Hamid Rezi Nafez Arefi, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran visits the NSZL

On 13 December 2021, His Excellency Hamid Rezi Nafez Arefi, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Hungary, paid an official introductory visit to our library. The Iranian Ambassador to Budapest was received by Dávid Rózsa, Director General, and Judit Gerencsér, Deputy Director General.

During the professional meeting, the parties discussed current cultural and library issues affecting the two countries. In 2018, the NSZL and the National Library of Iran signed a cooperation agreement for 3 + 3 years. The leaders confirmed that the national libraries of the two countries intend to make their cooperation even more efficient and effective in the future, with proposed areas of cooperation including publications exchange, joint digitisation projects, research collaborations, researcher exchange, joint events, joint exhibitions.

The collection of the NSZL includes many documents related to Persian/Iran, including works of Persian writers and poets in Hungarian translation, literary history studies, travelogues, linguistic and cultural history studies. The Manuscript Collection of the NSZL holds a significant amount of Persian material (mainly theological documents), and the Map Collection also contains a number of rare items. During the second half of his official visit, Ambassador Hamid Rezi Nafez Arefi visited the NSZL Map Collection Reading Room to admire Persian manuscripts, including two works by the renowned 15th century Persian scholar and poet Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami and a description of the rituals of the Ottoman-Turkish Sultanate, as well as maps and an exquisite display of the Arabic-language Quran.

On the occasion of the visit, the Ambassador presented Gabriella Varga Sinai's book A szerelem rabjaként szabad madár lettem [I became a free bird as a prisoner of love] to the national library. Through the author's works, the reader can gain insight into the life of Hungarians living in Iran and learn more about the cultural characteristics of the country.