A Persian woman here as depicted during the Safavi period of Iran. From wall painting in Chehel-sotoon Palace, Isfahan.

A Persian Woman or Iranian woman usually refers to a woman of or from the traditional Persia culture. Download high resolution version (548x733, 632 KB)Persian woman pouring wine. ... Download high resolution version (548x733, 632 KB)Persian woman pouring wine. ... An example of Safavid architecture Safavi is an adjective, created for the name Safi. Translated to English, Safavi would correspond roughly to Safi-ish or Safidian Safavi is the correct Persian Language reference to Safi, the name of Sheikh Safi Al-Din Ardebili. ... Part of Shah Abbas large urban project in his new capital, the Chahār Bāgh Four Gardens, is a four-kilometer avenue in the city of Isfahan. ... A Persian woman here as depicted during the Safavi period of Iran. ... This article is about the ethnic Persians (Iranians) of Iran. ...

Although she is seen as Iranian, the Persian woman need not be from any specific nationality or ethnicity, and can be thought to be associated with any of the peoples sharing the Persian culture. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Persian women in history

It is an indisputable fact, that at Persepolis, where stone preserves the ideas and ideals of ancient Persia, women are absent. All the splendid reliefs and noble statues carved at the peak of empire represent bulls, maned lions, winged stallions, and warring men. Even the servants who walk behind the kings swinging fans or swatting flies are men. But it is not ancient ruins that attest to the power of Iranian patriarchy. It is society itself. Like many other Asian societies, Iran's has always been a patriarchical one with the degrees of freedom for women differing in various eras. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A patriarch (from Greek: patria means father; arché means rule, beginning, origin) is a male head of an extended family exercising autocratic authority, or, by extension, a member of the ruling class or government of a society controlled by senior men. ...

Some historians in fact argue that it was Cyrus the Great who, ten centuries before Islam, established the custom of covering women to protect their chastity. According to their theory, the veil passed from the Achaemenids to the greek Seleucids. They, in turn, handed it to the Byzantines, from whom the Arab conquerors inherited it, transmitting it over the vast reaches of the Arab world.[^{Note 1}] But even if one were to accept this theory, it wouldn't change the fact that the view toward women in Iran changed significantly with the arrival of Islam in Iran. Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia, widely known as Cyrus the Great or Cyrus the Elder, (ca. ... Islam ▶(?) (Arabic: الإسلام al-islām) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second largest religion. ... Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Dynasty was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire, including Cyrus II the Great, Darius I and Xerxes I. At the height of their power, the Achaemenid rulers of Persia ruled over territories roughly emcompassing some parts of todays Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon... The Seleucid Empire was one of several political states founded after the death of Alexander the Great, whose generals squabbled over the division of Alexanders empire. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centred at its capital in Constantinople. ...

On the other hand, women played an important role in everyday life in Achaemenid dynasty. They worked beside men in workshops and received the same salary as men. This tradition continued to Sassanid dynasty, however with less extent. Purandokht, who were daughter of king Khosrau II ruled Persian empire for almost 2 years before resigning. Achaemenid empire at its greatest extent The Achaemenid Dynasty (Hakamanishiya in the Old Persian (Avestan ??) language - transliterated Hakamanshee in Modern Persian) - was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire. ... The Sassanid Empire at the reign of Shapur II Official language Pahlavi (Middle Persian) State Religion Zoroastrianism Capital Ctesiphon Sovereigns Shahanshah of the Iran (Eranshahr) First Ruler Ardashir I Last Ruler Yazdegerd III Establishment 224 AD Dissolution 651 AD Part of the History of Iran The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian... Queen Poran, the only woman on the throne of the Sassanid dynasty, 630 AD.State Hermitage Museum ,St. ... Khosrau II, the Victorious (Parvez), king of Persia, son of Hormizd IV, grandson of Khosrau I, 590 - 628. ...

At the dawn of the 20th century, many Iranian modernists who had traveled to Europe for higher education, came back to view the Islamic veil as a symbol of backwardness. Its removal, in their view, was essential to the advancement of Iran and its dissociation from Arab-Islamic culture. For the counter-modernists who wanted to uphold the Islamic social and gender orders, the European woman became a scapegoat and a symbol of corruption, immorality, and Westernization. In the Iranian body-politic the imagined European woman provided the subtext for political maneuvers over women's rights and appearance in the public space.

