Touraj Daryaee

Touraj Daryaee is a professor of Iranian History and the Persianate Societies and the director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture. He also serves as the editor-in-chief of Name-ye Iran-e Bastan (Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies) and has published numerous articles in major journals of Iranian studies.

Born in 1967 in Tehran, Daryaee spent his elementary and secondary education years in Iran and Greece, and in 1999, he received his Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). On his personal page, he has shared information about his family background, noting that he is a descendant of Captain Ebrahim Daryaee, the commander of the ship Persepolis, which operated in Bushehr. Persepolis was the first modern warship introduced by the Iranian government during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar in the Persian Gulf.

In an interview with the now-banned newspaper Etemad-e Melli, Daryaee stated that he has devoted his academic life to the study of the Sasanian Empire, explaining his motivation as follows:

“Because they have been forgotten — somewhat in Iran, and completely abroad. In any case, they deserve a savior.”