Janis Esots was an Associate Professor at the Department of Asian Studies, University of Latvia and a Research Associate at The Institute of Ismaili Studies (2013-2021). His research focused on Ismaili thought and the philosophical school of I?fahan (Mulla ?adra, Mir Damad and Rajab 'Ali Tabrizi). He was the managing editor of Encyclopaedia Islamica and the editor of the Islamic Philosophy Yearbook Ishraq. Prior to his death in 2021, his monograph, Patterns of Wisdom in Safavid Iran: The Philosophical School of Isfahan and the Gnostic of Shiraz was published by the Institute of Ismaili Studies (2021).