Iran's Constitutional Revolution of 1905-11 became a turning point in the lives of Iranian women. Women participated in huge numbers and gained important positions for expressing their views, including journals, schools, and associations that flourished in the following period (1911-24).[²]

But the defeat of the constitutionalists (1921-5) and the consolidation of power by Reza Shah (1925-41) had two contradictory impacts. Independent women's journals and groups were destroyed, while the state implemented social reforms such as mass education and paid employment for women. Reza Shah also initiated his controversial policy of Kashf-e-Hijab, banning the wearing of the Islamic Hijab in public. But like other sectors of the society in those years under Reza Shah's rule, women lost the right to express themselves and dissent was repressed. Shah Reza Pahlavi Reza Pahlavi (Persian: رضا پهلوی), (March 16, 1877–July 26, 1944), called Reza Shah the Great after his death, was Shah of Persia (later Iran) from December 15, 1925 to September 16, 1941. ...

With the advent of Iran's revolution in 1979, women's rights took yet another wild swing toward religious conservatism. Despite the decree of many of Iran's top clerics such as Ayatollah Taleghani, the state, under the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini made wearing the Hijab mandatory for all women, implementing strict religious codes for women in society. Ayatollah Khomeini founded the first modern Islamic republic Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini (آیت‌الله روح‌الله خمینی in Persian) (May 17, 1900 – June 3, 1989) was an Iranian Shia cleric and the political and spiritual leader of the 1979 revolution that overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the then Shah of Iran. ...

In May 1997, a large number of women participated in presidential elections and overwhelmingly voted for Hojatolislam Mohammad Khatami, a reformist cleric who had promised reduction of repression and toleration of civil society institutions. His election opened a period when women could voice their ideas one again, with many becoming increasingly bolder in their demands and in their criticisms. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights and feminist activist, further emboldened Iranian feminists inside Iran and cemented their relationships with Iranian feminist activists abroad. Khatami may refer to either of three Iranian reformist politicians: Mohammad Khatami, President of Iran 1997-2005 Mohammad Reza Khatami, Vice Speaker of Iranian Parliament from 2001 to 2004 and brother of Mohammad Khatami, Ali Khatami, Iranian Vice President and Chief of Staff and brother of Mohammad and Mohammad Reza... Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi (Persian: شیرین عبادی; born June 21, 1947) is a Persian (Iranian) lawyer and human rights activist. ... Feminism is a social theory and political movement primarily informed and motivated by the experience of women. ...

The Sixth Majles saw the emergence of some of Iran's strongest advocates of women's rights. Almost all of the 11 female lawmakers of The 190-seat Majles took on the challenge of trying to change some of Iran's more conservative laws amidst a male dominated culture. However, during the elections for the Seventh Majles, all of those representatives were banned to run for office by the all male Council of Guardians, only allowing conservative females to run for election. The new representatives, as expected, upon their arrival into office began reversing many of the laws passed by the reformist 6th Majles. مجلس شورای اسلامی - The Majles; Irans Parliament. ... The Guardian Council of the Constitution (شورای نگهبان قانون اساسی in Persian) is a high office within the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran which has the authority to interpret the constitution and to determine if the laws passed by the parliament are in line with the constitution of...

Famous Iranian women and female entities

The conservatively religious view toward women is a relatively new phenomenon in Iran; The traditional image of a Persian woman holding a cup of wine, as depicted at Hasht-behesht palace, Isfahan, 17th century Iran.

A Persian Woman dancing. ... A Persian Woman dancing. ... Part of Shah Abbas large urban project in his new capital, the Chahār Bāgh Four Gardens, is a four-kilometer avenue in the city of Isfahan. ...

