Maryam Farman Farmaian
Encyclopedia
Maryam Firouz or Princess Maryam Farman Farmaian (1914 Tehran
, Iran
– 23 March 2008) was a daughter of Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma
and Batoul Khanoum. She founded the women's section of the Tudeh (communist) party in Iran
.
She received a liberal education
for the Persian
women of her time, and attended university later in life while living in exile. She was a linguist, fluent in Persian, Arabic, French, Russian, German, and English. An independent thinker, she appreciated communist theory
. Later in life she said that the reason she chose to be come a member of the Tudeh party was that when she decided to actively engage in the women's rights movement, the only party who was willing to accept her [as a woman] and give her a chance to do something at that time was the Tudeh Party. Maryam chose to use the surname Firouz in her political struggles; her grandfather's name. She became known as Maryam Firouz in the political arena. She retained her legal name as Maryam Farman Farmaian with pride.
She first married Abbassgholi Nouri Esfandiary [son of Mohtashem Saltaneh] in a marriage arranged by her father. They had two daughters. They divorced on the death of her father. In 1949, Maryam married Noureddin Kianouri
, a member and later general secretary of the Tudeh Party of Iran.
In cooperation with Kianouri, Farman Farmaian established a women's division of the Tudeh Party. Following the attempted assassination of Mohammad Reza Shah on 4 February 1949, the Tudeh party was blamed and her husband was imputed to have been one of the masterminds of the operation. She and her husband were forced into exile. She started her life in exile in the USSR and then lived in East Berlin, in the former German Democratic Republic. During her years of exile she completed her university studies and later taught French in the universities of Leipzig and Berlin.
The couple returned to Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the deposition
of the Shah. The Tudeh party was reinstituted with Kianouri as General Secretary. In 1983, the Tudeh Party was again banned following accusations of espionage for the Soviet Union. Kianouri and Farman Farmaian were imprisoned. Maryam Firouz spent all of her imprisonment in solitary confinement. She was the only member of the Tudeh Party's imprisoned leadership who did not make a forced confession on TV at the time. She was released from prison in 1994 and placed under house arrest for a couple more years before being released to the custody of her eldest daughter in Tehran.
After his release in the mid 90's, Kianouri wrote an open letter detailing the torture of himself and his wife while in prison.
Kianouri died on 5 November 1999.
Maryam Farman Farmaian, a.k.a Maryam Firouz, died in Tehran on March 23, 2008.
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
– 23 March 2008) was a daughter of Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma
Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma
Prince Abdol-Hossein Mirza was one of the most prominent Qajar princes, and one of the most influential politicians of his time in Persia. He was born to Prince Nosrat Dowleh Firouz Mirza 1859, and died in November 1939 at the age of 80. He was the 16th grandson of the Qajar crown prince Abbas...
and Batoul Khanoum. She founded the women's section of the Tudeh (communist) party in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
She received a liberal education
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
for the Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
women of her time, and attended university later in life while living in exile. She was a linguist, fluent in Persian, Arabic, French, Russian, German, and English. An independent thinker, she appreciated communist theory
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. Later in life she said that the reason she chose to be come a member of the Tudeh party was that when she decided to actively engage in the women's rights movement, the only party who was willing to accept her [as a woman] and give her a chance to do something at that time was the Tudeh Party. Maryam chose to use the surname Firouz in her political struggles; her grandfather's name. She became known as Maryam Firouz in the political arena. She retained her legal name as Maryam Farman Farmaian with pride.
She first married Abbassgholi Nouri Esfandiary [son of Mohtashem Saltaneh] in a marriage arranged by her father. They had two daughters. They divorced on the death of her father. In 1949, Maryam married Noureddin Kianouri
Noureddin Kianouri
Noureddin Kianouri was an Iranian architect and political leader. Kianouri was an influential member of the Central Committee for the communist Tudeh Party...
, a member and later general secretary of the Tudeh Party of Iran.
In cooperation with Kianouri, Farman Farmaian established a women's division of the Tudeh Party. Following the attempted assassination of Mohammad Reza Shah on 4 February 1949, the Tudeh party was blamed and her husband was imputed to have been one of the masterminds of the operation. She and her husband were forced into exile. She started her life in exile in the USSR and then lived in East Berlin, in the former German Democratic Republic. During her years of exile she completed her university studies and later taught French in the universities of Leipzig and Berlin.
The couple returned to Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the deposition
Deposition (politics)
Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician or monarch. It may be done by coup, impeachment, invasion or forced abdication...
of the Shah. The Tudeh party was reinstituted with Kianouri as General Secretary. In 1983, the Tudeh Party was again banned following accusations of espionage for the Soviet Union. Kianouri and Farman Farmaian were imprisoned. Maryam Firouz spent all of her imprisonment in solitary confinement. She was the only member of the Tudeh Party's imprisoned leadership who did not make a forced confession on TV at the time. She was released from prison in 1994 and placed under house arrest for a couple more years before being released to the custody of her eldest daughter in Tehran.
After his release in the mid 90's, Kianouri wrote an open letter detailing the torture of himself and his wife while in prison.
Kianouri died on 5 November 1999.
Maryam Farman Farmaian, a.k.a Maryam Firouz, died in Tehran on March 23, 2008.
Further reading
- Blood and Oil: Memoirs of a Persian Prince; Manucher Mirza Farman FarmaianManucher Mirza Farman FarmaianPrince Manucher Mirza was born in Tehran in 1917. He was the sixth son of Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma and of Batoul Khanoum.He studied petroleum engineering at Birmingham University in England before returning to Iran...
. Random House, New York, 1997.