List of Iranian women

For general information about women in Iran, see Women in Iran.

This is a list of Iranian women. As one person may have contributed to more than one field, they can be categorized in multiple areas.

Nobel laureates

Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Laureate (Peace)

Scientists and engineers

Anousheh Ansari, First female space tourist, leading telecommunication entrepreneur, and namesake of the X Prize
Nahid Shahmehri, Director of the Laboratory for Intelligent Information, Linköpings Universitet, Sweden.^[1]
Saba Valadkhan, American Association for the Advancement of Science Young scientist award
Maryam Mirzakhani, Mathematician
Alenush Terian, Astronomer

Academics

sorted alphabetically by surname

Janet Afary, Historian
Lady Amin (Banoo Amin), Jurisprudent and theologian
Jaleh Amouzgar, Iranologist, Professor of Tehran University
Noushafarin Ansari, Professor at University Of Tehran, Secretary General of Children's Book Council Of Iran
Camila Batmanghelidjh, Psychotherapist.
Mina Bissell, Director of UC Berkeley Life Sciences Division.^[2]
Shirin Ebadi, Lawyer, lecturer at Tehran University (2003 Nobel Laureate)
Mehrangiz Kar, Lawyer, fellow at Harvard University
Fatemeh Keshavarz, Chair of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literature Department, Professor of Persian and Comparative Literature, Washington University in St. Louis
Elaheh Koulaei, Professor of Political sciences, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Tehran University
Farzaneh Milani, Director of Studies in Women and Gender and Professor of Persian and Women Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA^[3]
Azar Nafisi, former lecturer at Tehran University and Johns Hopkins University
Afsaneh Najmabadi, Professor of History and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University.
Nasrin Rahimieh, writer of Iranian culture and Persian literature, professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine.^[4]
Pardis Sabeti, geneticist at Harvard Medical School
Reihaneh Safavi-Naini, Cryptographer, professor of computer science, and head of the Telecommunications and Information Technology Research Institute at University of Wollongong
Fatemeh Shams, Literary Scholar at University of Oxford.
Nayereh Tohidi, Professor and Chair of the Women's Studies Department at California State University, Northridge and Research Associate at the Center for Near Eastern Studies at UCLA, USA^[5]

Authors and poets

Masoumeh Abad, Writer
Mahnaz Afkhami, Writer
Mana Aghaee, Poet, Translator and Bibliographer
Farzaneh Aghaeipour, Playwright and novelist
Mahshid Amirshahi, Novelist
Mina Assadi, Poet and author, winner of the Hellman/Hammett awards (human Rights Watch) in New York in the year of 1996
Sousan Azadi, memoirist
Simin Behbahani, Poet and 1997 Nobel prize nominee
Niloofar Beyzaie, Playwright and theatre director
Simin Daneshvar, Academic, novelist and translator of literary texts from several languages into Persian
Sahar Delijani, (born 1983), widely translated novelist, author of Children of the Jacaranda Tree, living between the United States and Italy
Parvin E'tesami, Poet (classical)
Forough Farrokhzad, Poet (modern)* Roya Hakakian, Writer and Poet
Leila Kasra, Poet and Lyricist
Rabe'e Ghazdari, Poet
Justine Harun-Mahdavi, German-Iranian writer.
Sheema Kalbasi, Poet
Porochista Khakpour, Novelist and writer
Mahsati, Medieval poet
Rosie Malek-Yonan, Author, actor and director
Shokooh Mirzadegi, Novelist, poet and social reformer
Azadeh Moaveni, Writer and journalist
Akram Monfared Arya, Author, poet
Granaz Moussavi, Poet
Azar Nafisi, writer, "Reading Lolita in Tehran"
Shima Nesari Haghighi Fard, Poet and writer
Shahrnush Parsipur, Novelist
Zoya Pirzad, Novelist and winner of Hooshang Golshiri Literary Award
Golrokhsar Safi Eva, National poet of Tajikistan
Marjane Satrapi, Writer, Persepolis,Embroideries and Chicken with Plums
Hila Sedighi, Poet
Mahasti Shahrokhi, Novelist
Fatemeh Shams, poet, author
Roxana Shirazi, Author, The Last Living Slut: Born in Iran, Bred Backstage
Tahereh Qorrat Al-'Ayn, Poet, philosopher and theologist; Seventeenth disciple or Letter of the Living of the Báb (mid 19th century)
Niloufar Talebi, Writer, translator, theater artist
Lobat Vala Poet
Masoumeh Ramhormozi, Writer
Moniru Ravanipor, Writer
Sholeh Wolpe, poet

