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Ceremony to Commemorate Henry Corbin

Ceremony to Commemorate Henry Corbin
Ceremony to Commemorate Henry Corbin

The Society for Appreciation of Cultural Works and Dignitaries, also known as National Heritage Society, will hold a commemoration ceremony for the late French philosopher and theologian Henry Corbin on Monday, November 14, in Tehran.

The event is to celebrate the valuable scientific and cultural efforts of Corbin, the renowned Iranologist and Islamologist, who was a professor of Islamic studies at Sorbonne University in Paris and a visiting professor of philosophy at the University of Tehran, ISNA reported.

Born in Paris, Corbin (1903-1978) encountered Louis Massignon, director of Islamic studies at the Sorbonne in 1928, and it was he who introduced Corbin to the writings of Suhrawardi, the 12th century Persian mystic and philosopher whose work was to profoundly affect the course of Corbin’s life. Years later Corbin said “through my meeting with Suhrawardi, my spiritual destiny for the passage through this world was sealed”.

The philosophical life and career of Corbin can be divided into three phases. The first is the 1920s and 1930s, when he was involved in learning and teaching western philosophy. The second is the years between 1939 and 1946, in which he studied Suhrawardi. The final part begins in 1946 and lasts until his death, in which he studied and reintroduced eastern and Islamic philosophy.

In 1954 he succeeded Louis Massignon in the Chair of Islam and the Religions of Arabia. From the 1950s onwards he spent autumn in Tehran, winter in Paris and spring in Ascona, Switzerland.

The three major works upon which his reputation largely rests in the English speaking world were first published in French in the 1950s: ‘Avicenna and the Visionary Recital’, ‘Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn Arabi’ and ‘Spiritual Body & Celestial Earth’.

Corbin’s ideas continue to have an impact through the work of colleagues, students and many others influenced by his work including prolific western scholars of Islamic thought Seyyed Hussein Nasr, William Chittick, Christian Jambet, Pierre Lory and Todd Lawson among others.

The ceremony will be held at Shahid Motahhari Amphitheater of the society located at No. 71, Ali-Akbar Bashiri St., Amir-Bahador Bridge, Vali-e-Asr St.

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