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Home  Women In Memoriam: Vera B. Saeedpour, Scholar and Archivist of the Kurdish Culture, Dies at 80 ,1930-2010 |
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In Memoriam: Vera B. Saeedpour, Scholar and Archivist of the Kurdish Culture, Dies at 80 ,1930-2010
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vokradio.com, Los Angeles, California, USA
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In Memoriam: Vera B. Saeedpour, Scholar and Archivist of the Kurdish Culture, Dies at 80 ,1930-2010
VOKRadio: It is with great sadness that we at Kurdish Commentary learned of
the passing of Dr Vera B. Saeedpour and we wish to extend our most
heartfelt condolences and sympathies to her family and loved ones. The
Kurdish people are truly fortunate to have had such a committed friend.
VOKRadio staff
*********************************
 Remembering Dr. Vera
Saeedpour
June 9, 2010
KAES
The Kurdish people
as a whole and Kurdish academic community, in particular, have suffered
a tragic loss. Dr. Vera Saeedpour died of heart attack on May 30 in
New York. We offer our sincere condolences to her family and the Kurdish nation
as a whole.
Dr. Saeedpour, a preeminent scholar in the culture of
Kurds, dedicated most of her productive life to presenting, preserving,
and promoting Kurdish history and cultural identity with zest and
gusto. As she had aptly put it in an interview, “I know the Kurds
better than any Westerner living.” It would not be an exaggeration to
call her the mother of Kurdish cultural studies in this continent.
As a
creator, author, curator, archivist, outspoken activist of both the
Kurdish museum and library; Dr. Vera Saeedpour created a watershed to
(re)present the hitherto unknown Kurds to the U.S academic and general
audiences. As a scholar, for the first time in the U.S she initiated
the Kurdish Program at Harvard and later on brought together
academicians interested in Kurdish cultural history and studies by
publishing scholarly journals on Kurdish topics, she trained young
researchers by highlighting the need for intellectual growth and
academic rigor; her informative interviews in major mainstream media
such as New York Times
called for and shaped newer sensibilities and deeper cultural and
political understanding among the general public in relation to the
plight and aspirations of the Kurdish people.
Dr. Saeedpour as a
legendary Jewish woman with her courage, tenacity, and academic
excellence, and great eloquence made the world hear and see the Kurdish
case. As a visionary scholar, she has created a splendid cultural site
for the general public and scholars as historic aspirations of our
ancestors. Her work truly represents our ideals of reclaiming and
reconfirming our denied history and culture. We hope that our community
as a whole feels the moral obligation to protect Dr. Saeedpour’s
treasures.
As
we mourn Dr. Vera Saeedpour’s loss, let us uphold her unending devotion
in championing for Kurdish cultural freedom and expression. Let up pick
up her unwavering flag and carry on her struggle to save the Kurdish
Library and Museum as testaments to her commitment to the preservation,
openness, and invigoration of the Kurdish life.
Amir Sharifi PhD
KAES President
The Kurdish American Education Society (KAES)
============
The Defender of the Kurdish people
June 9, 2010
This is the legacy of our century,
of Vera ,
these are her
books,
crafts , garments,
and jewelry of a people,
all assembled,
in a brownstone house
on Prospect Heights of Brooklyn.
These are her penetrating eyes,
the defenders of light,
of candid truth,
of a history of a great plight.
This is her inscribed life , her great passion,
but not of in her own words “ a lady but a scholar”.
This is her voice, courageous like that of a pesh merga,
resonant in her “ensemble of texts”,
chronicles of “Kurdish Times: and “Kurdish Life”
This is Vera’s Kurdish Culture House,
which quarrels with and awakens the conscience of the world,
in which avid intellects seek the stuff of truth ,
and nostalgic fellow Kurds feel at home.
This is the legacy of love and generosity,
Proving the old Kurdish saying that “Kurds have no friends” all wrong.
These are the beautiful flowers that
Homayoun had left for Vera,
in the vase by the window in the afternoon,
and Vera is “still holding fast to the balloon that’s going up in the sky.”
Amir Sharifi
KAES President
See an article in Kurdish:
دۆکتۆر
ڤیرا بیۆدین سهعیدپوور ڕۆژی یهکشهممهی 30-5-2010 له باکووری ههرێمی
نیوویۆرک، که تازه له برووکلاینهوه باری کردبووه ئهوێ، کۆچی دواییی
کرد. ڤیرا ماریۆن فاین لهناو بنهماڵهیهکی جوولهکهدا له باڕی،
ڤێرمۆنت، له دایک بووبوو. پێنج منداڵی له ماڵێکدا گهوره کرد که له
لایهن مێردی یهکهمیهوه، ئهندازیاری بیناسازی مارسێل بیۆدین، دروست
کرابوو. ساڵی 1968، به هۆی دۆستێکیهوه که پزیشکی برینکار و ئهندامی گرۆیهکی برینکاری بوو و دوای شهڕی شهش
ڕۆژه چووبووه ئیسرائیل، ڤیرا دهستی چوار منداڵه بچکۆلهکهی خۆی گرت،
که تهمهنیان لهنێوان چوار ساڵان و یانزده ساڵاندا بوو، و به
سهفهرێکی هاتونههات ڕووی کرده ئیسرائیل، بۆ دۆزینهوهی ڕهگوڕیشهی
جوولهکانهی خۆی.
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