Political

• Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Laureate.
• Masoumeh Ebtekar, Iranian Vice President.
• Goli Ameri, Republican politician.
• Zahra Kazemi, slain political photographer.
• Christiane Amanpour, CNN news anchor.
• Rudi Bakhtiar, CNN news anchor.
• Madame Bhikaji Cama,Indian Parsi freedom fighter.
• Fatemeh Haghighatjou, former Member of Parliament.
• Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, daughter of Hashemi Rafsanjani.
• Elaheh Koulai, former Member of Parliament.
• Maryam Rajavi, opposition leader, alleged president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
• Azam Taleghani
• Mehrangiz Kar, lawyer.
• Farrokh Karimi, Iranian female Dutch Member of Parliament.[1]
• Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi (Persian: شیرین عبادی; born June 21, 1947) is a Persian (Iranian) lawyer and human rights activist. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ... Goli Ameri Goli Ameri (in Persian:Ú¯Ù„ÛŒ عامری) is a Republican Iranian-American businesswoman who ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon. ... Zahra Ziba Kazemi-Ahmadabadi (زهرا کاظمی احمدآبادی in Persian)‎ (1949 - July 11, 2003) was an Iranian (Persian)-born freelance photographer, residing in Montreal (Canada), who died in custody of Iranian officials following her arrest in her native country. ... Christiane Amanpour Christiane Amanpour (born January 12, 1958) is chief international correspondent for CNN. Based out of CNNs London bureau, Amanpour is one of the most recognized and highly distinguished international correspondents on American television. ... Rudi Bakthiar Rudi Bakhtiar (born June 21, 1966 in Fresno, California) (born Rudabeh Bakhtiar, in Persian:رودابه بختیار) is a contributor to Anderson Cooper 360° on CNN. Although born in California, Bakhtiar was raised in Iran until the revolution when her family moved to the United States. ... Fatemeh Haghighatjou (فاطمه حقیقت‌جو in Persian) was a member of the Iranian Parliament. ... President Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Bahramani kharkosteh (Persian: اکبر هاشمی بهرمانی), famously known as Hashemi Rafsanjani (هاشمی رفسنجانی) (born August 25, 1934) is one of the most influential Iranian politicians, and the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran. ... Template:Unprotected Maryam Rajavi Maryam Rajavi, Iranian political activist, born in 1953 in Tehran, Iran. ... Benazir Bhutto at a Pakistan Peoples Party event in Newark, CA, 28 September 2004. ...

Artists and poetesses

• Rabe'e Ghazdari, poetess.
• Parvin E'tesami, poetess.
• Forough Farrokhzad, poetess.
• Simin Behbahani, poetess.
• Shohreh Aghdashloo, Actress.
• Lily Afshar, world class guitarist.
• Samira Makhmalbaf, director.
• Delkash
• Googoosh, singer.
• Leila Forouhar, singer.
• Nooshafarin, singer.
• Ramesh, singer.
• Sima Bina
• Marzieh, singer.
• Arfa Atrai, Santur musician and writer
• Tamara Stronach, star of the blockbuster movie The Neverending Story.
• Catherine Bell, Actress, JAG (Half).

Rabee or Rabee Ghazdari (in Persian:رابعه قزداري; ca. ... Parvin Etesami is one of Irans greatest poetesses. ... Forooghs tomb is located in Darband, Shemiran, Tehran. ... Simin Behbahani (in Persian: سیمین بهبهانی; born in 1927, Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian poetess. ... Shohreh Aghdashloo Shohreh Aghdashloo (Persian: شهره آغداشلو, born 11 May 1952 in Tehran, Persia (Iran) is a Los Angeles-based, Persian actress and self-proclaimed activist. ... Says Classical Guitar Magazine in 2002: Lily Afshar is a guitarist of the highest order. ... Image:Makhmalbaf-samira. ... Esmat Bagherpour Panbehzan(باقرپور پنبه زن), known as Delkash (دلکش), (February 26, 1925 - September 2, 2004) was an Iranian female singer, singing in Persian and the local Iranian languages of Guilaki and Mazandarani. ... Legendary Persian Diva Googoosh Googoosh (گوگوش in Persian), born Faeghe Atashin (فائقه آتشین in Farsi) on February 7, 1951 in Tehran, is an Iranian (Persian) pop singer and actress. ... Nooshafarin (also spelled Noosh Afarin--which means creator of joy in Persian) is an Iranian singer residing in southern California. ... Marzieh or Marziyeh is a Persian traditional singer. ... Arfa Atrai One of Irans most renouned masters of Santour was born in 1941 in Tehran. ... The santur (سَنتور) is a hammered dulcimer of Persia. ... Tami Stronach, (born Tamara Stronach in Teheran, Iran, 31 July 1972), is a dancer and choreographer, and has worked as an actor. ... The Neverending Story (Die Unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by Michael Ende, first published in 1979. ... Catherine Bell Catherine Lisa Bell (born August 14, 1968 in London) is a British born American actress who was, until recently, the co-star of the hit television show JAG. // Biography Bell is the daughter of a British father and Iranian mother. ... JAG (the American Military acronym for Judge Advocate General) was also used as the title of an American adventure drama television show, produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Television Network. ...

