Badr al-Zaman Gharib Garakani (23 August 1929 – 28 July 2020) was a distinguished Iranian linguist, Iranologist, and scholar of ancient Iranian languages. She was one of the foremost authorities on the Sogdian language and the only female permanent member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature. Throughout her academic career, she contributed significantly to the study of ancient and middle Iranian languages through teaching, research, and numerous scholarly publications.

Education
Completed primary and secondary education in Tehran and earned a diploma in Natural Sciences.
Entered the Faculty of Literature and Humanities at the University of Tehran in 1954.
Received a B.A. in Persian Language and Literature from the University of Tehran in 1957.
Awarded a scholarship to study ancient Iranian languages at the University of Pennsylvania.
Earned an M.A. in Linguistics and Oriental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania in 1960.
Studied phonetics and morphology at the University of Michigan.
Pursued studies in Sanskrit and Indo-European linguistics.
Obtained a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1965 under the supervision of Walter B. Henning, with a dissertation titled Structural Analysis of the Verb in the Sogdian Language.
Activities and Works
Served as Assistant Professor at Shiraz University, teaching Old Persian, Middle Persian, and the history of the Persian language.
Deciphered and translated a newly discovered inscription of Xerxes found between Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rostam.
Taught Persian as a visiting professor at the University of Utah.
Conducted research at Harvard University.
Joined the University of Tehran in 1971 and retired as a Full Professor in 2002.
Became a permanent member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature in 1998.
Headed the Dialectology Department and later the Iranian Languages Department of the Academy.
Served for more than two decades on the Scientific Council of the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia.

Selected Publications:

Structural Analysis of the Verb in the Sogdian Language
Sogdian Dictionary (Sogdian–Persian–English)
Silent Languages
The Story of Buddha’s Birth
Discovery of a Pahlavi Inscription in China
Vessantara Jataka: The Story of Buddha’s Birth in the Sogdian Tradition
History of Dialectology in Iran
Sogdian Studies
Studies in Ancient and Middle Iranian Languages
Qutuf al-Rabiʿ
Achievements and Awards
Recognized as one of Iran’s Everlasting Figures (Chehreh-ye Mandegar) in 2002.
Her books Silent Languages and Sogdian Dictionary were selected as Iran’s Book of the Year.
Received the Association of Cultural Works and Honors Award in 1998.
Honored with the 17th Silk Carpet Literary and Historical Award of the Mahmoud Afshar Foundation in 2008.
Celebrated through the publication of Festschrift for Badr al-Zaman Gharib, featuring articles by prominent Iranian scholars.
Widely recognized as one of the leading scholars of Sogdian and Middle Iranian studies in Iran.