Vladimir Minorsky was born near Moscow and trained in Law before entering the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages where he spent 3 years preparing for a diplomatic career. He made his first trip to Iran in 1902, where he collected material on the Ahl-e Haqq and continued to serve in the Middle East until 1919 when he moved to Paris and began work in the Russian Embassy. In 1923 he began to lecture on Persian literature at the École nationale des langues orientales vivantes, where he subsequently taught Turkish and Islamic history. In 1930 he was named Oriental Secretary to the 1931 International Exhibition of Persian Art at Burlington House, London, and in 1932 was made lecturer in Persian at London's School of Oriental Studies. In 1933 he became Reader in Persian Literature and History, University of London; Professor of Persian in 1937; and in 1944 retired but continued to work until his death. He was awarded the Royal Asiatic Society's Triennial Gold Medal in 1962.