Royalty

• Anahita, Goddess.
• Roxana, princess.
• Gordafarid, heroine.
• Shahr-banu, princess.
• Nur Jehan, wife of Mughal Emperor Jehangir
• Seyyedeh Khatun, ruler.
• Gauhar Shad, Queen.
• Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari, former Queen.
• Farah Pahlavi, empress.
• Foozieh of Egypt, former Queen.
• Leila Pahlavi, princess.
• Mumtaz Mahal, Wife of Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan and inspiration for the Taj Mahal.

Temple of Anahita, Goddess of ancient Persia, Iran. ... Roxana (Bactrian: Roshanak, meaning little star), the Bactrian wife of Alexander the Great, was born earlier than the year 341 BC, although the precise date remains uncertain. ... Gordafarid is one of the heroines in Ferdowsis Shahnama. ... Shahr Banu was a daughter of the last Sassanid emperor, Yazdegerd III. After the defeat of her father, she was taken captive by the Arab armies and sent to Medina where she was married to Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad. ... Nur Jehan (alternative spelling Noor Jahan, Nur Jahan, etc. ... Seyyedeh Khatun (decease 1029) was a sultaness of Buwayhids (Diylamids) of Ray (Rages), Isfahan and Hamadan (Buwayhid dynasty of Iran). ... Akhangan tomb, where Gohar-Taj is buried. ... Princess Soraya of Iran Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari (b. ... Farah Diba-Pahlavi Farah Diba, as she appeared during the visit of US president Richard Nixon to Iran on May 30, 1972. ... Fawzia bint Fuad of Egypt Her Royal Highness Princess Fawzia bint Fuad of Egypt (Alexandria, Egypt, November 5, 1921 -) was the first wife of the last Shah of Iran and a sister of King Farouk I. Though referred to as a princess out of courtesy, she is legally Fawzia Shirin... Leila Pahlavi (March 27, 1970 – June 10, 2001) was a Princess of Iran. ... Arjumand Banu Begum was born April 1593 in Agra. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ... This article or section should be merged with Shah Jahen—preferably maintaining this as the main entry. ... The Taj Mahal. ...

Scholars and Scientists

• Farshid Moussavi
• Lady Amin (Banoo Amin), Jurisprudent and Theologian.
• Mina Bissel, Director of UC Berkeley Life Sciences Division. [2]
• Fariba Adelkhah, Director of Research at Centre for International Studies and Research, France. [3]
• Simin Nikbin Meydani, Senior Scientist and Director at Tufts University. [4]
• Nahid Shahmehri, Director of the Laboratory for Intelligent Information, Linköpings Universitet, Sweden. [5]
• Mariam Kamkar, Head of the Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköpings Universitet, Sweden. [6]
• Azadeh Tabazadeh, Stanford University scientist from NASA. [7] Article about her in TIME magazine
• Manijeh Razeghi, Director, Center for Quantum Devices, Northwestern University. [8]
• Patricia L. Mokhtarian, Associate Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis. [9]

