Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 6 July 1947 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
Handwritten, 5 pieces.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
George Michael Wickens was a distinguished Canadian-British Persianist as well as Arabist, translator and a University lecturer. Wickens was born in London, England and attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he received his BA in 1939 and MA in 1946, respectively. During the Second World War, he served with the Royal Army Pay Corp from 1939 to 1941 and the Intelligence Corps from 1941 to 1946, rising to the rank of captain. Following his wartime service, most of which was spent in Iran, Wickens resumed academic life, teaching at the University of London for three years before accepting an invitation to return to Cambridge. He taught there until 1957 when he was offered an associate professorship at University of Toronto. He became a full professor in 1960 and founding chair of the Department of Islamic Studies (predecessor to today’s Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations) in 1961. A prolific and distinguished humanities scholar, Wickens was the author of 'Avicenna: Scientist and Philosopher' (1952) and he translated several masterpieces of Persian literature such as Boostan of Sa'di into English. Wickens died in Toronto, Ontario in 2006 from a stroke
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Letter from George Michael Wickens to Charles Ambrose Storey to clarify some points about Persian which Storey had discussed in his last letter.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
- Arabic