Institute for Iranian
Contemporary Historical Studies
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Farah Diba

Fatemeh Moezzi

 

Daughter of Sohrab and Farideh Diba was born in Tabriz, 1938. She was hardly four years old that she lost her father. After a short while in Tabriz, her mother took her to Tehran and lived at his brother’s. First she went to Tehran Italian School and after two years, she attended the French school of Gen d’ Arch. She received her diploma from the same school, and then she left for Paris in the company of his cousin, Reza Qotbi. Her uncle paid her expenses of education.  She was studying in the art school of architecture and designing that she was acquainted with the Tudeh Party. She would participate in the student demonstrations held by the confederation. When she decided to marry to Karim Pash Bahadori, she returned to Iran to consult with her family. Upon her return, the ministry of foreign affairs refrained from extension of her travel papers, because her name was among the Shah’s opponents. The same problem prepared the ground for her meeting with Ardeshir Zahedi, minister of foreign affairs and the Shah’s son in law. Zahedi saw her suitable wife for the Shah and invited her to meet Shahnaz, the Shah’s daughter.  The result of these acquaintances was Farah’s meeting with the Shah. Eventually, Farah accepted the Shah’s marriage proposal. And the Shah married for the third time. One year later, the shah reached to his wish and Farah bore him a son as a crown prince.

 

Farah’s status was different from the other queens. She was powerful and the festivities for 2500th anniversary of Iranian Empire were held mostly on her initiation.

 

The policies of Farah’s court were quite different from those of the Shah’s court. Upon the rise of Islamic revolution, the courts adopted closer policies to find a way to save the dynasty. And Farah being viceroy since 1967 became active in political scene.

 

Farah was among few members of the family who were aware of the Shah’s fatal illness. She did not want to lose the opportunity for his son’s becoming the king of the country. So she would participate in all meetings of the commanders of armed forces and high authorities of the country.

 

Field marshal Qarabaghi writes:

There was an extraordinary meeting with the Shah and the queen. The participating authorities were Sharif Emami, Manuchehr Azmun, field marshal Azhari and field marshal Oveissi. The talks began at 19 and it lasted until midnight. The shah said that he had wanted the queen to participate in the meeting because the prime minister had intended to mention some important points.

 

However, these actions were of no use. The Shah and Farah left Tehran in January 1978 forever. First they went to Egypt and then they wandered in other parts of the world and then resided in Panama. After the death of the deposed Shah, Farah gave her financial support to the opposition groups against Islamic Republic of Iran.

 

She has two memoirs, both published in France, one being one thousand and one Day written during their reigning years. She brought MohammadReza Shah two sons and two daughters named Reza, Farahnaz, AliReza and Leila. His younger daughter and son died in recent years.


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