Arthur Christensen

Christensen, Arthur

Born Jan. 9, 1875, in Copenhagen; died there, Mar. 31, 1945. Danish Orientalist and authority on the history and literature of ancient and medieval Iran and the modern Iranian language.

Christensen graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 1899, becoming a professor there in 1919. His most important works deal with the history of the Sassanid state and Zoroastrianism and with ancient Persian mythology and epics. He also wrote a book on Mazdakism, which he regarded as “one of the first communist movements.”

WORKS

L’Iran sous les Sassanides, 2nd. ed. Copenhagen, 1944.
Le Règne du roi Kawadh I et le communisme Mazdakite. Copenhagen, 1925.

REFERENCE

Barr, K. “A. Christensen.” In Oversight over Selskabets Virksomhed, juni 1945-maj 1946. Copenhagen, 1946. (Det Kgl Danske Videnskabernes Selskab.)

References in periodicals archive ?

Of the Danes, Edward Said mentions only Holger Pedersen, who was engaged in a dispute with Ernest Renan, but in fact a number of these Danish orientalists received international recognition, among others Rasmus Rask, Arthur Christensen, Johannes Ostrup, Johannes Pedersen, Frants Buhl.

A third was Arthur Christensen, the son of a postman.

Starting from this humble background, Arthur Christensen became one of the leading experts on Persian culture and an important adviser to the Persian authorities.

Danish orientalism

Senior vice president of sales and marketing Arthur Christensen says that, although Safetex brought out a condom for women, its sales have been disappointing.