Mehrdad Izady
Mehrdad Michael Izady ( Kurdish: Mihrdad Ízedí; * 1963 ) is a writer who focuses on ethnic and cultural issues.
Career
He is the son of a Kurdish father and a Belgian mother. Since his parents were diplomats, he spent much of his youth in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and South Korea. Mehrdad Izady made in 1976 at the University of Kansas a bachelor's degree in History, Political Science and Geography. At Syracuse University, he deepened his studies and received his master's degree in the fields of remote sensing, cartography and International Relations. In 1992 he received his doctorate at the Faculty of Middle Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Columbia University.
After that, he taught for six years at Harvard University and the Joint Special Operations University in Florida. In addition, he had testified before two congressional committees and wrote several books and articles on the Middle East and South East Europe. Since 2001 he works on the history faculty of Fordham University and Pace University.
Izady is also a cartographer who has made many ethno-linguistic maps among others. The cards are used by many atlases and works such as National Geographic, The Economist, the UN and the U.S. military. A wide range is accessible online under the name of Gulf 2000 Project at Columbia University.
Izady postulated an angel cult ( Yazdânism ), which belonged to the Kurds before their Islamization. From this Kurdish religion then today's religions and denominations of the Alevis, the Yezidis and Ahl -e Haqq should have emerged. He also provides some ancient kingdoms and peoples, such as Adiabene and Commagene as Kurdish dar.