Leili Anvar

Leili Anvar
لیلی انور
Born	(1967-05-28) 28 May 1967 (age 56) Tehran, Iran
Nationality	French
Education	École normale supérieure Lycée La Bruyère [fr]
Title	Chevalière of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Parents	Manuchehr Anvar (father) Dominique Anvar (mother)
Relatives	Iraj Anvar (uncle)
Website	leilianvar.com

Leili Anvar (Persian: لیلی انور; born 28 May 1967) is a French writer and translator, specializing in Persian poetry and mystic literature. She is an associate professor in Persian language and literature at INALCO.^[1]

Early life and education

Leili Anvar was born in Tehran to a French mother, Dominique Anvar, Persian-French translator^[2] and an Iranian father, Manuchehr Anvar, Persian writer, editor, translator, director and radio presenter.^[3]

A former student of Razi High School in Tehran, and later of La Bruyère High School in Versailles, she entered the École Normale Supérieure in 1987. She obtained her degree in English literature^[4] in 1991 and received her Ph.D. in Persian literature from the Sorbonne in 1998.^[5]

Career

Anvar has been an associate professor of Persian literature at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (

In 2017, Anvar was selected to head the Festival of Persian-Speaking Communities which was held in Paris in January 2018.[1]

Works

Anvar's work is mainly dedicated to the study of mystical literature as well as Persian romantic literature and its spiritual developments. Leili Anvar also contributes to the understanding of Sufism, Persian culture, history, literature, and spirituality.^[7][3]

General research themes

• Persian mystical literature (medieval period)
• Contemporary women's literature (Iran, Afghanistan)

Ongoing research

• The expression of love in Persian literature
• Articulation between secular poetry and mystical poetry
• Contemporary Afghan and Iranian women poets

As a translator and specialist in mystical literature, in addition to a large number of academic articles, she has notably worked on the works of the 13th-century Persian mystical poet Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī. She published Rūmī with Entrelacs editions, a book about the life and works of the poet, followed by an anthology of his works.^[1][3]

She directed the publication of an anthology of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish poetry titled Orient - Mille ans de poésie et de peinture^[8] (Orient - A Thousand Years of Poetry and Painting), for which she translated the Persian poems in 2009.^[1]

She is also credited with a biography of the Kurdish-Persian poet Malek Jân Ne’mati, followed by an anthology of her works: Malek Jân Ne’mati, 'Life is not short, but time is limited'.^[9]

She translated into French verse the Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr a mystical masterpiece by the Persian poet Attar under the title Le Cantique des Oiseaux.^[10]

In 2021, she published the translation of Layla and Majnun by Jami, illustrated by Oriental miniatures.^[11]

Books

• ISBN 9782757814307
• Paroles de Vérités d'Ostad Elahi, traduction inédite, éditions Albin Michel, 2014
• Le Cantique des oiseaux d‘Attâr illustré par la peinture en Islam d'Orient, new verse translation, éditions Diane de Selliers,
  ISBN 978-2-36437-003-6
• 'Taking Flight', introduction (transl.
  ISBN 978-2-36437-031-9
• Malek Jân Ne'mati : la vie n'est pas courte mais le temps est compté,
  ISBN 978-2903656416
• Rûmî,
  ISBN 290-8606178
• Trésors dévoilés : anthologie de l'islam spirituel (avec Makram Abbes),
  ISBN 978-2-02-096402-9
• Orient : mille ans de poésie et de peinture, éditions Diane de Selliers,
  ISBN 978-2-903656-43-0
• Jâmi (2021). Leyli et Majnûn. éditions Diane de Selliers. p. 432.
  ISBN 9782364371200.^[14]
• Le Cri des femmes afghanes. Bruno Doucey. 2022. p. 224.
  ISBN 978-2362294259.^[15]

• Chevalière of the ordre des Arts et des Lettres
• Winner of the Iran Book Award 2014 in the literary translation category.
• Mevlana Awards, 2014
• Shams and Rumi Institute awards, Téhéran, 2015

References