Prof. Dr. Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst
Institute of Iranian Studies
Honorary Professor
Prof. Dr. Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst is an honorary professor at the Institute of Iranian Studies, teaching a number of courses dealing with the Eastern Iranian world. In the Turfanforschung (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften) Profd. Durkin-Meisterernsthas been responsible for editing the Middle Persian, Parthian and Sogdian fragments in the Turfan Collection. The Turfanforschung have set up a doctorate programme for studies on the Iranian and Turkish Silk Road (Berliner Antike-Kolleg), where one scholarship is currently on offer. Prof. Durkin-Meisterernst teaches language courses on Manichaean Middle Persian, Bactrian and Sogdian as well as lectures on the Eastern Silk Road. Among his many publications his "Dictionary of Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian texts" (2004) and his "Grammatik des Westmitteliranischen" (2014) stand out. He is chairman of the ‘Languages and Cultures of the Silk Road (Silk Road)’ for the Doctoral program of the Berlin Graduate School of Ancient Studies.
- Born in Ireland as Desmond Durkin.
- Masters in Dublin (Ireland) before moving to Münster (Germany) where he completed his doctorate in 1991 in Old Indian grammar.
- Form 2001 senior researcher the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences in the project ‘Turfan Studies’, responsible for the Middle Persian, Parthian and Sogdian fragments.
- From May 2007 to 2016 Director of the Turfanforschungsstelle (‘Turfan Studies’).
- From Feb. 2010 Honorary Professor in Iranian Studies at the Freie Universität, Berlin.
- Jan. 2012 Habilitation in Münster and venia legendi for Indoeuropean Linguistics.