Iran’s World Award Book to Christopher Clohessy

The PISAI is proud to announce that Prof. Christopher Clohessy has been named “Distinguished Researcher of Shīʻī Studies” by the Islamic Republic of Iran in its 28 World Award Book.
He received this recognition for his contribution to the study of crucial Islamic figures, especially in his books Fāṭima, Daughter of Muḥammad (Gorgias Press 2009, 2nd edition 2018) and Half of My Heart. The Narratives of Zaynab, Daughter of ʻAlī (Gorgias Press 2018). The award was received online on February 20, 2021, during a ceremony presided over by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.

This is the second time that a scholar of PISAI has received this prestigious award: in 2011 emeritus professor Michel Lagarde won Iran’s 18th World Book Award for his work Les secrets de l’invisible. Essai sur le Grand Commentaire de Faẖr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (Albouraq 2009).

Christopher Clohessy has been a faculty member of PISAI since 2015. After his Licentiate in Arabic and Islamic Studies in 2001, he received a Doctorate in Arabic and Islamic Studies at PISAI in 2006. His research is focused on Shīʻī Islam, especially Shīʻī history and biography.

PISAI warmly congratulates Prof. Clohessy on this well-deserved and prestigious achievement.