Mohammad-Amin Riahi was a prominent Iranian literary scholar of Persian literature, a historian, writer and statemens. Apart from being one of the authors of Dehkhoda Dictionary

Dehkhoda Dictionary

The Dehkhoda Dictionary is the largest comprehensive Persian dictionary ever published, comprising 15 volumes . The complete work is an ongoing effort that entails over forty-five years of efforts by Dehkhoda and a cadre of other experts.The series initially consisted of 3 million records until...

 and Encyclopædia Iranica

Encyclopædia Iranica

Encyclopædia Iranica is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times...

, he was the author and editor of several well-known scholarly books. Mohammad-Amin Riahi received his PHD on Persian literature from Tehran University
under the supervision of Badiozzaman Forouzanfar

Badiozzaman Forouzanfar

Badi'ozzamān Foruzānfar was a scholar of Persian literature, Iranian linguistics and culture, and an expert on Molana Jalaleddin Balkhi and his works...

. Riahi is best known for his scholarly works on Shahnameh

Shahnameh

The Shahnameh or Shah-nama is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 AD and is the national epic of Iran and related societies...

 and Ferdowsi

Ferdowsi

Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...

, Hafiz

Hafiz

Hafidh |f.]] ḥāfiẓa), literally meaning 'guardian', is a term used by Muslims in modern days for someone who has completely memorized the Qur'an.-Overview:...

, and the ancient language of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

. He has produced critical editions of some of the major classical Persian texts such as Mersad-al-ebad and Nozhat-al-majalis. During a course of 60 years he published numerous scholarly articles, a selection of which are gathered in a volume titled Forty essays on language, literature and history of Iran.

Among numerous cultural positions he held during his career, Riahi was a professor of Tehran University, the founding member and later president of the Shahnameh Foundation (1971–1979), vice-chairman of the Iranian Academy of Literature and Arts, and Iranian Minister of Education (1979).
.

Selected bibliography

Critical Editions of old Persian books:

• Jahan-Nameh, Mohammad ibn Najib Bakran (1963)
• Meftah-al-Moamelat, Mohammad ibn Ayub Tabari (1970)
• Mersad-al-ebad, Najmeddin Razi
  Najmeddin Razi
  Abū Bakr 'Abdollāh b. Moḥammad b. Šahāvar b. Anūšervān al-Rāzī commonly know by the laqab, or sobriquet, of Najm al-Dīn Dāya, meaning "wetnurse"...
  
  (1973)
• Alamaraye Naderi, Mohammad-Kazem Marvi (1983)
• Nozhat-al-majalis, Jamal Khalil Sharvani (1996)

Literary and Historical research books:

• Kisai Marvazi, his life and poetry (1988)
• Poetry and thoughts of Hafiz (1988)
• Persian language and literature in Ottoman territory (1990)
• A History of Khoy (1993)
• Early sources on Ferdowsi and Shahnameh (1993)
• Ferdowsi, his life, thoughts and poetry (1996)
• Forty essays on language, literature and history of Iran (2000)

External links

Some of Encyclopedic Articles:

• NOZHAT-AL-MAJĀLES in Encyclopædia Iranica http://www.iranica.com/articles/nozhat-al-majales
• DĀYA, NAJM-AL-DĪN in Encyclopædia Iranica http://www.iranica.com/articles/daya-najm-al-din