Visual and Fine Arts

Iran Darrudi, Painter
Mokarrameh Ghanbari, Painter
Mansooreh Hosseini Painter
Noreen Motamed, Painter
Shirin Neshat, Conceptual artist
Guity Novin, Painter, Graphic artist and the founder of Transpressionism movement in painting
Behjat Sadr Painter
Sara Shamsavari Visual artist,photographer, Musical artist
Akram Monfared Arya, Painter
Farshid Moussavi, Architect, founder of Foreign Office Architects
Mina Marefat, Architect, PhD, Harvard Graduated, MIT Graduated
Niloofar Ziae, painter, art instructor

Beauty Queens

Elaheh Azodi, International Teen Princess 1968
Shohreh Nikpour, Miss Intercontinental 1975
Golsa Sarabi, actress and Miss Iran 2013

Artists

Narges Abyar, author, film director and screen writer
Irene Zazians, Actress
Baran Kosari, 25th fajr film festival awards winner
Yara Shahidi, Actress
Mahnaz Afshar, Actress
Lily Afshar, Guitarist
Azam Ali, Musician
Sara Shamsavari Visual artist,photographer, Musical artist
Behnoosh Bakhtiari, Actress
Niloofar Beyzaie, Playwright, theatre director
Nadia Bjorlin, Actress
Hengameh Mofid, Film and theatre actress, director, dramatist and University professor
Farzaneh Kaboli, a leader in the Iranian Folkloric and National Dance Art
Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Actress, Singer/Songwriter, Human Rights Campaigner, author
Shohreh Aghdashloo, Actress 2003 Oscar nominee for House of Sand and Fog
Nahid Persson Sarvestani Documentary film maker
Nina Zanjani, actress
Aryana Farshad, Cineaste and documentary film maker. Winner of "Audience Award", Telly Award, and Davey Award, 2008.
Pegah Anvarian, Fashion Designer in L.A..
Pegah Ahangarani, Actress and winner of Best Actress Award, 23rd Cairo International Film Festival.
Taraneh Alidoosti, Best Actress Award Winner, Locarno International Film Festival, awarded in August 2002
Mary Apick, Actress, Best Actress Award Winner(1977)
Leila Arab, Musician
Mitra Hajjar, Actress
Soodabeh Salem, Musician, conductor
Roya Arab, Musician, singer and songwriter
Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Director
Rita Jahanforuz, Actress and Singer
Catherine Bell, Actress JAG (Half)
Sima Bina, Singer.
Shiva Boloorian, Actress and play director
Nazanin Boniadi, Actress
Delkash (Esmat Bagherpour), Singer
Granaz Moussavi,Film Director, Screenwriter
Golshifteh Farahani, Actress and musician, Best Actress Award from the 22nd Nantes 3 Continents Festival and Symorgh for Best Actress from the 16th Fajr International Film Festival
Leila Forouhar, Singer
Leila Kasra, Poet and lyricist
Googoosh, Actress, singer, songwriter
Hayedeh, Singer
Mahasti, Singer
Arefeh Mansouri, Wedding dress designer, Costume designer
Azita Hajian, Actress, Crystal Simorgh winner for the Best Actress, the 17th Fajr International Film Festival
Leila Hatami, Best Actress Award Locarno International Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival (2002)
Monika Jalili, Persian vocalist of Dutch-German origin
Ghashang Kamkar, Musician
Niki Karimi, Actress and director
Anousheh Khalili, Singer-songwriter
Merila Zarei, Award-winning actress
Maryam Keshavarz, Director
Hana Makhmalbaf, Director
Samira Makhmalbaf, Director
Marjane Satrapi, film director and graphic novelist
Shohreh Solati, Singer
Rosie Malek-Yonan, Actor, director and writer
Yassamin Maleknasr, Actress and director
Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Actress and director
Marzieh, Singer
Tahmineh Milani, Feminist filmmaker
Pouran Derakhshandeh, Film director, producer, screen writer, and researcher
Mahin Oskouei, First female Iranian film director
Laleh Pourkarim, Singer-songwriter
Parisa (Fatemeh Va'ezi), Doyen of the classical-Persian singers
Behnaz Sarafpour, Couture fashion designer in NYC
Shakila, Singer, winner of the Persian Academy Award
Bahar Soomekh, Actress (Crash and Saw III)
Qamar ol-Molouk Vaziri, Queen of the Persian Music
Mahla Zamani, Iranian fashion designer; expert on traditional Iranian dressings
Sarah Shahi, Actress
Hedyeh Tehrani, Actress
Darya Dadvar, Soprano soloist and composer
Shiva Rose, Actress and anti-war activist^[6]
Hāni'eh Tavassoli, Actress
Shushā Guppy, Writer, editor, and singer of Persian and Western folk-songs
Monir Vakili, Singer of Western Opera and Persian Folk Music^[7]
Salome, Hip Hop Artist
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, Actress and Social Photographer
Maryam Kavyani, Actress
Tahereh Salmassi, Singer
Necar Zadegan, Actress
Sahba Motallebi, Tar Player and Composer

