Hossein Abadian Information

Hossein Abadian, born on January 22, 1962, in Lar, Fars Province, Iran, is a prominent Persian Iranologist, historian, and full professor in the Department of History at Imam Khomeini International University in Qazvin, Iran. He is also an academic board member of Historia Iranica. Abadian has authored twelve books and over fifty research articles in Persian, English, and Arabic, establishing himself as a leading scholar of contemporary Iranian history.

Education

Hossein Abadian completed his academic studies at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran:

• BA in Iranian General History (1984–1988)
• MA in Iranian Constitutional Revolution (1988–1991)
• PhD in Iranian Constitutional Revolution (1995–1999)

His master’s thesis, Theoretical Foundations of Constitutionalism and Religious Governance, was pioneering in its use of Islamic jurisprudential and doctrinal concepts to analyze the Constitutional Movement, a novel approach in its historiography. Parts of this thesis were published as Theoretical Foundations of Constitutional and Religious Governance (Tehran: Ney Publishing, 1995). His doctoral dissertation examined Iran’s economic and political conditions from the conquest of Tehran to the Russian ultimatum (1909–1911).

Academic and Research Career

Abadian is among the few historians of contemporary Iran who adopt a philosophical and rational approach, employing phenomenological methods and Islamic jurisprudential concepts to interpret intellectual and political movements. His research focuses on Iranian intellectualism, political Shiism, the history of political parties in Iran (1906–1979), and Iran’s foreign relations in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Publications

Books

• The Government of Law and Brigade State, 1921–1925 (Tehran: Avasht, 2023)
• The Impact of the International System of Power on Humanities in Iran: Marxism Case Study (Tehran: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, 2021)
• The Social Consequences of Rural Migrations to Tehran, 1960–1979 (Tehran: Nedaye Tarikh, 2021)
• Theoretical Architects of Authoritarian Government, 1911–1926 (2nd ed., Tehran: IPSR, 2023)
• The Historical Destiny of Thought in Qajar Iran (Tehran: Nashre Elm, 2014)
• Old Concepts and New Thought: A Theoretical Introduction to the Iranian Constitutional Revolution (Tehran: Kavir, 2009; 2nd ed., 2013)
• The Crisis of Consciousness and Formation of Iranian Intellectualism (Tehran: Kavir, 2009; 2nd ed., 2013)
• Iran: From the Collapse of Constitutionalism to the Coup of 1921 (Tehran: Institute for Political Studies and Research, 2006; 2nd ed., 2011)
• The Crisis of Constitutionalism in Iran (Tehran: Institute for Political Studies and Research, 2004; 2nd ed., 2006; 3rd ed., 2011)
• Iranian Narrative of the Iran-Russia Wars (Tehran: Center for Documents and Diplomatic History, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2002)
• The Biography of Dr. Mozaffar Baqa’i (Tehran: Institute for Political Studies and Research, 1998; 2nd ed., 2007, revised and expanded)
• Religious Thought and the Anti-Regie Movement in Iran (Tehran: Institute for Contemporary Historical Studies, 1997)
• Theoretical Principles of Constitutional and Legitimate Governments (Tehran: Ney, 1995)

Selected Peer-Reviewed Articles

• “Economic Consequences of Iran’s Foreign Exchange Policy, 1931–1939,” Socio-Economic History Studies, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2, Autumn-Winter 2022–2023
• “The Cultural Basis of Historical Perspective and Historiography of Mohammad Ibrahim Bastani Parizi,” Cultural History Studies, Alzahra University, No. 54, Winter 2022
• “Seif-e Azad and Racial Historiography According to Aryanism,” Journal of Historical Perspective and Historiography, Alzahra University, Vol. 32, No. 29, Spring-Summer 2022
• “Social Harms and the Operations of Tehran Municipality, 1921–1941,” Social History Studies, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2, Autumn-Winter 2021–2022
• “The Meaning of the Government of Law in Mirza Malkam Khan’s Political Viewpoints,” Contemporary Political Research, Vol. 9, No. 4, Winter 2019
• “Land Reform and Social Consequences of Rural Migration to Tehran,” Social Sciences History, Vol. 8, No. 2, Fall 2018
• “Iran-US Political Relations: Dec. 1978–Oct. 1979,” Science and Education Academic Journal, No. 4, 2017
• “Armenians Socio-Political Activists & Iranian Constitutional Revolution (1905–1911),” 16th International Academic Conference, Amsterdam, May 2015
• “M.E. Bastani Parizi’s Historiography,” Iran Nameh, Bethesda, Maryland, Winter 2015
• “From Legend to Reality,” Iran Nameh, Bethesda, Maryland, Autumn 2014

Book Chapters

• “Na’eeni and Religious Concepts of Constitutionalism,” in M.H. Na’eeni and the Establishment of Political Jurisprudence (Beirut: Center of Civilization and Islamic Thought, 2012)
• “Globalization and the Cultural Situation of Iran,” in Culture in the Globalization Age (Tehran: Rowzaneh Publications, 2003)
• “The West and Intellectual Phenomenon in the Nasirid Period,” in Iran-West Cultural Interactions in Contemporary History of Iran (Tehran: Soroush Publications, 1996)

International Conferences

Abadian has participated in over 20 international conferences, including:

• “Press and Expression of Freedom,” 17th CIRA Conference, Northeastern University, USA, June 1999
• “Religion and Society in Haji Aqa Shirazi’s Thought,” Religion and Society in Qajar Iran, University of Bristol, UK, September 2000
• “Iranians and the Question of Modernity in the Constitutional Movement,” 19th CIRA Conference, University of Toronto, Canada, 2001
• “Extremist Political Activities in Iran in 1941,” World War II Conference, Siena College, New York, May-June 2001
• “Iranians and the Possibility of Dialogue with Western Cultures,” DAVO Conference, Göttingen University, Germany, September 2001
• “Iranians and Experiences with Democracy,” First World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies, Mainz University, Germany, September 2002
• “Iran-US Military and Financial Cooperation in 1943,” Siena College, New York, June 2003
• “Armenians and the Iranian Constitutional Movement,” ASPS, Yerevan, April 2004
• “Iranians and the Question of Modernity,” Martin Luther King University, Halle, Germany, September 2004
• “Oil and Coup in Iran,” Queens University, Ontario, Canada, May 2006
• “The Great Famine of Iran,” Sixth Biennial of Iranian Studies, SOAS, London, August 2006
• “The Idea of Islamic Government in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution,” Deutscher Orientalistentag, Marburg, Germany, September 2010
• “Coalitions and Ramifications: Iranian Political Activists and 1st Congress of Baku,” December 2010
• “Shar’ and ‘Urf in the Legal System of Contemporary Iran,” University of British Columbia, March 2012
• “Teimurtash, Sir Robert Clive, and the Question of Bahrain,” University of Tehran, April-May 2012
• “Parsis of India and Innovations in Iranian Historiography,” ASPS Conference, Sarajevo, September 2013
• “Moharram Ritual and Constitution Movement of Iran (1906–1911),” WOCMES, Ankara, August 2014
• “Armenians Socio-Political Activists & Iranian Constitutional Revolution,” Amsterdam, May 2015
• “The Social Consequences of Rural Migration to Tehran (1962–1973),” Geneva, Switzerland, July 2017
• “Social Consequences of Rural Migration to Tehran (1973–1979),” 9th European Conference of Iranian Studies, Berlin, September 2019