The Persian Heritage Foundation (PHF), originally called The Yarshater Fund, is a U.S.-registered, non-political, non-governmental charitable organization. Established in 1983 through the efforts of Professor Ehsan Yarshater, PHF aims to support and promote research on all aspects of the Persianate world in the pre-Islamic as well as the Islamic period—a world that is not confined to the present boundaries of Iran, but that extends to Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Indian Subcontinent and, more recently, the wider Iranian diaspora, involving a multitude of languages, religions, and cultures.
PFH is engaged in a variety of activities. It offers grants and fellowships for academic and arts projects; it offers limited funding for seminars and conferences; and it is open to applications for lecture series at prestigious universities and museums. Such series have included the Columbia Lecture Series as well as the Yarshater Lectures, given by distinguished scholars at the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Maryland; the London University School of Oriental and African Studies; and the Paris Centre de Recherche sur le Monde Iranien. PHF was also a major funder of the Columbia Center for Iranian Studies (subsequently the Yarshater Center) until its closure and provided the funding for the Yarshater Center for the Study of Iranian Literary Traditions at the University of California, Los Angeles.
An important and continuing part of the Foundation’s mission is to prepare and publish a number of long-term research projects. These publications have included the History of Persian Literature series, the Persian Heritage Series (translation of Persian classics into major Western languages, particularly English), the Persian Studies Series (monographs on scholarly subjects), the Persian Art Series, the Translation of Modern Persian Literature Series, the Persian Text Series, involving critical editions of important texts in Persian prose and poetry. PHF also publishes, disseminates and distributes and helps others to publish, disseminate, and distribute the results of research in all aspects of Iranian Studies.
More specific information about funding opportunities can be found under “Grant Opportunities.”
PHF is a certified tax-exempt non-profit, US-based 501(c)(3) organization.
