Iran Review

The former Iranian Majlis (parliament) Speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel was awarded as a cultural figure of the Islamic world by the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) for his valuable research studies in Islamic areas.

This is the first time an Iranian is nominated and awarded from among cultural personalities of 57-member OIC.

Haddad-Adel received the special award from OIC Secretary-General, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, during a ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey.

The ceremony is held every five years to introduce cultural personalities of the Muslim world.

Currently the director of the Cultural Committee of the Iranian Parliament, Haddad-Adel is also in charge of the Iranian Academy of Persian Language and Literature and the executive director of the Islamic Encyclopedia Foundation in Iran.

Five other selected figures in the Islamic world received their awards from the OIC chief at the Istanbul ceremony held on the sideline of an international conference on “Status of Baghdad in Islamic Civilization”.

One reason for Haddad Adel’s nomination was his efforts and services in compilation of the encyclopedia of the Islamic world published by the Islamic Encyclopedia Foundation (IEF).

IEF is a non-profit institution established to draw up and publish the encyclopedia of the Islamic world. It was founded in Tehran in 1983 and started its activity in the domain of Islamic and Iran studies. It gradually turned into a main and reliable center of encyclopedia writing in the Muslim world. Haddad Adel has been managing director of the foundation since 1995.

IRCICA is an international institution active in the fields of research, publishing, documentation and information, which aims to promote Islamic culture and civilization as well as understanding between Muslims and the followers of other faiths in the world.