Sulayman Hayyim – Iranian Jew often called “Iran’s Father of the bilingual dictionary”

Soleiman haiim.jpg

Sulayman Hayyim (Persian: سلیمان حییم) (ca. 1887 in Tehran, Iran – February 14, 1970 in Tehran), was an Iranian lexicographer, translator, playwright and essayist, often called “Iran’s Father of the bilingual dictionary.
Haïm was born into an Iranian Jewish family of Shirazi origin who had migrated to Tehran.
Solayman excelled in English, Persian literature, and music.His  series of bilingual dictionaries printed in Persian,  earned him the honorary name “Word Master.His first reference work, the New English–Persian Dictionary, in two volumes, was published in 1929–31. This was later replaced by the Larger English–Persian Dictionary.
He knew French, Hebrew, English and Persian, and produced bilingual dictionaries in French and Hebrew as well as English. He also wrote a compilation of Persian proverbs and their English equivalents with the name “A Book of Collected Poems.”
Among the Jewish minorities in modern Iran, Soleyman Haiim belongs to the rare instances, who has invested his spiritual und material capital in Human Sciences.
Haïm was fond of Persian history and literature, and the divans of Sa’di and Hafez were his favourite books.
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