Sheikh Habib-ol-lah Zolfonun

Mozaffar Shahedi

Habib-ol-lah Soltanabadi Iraqi known as Sheikh Habib-ol-lah Zolfonun and son of Mohammad Jafar Araki, astronomer and calendarist, well versed and exceptional in literature, mathematics and Qoran commentary, was born in 1861 in Arak. After primary education, he devoted himself to the study of astronomy and the related fields. Later, after many years of study and research, he made impressive improvement, and was one of the high rank scientists of his time. He made many important discoveries on the movement of the moon, and draw an improved astronomical table which was the result of his forty years study. He was one of the main calendarists of his time and his works were enjoyed by others. Moreover he was proficient in mathematics and geometry. He found out new theories on the "proportion of cubes". On the other hand, he has written a commentary on the Qoran in Persian. For many years he taught spherical trigonometry in the central DarolMoallemin (Teacher's House) and astronomy in the high school of Sepahsalar. Central Darolmoallemin was one of the first centers of ministry of education, headed by Aboul Hassan Foroughi, of which Esmaeel Merat was a principal. Sheikh Habib-ol-lah Zolfonun was among the leading professors of the time including AbdolAzim Qarib, Mirza Gholam Hossein Rahnama, Fazel Tuni, Abbass Eqbal Ashtiani and Abbass Qoli Khan Qarib. He died on December 24th 1947.
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