Omar Khayyam, Edward Fitzgerald and the Rubaiyat

The Persian Department of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the Faculty of English and the Victorian Study Group at Cambridge University and the Persian Department at the University of Leyden (the Netherlands), the Soudavar Cambridge Fund for Persian Studies, the British Institute for Persian Studies, the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at FAMES - Cambridge, the Ancient India and Iran Trust - Cambridge, Trinity College - Cambridge, Pembroke College - Cambridge and "Cambridgeshire Culture" - Cambridgeshire Country Council, in association with Iran Heritage Foundation.

Prof. Charles Melville
Dr. Christine van Ruymbeke

2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edward FitzGerald (1809) and the 150th anniversary of the first publication of his famous The Rubaiyat (1859). A former Cambridge student (Trinity 1826-30), FitzGerald made an extraordinary contribution to world literature with The Rubaiyat, rather loosely based on the verses attributed to the eleventh-century Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer, Omar Khayyam. The book has become perhaps the most widely known poem in the world, republished virtually every year from 1879 (the year of FitzGerald's fourth edition) to the present day, and translated into some eighty different languages.

The conference will examine the life and works of Edward FitzGerald, with particular emphasis on The Rubaiyat, and other European translations of Khayyam's rubaiyat, on their impact on European literature and 'Orientalism', on the publication history of the translations and the illustrations of the quatrains. The programme will include a key-note speaker and presentations by academics of international standing, concerned with both English and Persian literature.

Click on 'Programme' in the left column of this page for the conference programme

Click on 'Abstracts' in the left column of this page for abstracts of the papers that will be presented at the conference

Click on 'Biographies' in the left column of this page for biographies of the speakers.

Click on 'Registration' in the left column of this page for the registration form
£25 for two days, lunch excluded
£15 per day, lunch excluded

For enquiries contact:
Dr. Christine van Ruymbeke
Soudavar Lecturer in Persian
Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA U.K.

Tel: +44 (0)1223 335130
Fax: +44 (0)1223 335110
Secretary's tel: +44 (0)1223 335106

Email: cv223@cam.ac.uk