Davud Monshizadeh


Davud Monshizadeh was the founder of the SUMKA and a supporter of Nazi ideology in Germany during World War II and in Iran after the war. He was also a scholar in Iranian Studies who later became a Professor of Iranian Languages at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Career

Monshizadeh is mainly remembered for his contributions to Iranian linguistics, particularly to the study of Modern and Middle Iranian languages. However, he also led an active political life in Iran and abroad.
Monshizadeh formed the SUMKA in 1952. He had lived in Nazi Germany since 1937, and was a former SS member, who fought and was wounded in the Battle of Berlin. He was also a professor at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich and was deeply influenced by Jose Ortega y Gasset's philosophy, even translating many of his books, from Spanish to Persian. He returned to Iran in 1950. Monshizadeh would later serve as a Professor of Persian Studies at Alexandria University and Uppsala University. Monshizadeh was known as an admirer of Hitler and imitated many of the ways of the Nazi Party, as well as attempting to approximate Hitler's physical appearance, including his moustache.

Chronology