  We study the driven translocation of a semi-flexible polymer through a
nanopore by means of a modified version of the iso-flux tension propagation
theory (IFTP), and extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We show that
in contrast to fully flexible chains, for semi-flexible polymers with a finite
persistence length $\tilde{\ell}_p$ the {\it trans} side friction must be
explicitly taken into account to properly describe the translocation process.
In addition, the scaling of the end-to-end distance $R_N$ as a function of the
chain length $N$ must be known. To this end, we first derive a semi-analytic
scaling form for $R_N$, which reproduces the limits of a rod, an ideal chain,
and an excluded volume chain in the appropriate limits. We then quantitatively
characterize the nature of the {\it trans} side friction based on MD
simulations of semi-flexible chains. Augmented with these two factors, the
modified IFTP theory shows that there are three main regimes for the scaling of
the average translocation time $\tau \propto N^{\alpha}$. In the stiff chain
(rod) limit $N/\tilde{\ell}_p \ll 1$, {$\alpha = 2$}, which continuously
crosses over in the regime $ 1 < N/\tilde{\ell}_p < 4$ towards the ideal chain
behavior with {$\alpha = 3/2$}, which is reached in the regime
$N/\tilde{\ell}_p \sim 10^2$. Finally, in the limit $N/\tilde{\ell}_p \gg 10^6$
the translocation exponent approaches its symptotic value $1+\nu$, where $\nu$
is the Flory exponent. Our results are in good agreement with available
simulations and experimental data.