Farshid Moussavi is founder of Foreign Office Architects Farshid Moussavi is an internationally recognized Iranian born architect. ... Hajiyeh Seyyedeh Nosrat Beygom Amin also Banoo Amin or Lady Amin (1886 -1983, in Persian: بانو امين) was an Iranian jurisprudent and theologian. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as Cal, UC Berkeley, UCB, or simply Berkeley) is a prestigious, public, coeducational university situated in the foothills of Berkeley, California to the east of San Francisco Bay, overlooking the Golden Gate and its bridge. ... Tufts University is a private university located in Medford, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. ... Linköping University Linköping University (LiU) or Linköpings universitet is a state university in Linköping, Sweden. ... Linköping University Linköping University (LiU) or Linköpings universitet is a state university in Linköping, Sweden. ... For other meanings of Stanford, see Stanford (disambiguation). ... NASA Logo Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-09-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Northwestern University is a private, coeducational, non-sectarian university, located in Evanston, Illinois and Chicago, Illinois. ... The University of California, Davis, commonly abbreviated to UC Davis or UCD is one of the ten University of California campuses. ...

Others

• Shahrazad of 1001 Nights
• Táhirih
• Nassim Sahar, vegan activist.
• Parisa Khosravi
• Persis Khambatta, model, Miss India
• Ramona Amiri, Miss World Canada 2005.[10]
• Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Miss Canada 2004.
• Shermine Shahrivar, Miss Europe 2005.[11]
• Anousheh Ansari: X Prize named after her.
• Ladan and Laleh Bijani, conjoined twins.
• Azar Nafisi
• Marjane Satrapi
• Mansoureh Hosseini
• Aidin Aghdashloo
• Shadi Sadr
• Nafiseh Fayyazbakhsh
• Sooni Taraporevala, screenwriter
• Leila Arab
• Zahra Eshraghi
• Mandana Naderian, German TV hostess.[12]
• Mina Borati, wife of Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister.[13]

Scheherazade or Shahrazad (Persian: شهرزاد Shahrzad) is the (fictional) storyteller of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. ... Táhirih (literally The Pure One) and Qurrat al-Ayn (literally Comfort of the Eyes or Solace of the Eyes) are the religious titles of Fatima Baraghani (1814-1820, died 1852 - birth date uncertain, as birth records were destroyed at her execution), an influential poet and theologian of the B... Persis Khambatta (October 2, 1950 – August 18, 1998) was an Indian model and actress of Zoroastrian religion. ... Ramona Amiri Ramona Amiri (Persian:رامونا امیری ) is an Assyrian Canadian woman who won the Miss Canada contest in 2005. ... Nazanin Afshin-Jam (نازنین افشین جم in Persian), born 1979 in Tehran, Iran, is a former Miss Canada. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Anousheh Ansari is co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. ... The X prize logo shows a stylised letter X representing a spacecraft trajectory and containing a starfield. ... Ladan and Laleh Bijani (in Persian: لادن Ùˆ لاله بیژنی) (January 17, 1974–July 8, 2003) were Iranian law graduates. ... Azar Nafisi (آذر نفیسی in Persian) (born 1955) is an Iranian born professor and writer who currently resides in the United States. ... Marjane Satrapi (born November 22, 1969 in Rasht, Iran) is a contemporary graphic novelist and illustrator. ... Sooni Taraporevala is best known as the screenwriter for the Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay! and Mississippi Masala, both directed by Mira Nair. ... Leila (real name: Leila Arab) moved to London after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. ... Granddaughter of the late Supreme Ayatollah Khomeini, and wife of Mohammad Reza Khatami (since 1983), head of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the main reformist party in the country. ... Joschka Fischer Joseph Martin Joschka Fischer (born April 12, 1948 in Gerabronn, Baden-Württemberg) has been the German foreign minister and Vice Chancellor in the Red-Green coalition since 1998. ...

Further Info

• Zan
• Iran-Dokht
• Iran Women's Study Foundation
• Article: Women against Women, in the 7th Majles
• Iranian Female MP is arrested.
• Traditional Dress of Iranian Women

Sources

• Note 1: The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation, by Sandra Mackey. (Penguin Group, 1996).
• Note 2: J. Afary, The Iranian constitutional revolution, 1906-11. Grassroots democracy, social democracy, and the origins of feminism, New York 1996.