Sunday 9th of April 2017 Sydney Australia

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF SHIVA MOKRI

Orders, Decorations, and Medals of the Empire of Iran - the Pahlavi Era is an astonishing effort in categorisation of the Pre-revolutionary Iranian awards.

Museums, historians, auction houses, numismatists, collectors, and interest groups particularly in the hostile post-revolutionary milieu of the Islamic Republic were hampered by lack of solid information in this particular area of Iranian modern history.

Some thirty years of "collective memory decay" combined with a dearth of books, pamphlets, informative texts or journal articles had heretofore limited the study of modern Iranian heraldry.

Sourcing a new medal specimen, in itself an arduous task in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution, was made quite a lot more complicated by the effort in deciphering its purpose, the heraldic elements in its construction, and other such attributes. Many orders are in multiple classes and it is not always possible to guess at the various grades of an award. Many times there are ribbon attachments missing or the medal badge has been placed on the wrong ribbon!

Examining literally thousands of photographs with the eye of a forensic assessor, the author was able to compare ribbon bars with specimen awards, consider timelines of images and at length compile the material in the present format. O James Younessi has combined his passion for heraldry, numismatics, and photography with his command of the English and Persian languages as well as research skills gained in his career as a surgeon to bridge the gap in our knowledge of the orders and decorations of Iran.

About the Author:

Dr Owrang James Younessi is a specialist Surgeon practicing in Sydney, Australia. He was born in Iran but migrated to the United States and Australia in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. His love for his native Iran and her history, culture, and heraldry together with his passion for literature, numismatics, and photography have culminated in the present book.

Official Website:

http://ojyounessi.com

Other publications:

Dr Owrang James Younessi has published 5 books thus far. The first a series of short stories called "From Threads to Fabric", which deals in a quasi-autobiographical way with the events in his childhood. His next book was a book on the Australian vernacular called "How Australian Are You?" In this book Australian phraseology, history and cultural nuances are presented as a series of multiple choice questions and in a humorous manner.

His third book was a novel called "Pan’s Penance." It is at times dark and deals with anthropological and social issues. It centres around the life of two friends from distinctly different backgrounds and their struggle to forge their identities. His most recent book, "Dead men Don’t Drive," is a series of short socio-political pieces with a satirical slant. These books have enjoyed considerable success and have been the subject of newspaper articles and radio interviews.

His latest book "Orders, Decorations, and Medals of the Empire of Iran - The Pahlavi Era" is an astonishing effort in categorisation of the Pre-revolutionary Iranian awards in their heraldic and historic context.

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