Oxford Scholarship in the name of Neda

After Guardian 11 Nov 2009
A demonstrator holds a photo of dead Iranian student Neda Agha-Soltan during a protest in New York
COURTESY Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Queen's College Oxford naming philosophy scholarship after young student Neda Agha-Soltan killed in Tehran.

The first holder of the scholarship, Arianne Shahvisi, is studying for a master's degree in the philosophy of physics. In a statement on the college's website, she said: "It is a great honour to be the first student to receive the scholarship in the memory of Neda Agha-Soltan, which is particularly meaningful to me, being a young woman of Iranian descent also studying philosophy."

BACKGROUND. Guardian informs that Queen's College announced the graduate scholarship in memory of Neda Agha-Soltan who died in June at the age of 27.

Her final moments were captured on a mobile phone and broadcast round the world, making her a symbol of Iranian resistance.

A donor contacted Queen's College after her death, to set up the scholarship in philosophy, the subject she had been studying, for Iranian students. The first recipient is now studying at Queen's.

The college said today that a letter it receieved from the Iranian embassy in London said Agha-Soltan's death had been staged by enemies of the regime. The letter accused the university of joining a "politically motivated" campaign in creating the scholarship.

Queen's replied that donors are allowed to decide what to call any scholarship they fund. The name of the donor of this scholarship has not been made public.

Professor Paul Madden, provost of college, said: "The college is keen to support graduate students and this scholarship will help Iranian students to study at Oxford, regardless of their financial background.

"Donors make their own decisions, within reason, on how to name scholarships that they fund.

"In this case, the donor who was instrumental in establishing the scholarship is a British citizen and is well known to the college."

ON NEDA AGHA-SOLTAN. See also another blog entry from this summer.