User:Owais.aws/sandbox

Dr. Shareefunisa Begum Ansari was a Persian and Urdu scholar, writer and teacher from Hyderabad, India. In 1991, in recognition of her exemplary contribution to literature in India, she was awarded the fourth highest civilian award Padmashri by the Government of India.

Biography
Dr. Shareefunisa Begum Ansari was born on 16 August 1938 in Parbhani, Hyderabad State. Her father was an inspector in the Hyderabad State, then ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad. Her primary education was at Parbhani, then middle school onwards she moved back to Hyderabad and enrolled in the City High School and lived at her ancestral house at Dabirpura with her Aunt. By the time she completed High School, her father retired and due to paucity of funds it was decided that she could not pursue further education. However, Shareefunisa, consistently an exceptional student at school resolved to continue further studies by self-financing her education. She accomplished this initially by teaching students after school by collecting 6 Paisa from each student she taught. She joined the Bachelor of Arts program in Persian and Urdu Literature at Women's College University College for Women, Koti and completed it with 4 university level gold medals. Since her childhood, she was known for her simplicity and continuously surprised people by her accomplishments. To continue to fund her education, she taught evening classes at Nizam College. She completed two Master of Arts degrees in Persian and Urdu at Osmania University in 1954 and 1955 respectively. She subsequently pursued a Doctorate degree in Persian Literature at Osmania University, which she completed in 1957. Her thesis was on a leading persian poet Abu-Talib Kalim Hamdani (Kalim Kashani) and was guided by _________. She was the first Ph.D. recipient in Persian from Osmania University. In pursuit of excellence, she travelled to Iran 1975 and completed a Ph.D. and D.Litt. (Doctor of Letters) in Persian from University of Tehran, becoming the first foreign student at the university to receive this degree.

Some special contributions she made towards popularising Persian were:
 * Made concerted efforts to popularize Persian language at all levels of education. Introduced Junior and Senior Diploma in * Modern Persian at Osmania University to acquaint students with modern Persian usage.
 * Introduced Persian at Intermediate Level in various junior colleges in Hyderabad.
 * Established the “Association for the Promotion of Persian Language and Literature” in 1983.
 * Organized a seminar on “The Contribution of Deccan to Persian Language and Literature” at Osmania University in 1984.
 * Organized “Saadi Celebrations” at Osmania University, in 1985
 * Organized “The Seventh All India Persian Teachers Conference” at Osmania University in 1985.
 * Made concerted efforts to popularize Persian language at all levels of education. Introduced Junior and Senior Diploma in Modern Persian at Osmania University to acquaint students with modern Persian usage.
 * Introduced Persian at Intermediate Level in various junior colleges in Hyderabad.
 * Established the “Association for the Promotion of Persian Language and Literature” in 1983.
 * Organized a seminar on “The Contribution of Deccan to Persian Language and Literature” at Osmania University in 1984.
 * Organized “Saadi Celebrations” at Osmania University, in 1985
 * Organized “The Seventh All India Persian Teachers Conference” at Osmania University in 1985.

Awards and recognitions
In 1991, Dr. Ansari was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions to Persian and Urdu literature in India

The list below is a selection of some awards and honors she received:


 * Certificate of Honour awarded by the President of India, 1988
 * "Sanad" awarded by Culture House, Islamic Republic of Iran, 2002
 * "Sanad" by Sazman-e-Gustarish-e-Zaban-e-Farsi, Iran, 2002
 * "The Eminent Teacher of the Year Award" by All India Persian Teachers Association, 2005
 * "Jaiz-e-Saadi Award" by the Iran Culture House, Islamic Republic of Iran, New Delhi, 2011
 * Gold Medals at Intermediate, B.A. and M.A. levels
 * First Ph.D. Recipient in Persian from Osmania University
 * First foreign student to be awarded Iranian D. Litt., after the establishment of the Foreign Students Department of Tehran University, Iran.
 * Recipient of Emeritus Fellowship offered by UGC (Delhi) in 1989
 * Senior Research Fellow, I.C.H.R. (Delhi)
 * Principal Investigator of Major Project, U.G.C. (Delhi)

Edited Manuscripts
The follow list details the manuscripts edited by Dr. Shareefunisa Ansari

Publications and Papers Presented
The follow list details the publications and papers presented by Dr. Shareefunisa Ansari

Professional Service and Memberships

 * All India Persian Teachers Association
 * Persian Academy (Delhi)
 * Iran Society (Calcutta)
 * All India Oriental Conference (Pune)
 * Faculty of Arts (Osmania, Kakatiya, Delhi, Bhopal and Calcutta University)
 * President of the Association for the Promotion of Persian
 * Corresponding Editor of Indo-Iranica
 * Member, Editorial Board of Ithihaas and Vigyan Saraswati