Berat library named after Iranian poet

TIRANA, May 16 – A library in the southern Albanian city of Berat was named after the Iranian epic poet Ferdowsi during a ceremony last week, Tehran Times reported.
The event was a part of a program organized to pay tribute to Vajiha Bukharai, the Albanian translator of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and Gulistan, and Bustan of the Iranian poet Sadi.
The Iranian ambassador and cultural attach鬠the mayor of Berat, and a number of the city’s local officials attended the program.
A bust of Bukharai was also unveiled in front of the library on the sidelines of the program.
“Ferdowsi in the Albanian World and Vajiha Bukharai”, a book that has recently been published by the Iranian Embassy in Tirana, was also introduced at the ceremony.
The year 2010 was named the Shahnameh Millennium in the 181st Summit of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Shahnameh (The Grand Book) is a tome in verse form by the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi, written around 1,000 AD and is the best known epic in Persian language.
The famous epic recounts the mythical and historical development of Iran from the creation of the world up to the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century.