Dr. Zemaryalai Tarzi is an internationally renowned archaeologist from Afghanistan. Born in Kabul in 1939, Professor Tarzi completed his studies under the supervision of Professor Daniel Schlumberger, in the process of obtaining three Ph.Ds. From 1973 to 1979, he was Director of Archaeology and Preservation of Historical Monuments of Afghanistan as well as the Director General of the Archaeology Institute of Kabul. Tarzi was exiled to France in 1979, there he assumed the post of Professor of Eastern Archaeology at the University of Strasbourg, France.[1]
He later directed the excavations in Buddhas of Bamyan and Hadda on the sites of Tape Shotor and Tape Tope Kalan. He is currently Director for the French Archaeological Missions for the Surveys and Excavations of Bamiyan. Dr. Zemaryalai Tarzi starred in the documentary The Giant Buddhas. In the aftermath of the Taliban's destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan, Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei ventures to Afghanistan's Bamiyan valley with Tarzi in an effort to comprehend the destruction while studying the history of the legendary statues.
Professor Tarzi is the author of some sixty articles and books. Also he is President for the Association for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology, Inc. (APAA) based in San Rafael, California.