# In Memoriam: Heshmat Shariary (1934-2018)

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Anonymous, In Memoriam: Heshmat Shariary (1934-2018), bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Dr. Heshmat Shariary
> 
> 1934 – 2018
> 
> Dr. Heshmat Shahriary was a staunch supporter of the ‘Irfán
> Colloquium. Accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Farideh Shahriary, he
> regularly participated in the annual sessions of ‘Irfán Colloquium
> held at Bosch Bahá’í School in northern California. As long as his
> health condition allowed it, he was presenting the outcome of his
> research and studies at the `Irfán Colloquium. Some of his research-
> based articles are published in the volumes of Safíni-yi-‘Irfán.
> 
> Heshmat Shahriary was born on May 1, 1934, in Kashan, Iran. He
> was a fourth-generation Bahá’í. His great-grandfather Mulla Rida of
> Zavareh and his grandfather Assad’ulláh, both were Bahá’í Martyrs
> and were honoured by receiving Tablets from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
> 
> He moved to Tehran at the age of 17, attended Alborz High
> School, then moved to Shiraz to continue his higher education at the
> In Memoriam                                                        343
> 
> Pahlavi University’s Medical School. During his first year at that
> university, Hand of the Cause of God `Alí-Akbar Furútan visited
> Shiraz and spent four months delivering a series of lectures aimed at
> deepening the knowledge and understanding of the friends in the
> verities of the Bahá’í Faith. Sensing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,
> Heshmat decided to temporarily leave his medical studies and become
> available fulltime to accompany Mr. Furútan during that period. This
> decision would turn out to be pivotal and Heshmat looked upon this
> time as one of the most life-changing and significant experiences of
> his life. His transcriptions of Mr. Furútan’s talks during that time in
> Shiraz filled three volumes, some of which can be found on
> the Ayeneh-e-Jahan website.
> 
> Heshmat went on to complete his education and become a
> renowned orthopaedic surgeon. He moved to the United States at the
> onset of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, where he successfully
> continued his practice as a physician. He authored two widely-
> regarded textbooks on the subject of arthroscopic surgery, one of
> which was translated into Chinese.
> 
> Heshmat had a burning desire to teach and serve the Faith. It was
> his dream to visit the country and the people of Romania, the
> country of Queen Marie, who, at her time, was the only monarch to
> recognize Bahá’u’lláh and become a Bahá’í. He travelled to Romania
> six times and successfully acquired a great number of copies of
> Queen Marie’s letters as well as relics from the Museum’s archives
> which he then donated to the Bahá’í World Center. The greatest
> honour of his life was when during his visit to that country in
> December 1990, he was presented with the official written
> pronouncement of recognition of the Bahá’í Faith in Romania by the
> Ministry of Religious Affairs.
> 
> Dr. Shahriary then turned his attention to China, which is referred
> to by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as “the country of the future.” He travelled many
> times to China and achieved great results in his efforts over there.
> The crowning achievement of his work in China was undoubtedly the
> establishment of the Center for Bahá’í Studies in Beijing, through the
> support of Pride, a non-profit organization. The establishment of
> this Center was a-dream-come-true for Heshmat.
> 344                                                Lights of Irfán vol. 19
> 
> In both Romania and China he organized seminars in the field of
> orthopaedic medicine where he shared and taught the techniques of
> arthroscopic surgery, a field in which he was widely acknowledged to
> be one of the original pioneers.
> 
> In addition to his travels, Dr Shahriary developed a genuine
> relationship with the Persian media, opening channels of
> communications that would clear up common and widely-held
> misunderstandings about the Bahá’í Faith. He worked towards this
> goal tirelessly and passionately until the end of his life.
> 
> He retired from his medical practice in 2007 after a car accident.
> Guided and encouraged by the Universal House of Justice, he
> embarked on what would be his last great service to a Faith he loved
> and served his entire life: publishing a magazine entitled Ayeneh-e
> Jahan.
> The last decade of his life saw him participating actively in the
> ‘Irfán Colloquium. He devoted many joyful hours pouring his energy
> and scholarship into studies and research for preparing scholarly
> presentations for annual sessions of that colloquium until fatigue and
> poor health prevented him from pursuing his research. On April 19,
> 2018, he left his earthly life as he lived it: peacefully and with great
> dignity.
>
> — *In Memoriam: Heshmat Shariary (1934-2018) (Used by permission of the curator)*