MOLÉ, Marijan. Ljubljana 28.7.1924 — Paris 6.5.1963. Slovenian/Polish Iranian Scholar in Paris. Son of the Slovenian author and art historian Vojeslav M. (1886–1973) and a Polish mother. In 1925 father became Professor at Cracow and thus he spent his early years in Poland. In September 1939 the family escaped to Ukraina because of war. Later they returned to Cracow, but the university was closed and, as Ivo Andrić, who was then the Yugoslavian Ambassador in Berlin, arranged them passports, returned to Ljubljana where the father became Professor of Byzantine Studies and the son escaped the war in concentrating on language studies. Matriculated 1942 he began studies at Ljubljana University, mainly Slavistics (under Ramovš) and linguistics (Oštir). In 1943 Germans closed the university and Molé continued his studies privately, meeting professors at their homes. After the war father was again invited to Cracow where Molé now continued his studies concentrating on Indo-Europeistics (Safarewicz) and Oriental languages (Kowalski and Willman-Grabowska). In 1947 he left linguistics and concentrated on Iranian; the dissertation was prepared under Kowalski, but only completed after his death. Ph.D. 1949. In 1947-50 Assistant in Oriental Philology and Lecturer in Slovenian at Cracow. In 1949-50 further studies in Paris under Benveniste, Menascé, Corbin, Massignon and Laoust, never returned to Poland, but visited Taškent and Tehran studying Persian language and manuscripts. In 1952 diplom of É.P.H.É., 1958 dr.-ès-lettres. In 1950-55 attaché de recherches at C.N.R.S., in 1955-59 pensionnaire scientifique at Institute Franco-Iranien in Teheran. Ended with suicide. Married Éliane Janet, at least one son.
Molé was an Iranian scholar interested both in Zoroastrian and Islamic periods. He was mainly a historian of religion and among his major interests were Sufism and the Zoroastrian influence in Shi‘a. He used Dumézil’s tripartite system.
Publications: Diss. on the Garshāsp-nāma of Asadī of Tūs and the Krsāspa legend, MS. Cracow 1948, a summary appeared as “Rustam a Kṛsāspa. Przyczynek dobadań nad formacją eposu irańskiego”, Sprawozdania Polskiej Akad. Umiejętności 1948, 269-272.
– Diss. Le problème zoroastrien et la tradition mazdéenne. Manuscript 1958, publ. as Culte, mythe et cosmologie dans l’Iran ancien: Le problème zoroastrien et la tradition mazdéenne. 31+597 p. A.M.G., B.d’ét. 69. P. 1965.
– “Contributions à l’étude du genre grammatical en Hittite”, RO 15, 1948, 25-62.
– A number of further articles on Iranistics in SPAU, RHR, JA, Nouv. Clio, Farhang-e Īrān Zamīn, etc., e.g.:
– “Daēnā, le pont Činvat et l’initiation dans le Mazdéisme”, RHR 157, 1960, 155-185; “Une histoire du mazdéisme est-elle possible? Notes et remarques en marge d’un ouvrage récent”, RHR 162, 1962, 45-67, 161-218 (on Zaehner 1961).
– “Naqšbandīyāt. Quelques traités naqshbandis”, Farhang-e Īrān Zamīn 5, 1337, 273-323 & 8, 1339, 72-134; “Les Kubrawiya entre sunnisme et shiisme aux huitième et neuvième siècles de l’hégiure”, REI 29, 1961, 61-142; “Profession de foi de deux Kubrawis: ‘Alī-i Hamadānī et Muḥammad Nūrbaḫš”, Bull. d’Ét. Or. 17, 1961-62, 133-204.
– “Deux aspects de la formation de l’orthodoxie zoroastrienne”, Annuaire de l’Inst. de philol. et d’hist. orientales et slaves (Bruxelles) 12, 1952 (Mél. H. Gregoire), 289-324; “Un ascétisme moral dans les livres pehlevis”, RHR 247, 1959, 145-190; “La problème zurvanite”, JA 247, 1959, 431-469; “Rituel et eschatologie dans le mazdeisme”, Numen 7, 1960, 148-160.
– Edited: ‘Azīzoddin Nasafi, Le livre de l’Homme Parfait (Kitâb al-Insân al-Kâmil): recueil de traités de soufisme en Persan. Bibl. Iran. 11. 1962.
– “La danse extatique en Islam”, 163 p. in Les danses sacrées. Sources Orientales 6. P. 1963.
– L’Iran ancien. 119 p. Religions du Monde. P. 1965.
Sources: Ph. Gignoux, Encyclop. Iranica 2018 (online, with photo); G. Scarcia, AION N.S. 13, 1963, 319-325; note in IIJ 3, 1959, 320; Wikipedia with list of publications; photo in http://www.biblioiranica.info/tag/marijan-mole/.
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