.jpg "CHTHO Director Masud Soltanifar (L) unveils a silicon effigy of Amir Kabir at the Museum of Luminaries of Tehran’s Milad Tower on January 11, 2015.")
TEHRAN -- A life-sized silicon statue of Mirza Taqi Khan Farahani (1807-1852) known as Amir Kabir, the chief minister of the Qajar king Nasser ad-Din Shah, was unveiled at the Museum of Luminaries of Tehran’s Milad Tower.
The ceremony was attended by the director of the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) Reza Salehi-Amiri, and Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) Director Masud Soltanifar, the Persian service of MNA reported on Sunday.
Salehi-Amiri called Amir Kabir the symbolic national capital of the Iranian nation.
“Amir Kabir is regarded a charismatic character in the history of Iran, and despite the impression he made in his time, he was effective over the course of years,” Salehi-Amiri added.
“The significant attributes of Amir Kabir were his thoughts and decisions which moved beyond his time,” he said.
He established Dar-ul-Fonun, the Iranian polytechnic institute, in 1851 and was the pioneer in establishing modern education in Iran.
Soltanifar in his brief speech talked about the historical and cultural identity of Iran.
“It is our duty to showcase the cultural and historical identity of Iran over the past years in order to show that Iran has been influential on other civilizations in the world,” he concluded.
The statue has been made by sculptor Alireza Khaqani, whose large collection, comprised of statues of a number of contemporary Iranian luminaries, are on permanent display in the museum.
RM/YAW
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