WIDENGREN, GEO. One of the most famous historians of religions of the twentieth century, Geo Widengren (1907–1996) was born on April 24, 1907, in Stockholm, Sweden. From his early youth, he devoted his entire life to conducting research and teaching in the universities of Sweden. He studied Iranian and Semitic languages and religions under the supervision of Henrik Samuel Nyberg (1889–1974), the patron of the Uppsala Oriental school for many decades. Immediately after graduating in 1936, Widengren published his Ph.D. thesis under the title The Accadian and Hebrew Psalms of Lamentation as Religious Documents. His most important book from his early career, however, is Hochgottglaube im alten Iran, one of the most influential monographs of the Swedish school of Iranian studies. Widengren was appointed professor of the history of religions at the University of Uppsala in 1940, a post he held until 1973. During his tenure at the University, Widengren supervised many...