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From Ethnic Nationalism to Cosmopolitan Mysticism: The Life and Works of Hossein Kazemzadeh Iranshahr (1884–1962)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2022

Ata Anzali
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Abstract

This article examines the life and works of Hossein Kazemzadeh Iranshahr, focusing on the evolution of his thought from an ardent nationalist to a cosmopolitan mystic. It offers a detailed account of the spiritual transformation that Iranshahr went through around 1920 in Europe—a topic that has never been addressed in existing scholarship. It contextualizes his esoteric views, especially the influence of Theosophy on his thought in the context of the so-called “Occult Revival” in Weimar Germany. Finally, it discusses how Iranshahr's emerging spiritual worldview impacted his intellectual outlook, especially his views on religion, nationalism, civilization, and race.

Keywords

Kazemzadeh IranshahrTheosophyNationalismRace (nezhad)EsotericismBerlin Circle
Type
Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , January 2022 , pp. 61 - 112
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Iranian Studies. Originally published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

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Footnotes

This work was supported by the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute. I would like to thank them for their generous support, which made it possible for me to spend part of my sabbatical to do research on this article.