẓim Mūsavī Bojnurdī, the CEO of the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia and the supervisor and editor-in-chief of many of the CGIE publications, discusses the mission of the Center and its vision in future.

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If possible, at the beginning of this interview, tell us about the current conditions of the CGIE.

The Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia (CGIE) has not been given any financial support by the government for a long period of time and it is not going to be provided with any resources in the upcoming fiscal year. In this regard, we were only burdened with some unpaid debts, which the forty-billion-rial fund of the former government enabled us to pay off, particularly the overdue salaries of our staff. Today, we are standing on our own feet by generating revenue from leasing out the buildings and other spaces that we have at the Center in order to keep the lights of the Center on.

Considering the current high production and distribution costs which have resulted in the rise in book prices, the university students might not afford to pay for their textbooks, let alone purchase the various volumes of the encyclopedias; what have you done at the CGIE to make your publications accessible to them?   

We are trying to publish online editions of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia (GIE) along with its paper editions in order to enhance the university students’, the scholars’ and the cultivated people’s access to a wealth of information in each and every one of the volumes of the GIE, which have been compiled painfully and produced painstakingly at the CGIE. As you might be aware of, the GIE is published in Persian, Arabic and English languages. The English translation of Dā'erat-ol-Ma'āref-e Bozorg-e Eslāmi (Persian: ‘The Great Islamic Encyclopedia’) is made in England and is published by Brill Publishers in Leiden, Netherlands under the title of Encyclopedia Islamica (EI). To date, 24 volumes of the GIE in Persian and 6 volumes of the EI in English have been published online and in print. The articles of volume 25^th of the GIE will soon be published online and we hope that its paper edition will be published within this year. On the whole, definitive works are being published at the CGIE among which, I can name ‘Index Iranicus’ or ‘Index of Persian Articles on Iranian Studies’; it is an impressive undertaking of the late Iraj Afshār, who single-handedly commenced its compilation over sixty years ago and published its first six volumes during his lifetime. At present, the 13^th volume of “Index Iranicus” is being compiled and its publication will continue as long as there are scholarly articles in Persian. These works will be of great assistance to the researchers all around the world. In addition, we have initiated another work entitled ‘Index of Persian Books’, listing all the books which have been written in Persian until the end of 19^th century CE, of which 13 volumes have been published so far and I suppose the number of its volumes will reach 25. Moreover, we have commenced writing another encyclopedia entitled ‘The Encyclopedia of Iran’ which will be published in 30 volumes. Although four volumes of this impressive work have been published until now, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and financial distress have led us to halt work on the remaining volumes; I do hope that we will resume working on a new volume in no time. 

Apparently, the compilation of a new encyclopedia entitled ‘The Encyclopedia of Tehrān’ has been put on the CGIE’s research agenda in the recent years, is it true?

Yes. It was begun on Ahmad Masjid-Jamʿei’s advice; he has been recently appointed as the CGIE’s deputy director. Three volumes have been brought out so far and we are making an effort to publish its 4^th volume which will be published at the end of this year or at the beginning of the next year. Additionally, we have started compiling ‘The Encyclopedia of the Laws of Iran’ under the supervision and management of Ayatollah Moḥaqiq Dāmād; the first volume of this new encyclopedia will come to an end soon and it will be published at the beginning of the upcoming year. 

When will the volumes 25^th and 26^th of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia be published?

We are going to have the 25^th volume published in print by the end of this year; but it has already been published online. The writing of volumes 26^th and 27^th are postponed until next year.

The digital library of the CGIE has also been founded in the recent years; what are some of its features?

The CGIE Library is one of the most magnificent research libraries in Iran, in which the digital library services have fortunately been expanded in an attempt to keep up with the latest technology trends. The library’s rare, out-of-print and other materials are being regularly scanned and uploaded on our digital library. We well know that either the provision of electronic equipment and devices or the recruitment of educated and trained staff needed for our digital library require major financing facilities but due to our restricted budget, we have only one staff member to run and manage the necessary operations and services in this section.

 Having mentioned the digital library of the CGIE, our readers will find it interesting if you kindly elaborate on the large and valuable library of the CGIE as well; in addition, please tell us how you develop and upgrade the library’s collections in general.  

The CGIE Library is one of the most magnificent research libraries of the country, which houses over one million books and periodicals at present. Its collection of printed books and other holdings has grown and developed through the donation of 165 significant named collections which once belonged to the most influential people in the Iranian culture. Every single item in these collections, which in many cases consist of the donors’ personal belongings and handwritten manuscripts, is like a treasure and museum piece; therefore, we are about to start a museum on the basis of such collections in the CGIE library. One of these collections which contains over 25000 books, has been donated by the late Iraj Afshār; he preferred to donate his private collection of books to the CGIE Library although he could bequeath it to Dr. Mahmoud Afshar Endowments Foundation, which is indeed his late father’s cultural institute. This means everything to us and we take pride in owning this prized collection. I do remember the time when I worked at the National Library and Archives of Iran as the director; one day during a meeting with the advisory board, I announced my decision to establish a scientific council, which could provide us with expert guidance and be of assistance to us in managing the related affairs at the National Library.  They asked me of a competent person who could be placed in charge of such a council and I nominated Professor Iraj Afshār at once. No one could then believe that he would accept this offer but Dr. Iraj Afshār took it up willingly and became a dynamic member of this council; unfortunately, it was closed after my leaving the National Library. This indicates that some outstanding figures such as Professor Iraj Afshār cooperated with that cultural institute, merely out of the respect for me and my activities.

On the 40^th anniversary of the CGIE’s establishment, would you inform us of the Center’s goals and plans for the upcoming years?

There are three key goals which we hope to achieve; First, we seek to expand the CGIE’s cooperation with the outside experts in Iran and abroad, i.e. we would like to call for closer cooperation of non-Iranian Islamic scholars. Second, we intend to produce trusted and age-appropriate content for children and teenagers in order to help them broaden their horizons on the Iranian History and Culture and to enable them to succeed in school and life. Third, we would like to promote the CGIE’s cooperation with international scientific centers and institutes all around the world. Recently, we have signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) with three universities in the world as follows: Osaka University in Japan, University of Erbil in Iraq and Russian Armenian Slavonic University in Armenia in collaboration with which the ‘Journal of Studies in Caucaso-Caspian Philology’ is being published in Persian, English and Russian.

In the past few years, some elderly leading figures in the fields of culture, literature and sciences who used to collaborate with the CGIE have passed away; What efforts have you made in rejuvenating the Center and recruiting young workforce?

There is no doubt that it would be extremely hard to find replacements for the late leading figures who collaborated with the CGIE in the fields of culture, literature and sciences; but if you check the list of the current members of the CGIE’s Science Council, you will see many young scholars who work here at the CGIE after years of training and gaining practical experience.         

How much has the CGIE been in contact with the universities in the past years?

Since the CGIE’s foundation in 1984, we have tried to establish a scientific organization by recruiting either the retired distinguished professors or the eminent professors who had been expelled from universities in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution in Iran; we still invite outstanding academic figures to collaborate with us and if you refer to the list of the CGIE’s Science Council members, you will get more familiar with these irreplaceable professors who would be over fifty in number.

Resource: ʿCheragh-Nameh Journal, Number 43, Dec. 2022 - January 2023