Athletes

Leila Ebrahimi, runner
Laleh Seddigh, autoracing and rally champion of Iran
Aravane Rezaï, tennis player
Janet Kohan-Sedq, runner
Padideh Boloorizadeh, Asian Pentathlon Champion, Captain of Iranian National Volleyball team

Politicians

Masoumeh Abad
Farrokhroo Parsa, Medical doctor and former Minister of Education (the first Iranian woman to became a deputy and later Minister of Education); executed in 1980, following the Iranian Revolution
Mahnaz Afkhami, first Minister of Women's Affairs in Iran and second woman in the world to hold the position; former professor of English Literature at the National University and former Secretary General of the Women's Organization of Iran
Sibel Edmonds, PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award winner^[8] Iranian who effectively challenged FBI
Azar Majedi, Communist activist and politician
Masoumeh Ebtekar, Iranian Vice President
Goli Ameri, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent
Fatemeh Haghighatjou, former Member of Parliament
Elaheh Koulaei, former Member of Parliament and Professor of political sciences
Farah Karimi, Iranian female Dutch Member of Parliament.
Shahla Habibi
Nasrin Soltankhah
Fatemeh Javadi, Vice-President, and head of the Department of the Environment
Professor Haleh Afshar, The Baroness Afshar, Iranian feminist academic and crossbench Peer in the British House of Lords.
Marzieh Afkham, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Royalty

Shirin, Persian Queen during the Sassanid era, wife of Khosrow Parviz
Purandokht, Sassanid crown princess and Queen
Stateira II, wife of Alexander the Great
Parysatis, wife of Alexander the Great
Shahnaz Pahlavi, Princess
Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari, Former Queen
Ashraf Pahlavi, Princess.
Farah Pahlavi, Empress (Mohammad Reza Shah's wife)
Leila Pahlavi, Princess
Tadj ol-Molouk, queen of Iran and wife of Reza Shah
Shahr-banu, Princess
Effat Shariati, Member of Parliament, poet, author

Activists

Mahnaz Afkhami, Human rights and women's rights activist, leading figure in the international women's movement
Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Human rights activist, author,singer and songwriter, 2003 Miss World 1st runner up, Miss Canada 2003
Shiva Nazar Ahari, human rights activist
Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi, Author and pioneer of Persian women's movement in modern Iran
Forough Azarakhshi, Pioneer of modern education for women in Mashhad
Parvin Darabi, Author and activist
Sediqeh Dowlatabadi, Author and pioneer of Persian women's movement in modern Iran
Shirin Ebadi, Human rights lawyer and judge, 2003 Nobel Laureate
Camelia Entekhabifard, journalist and author
Zahra Eshraghi, Feminist activist,
Roya Hakakian, Iranian-Jewish human rights activist and author
Faezeh Hashemi, journalist, women rights activist, and former member of Iranian parliament
Mehrangiz Kar, Human rights lawyer and winner of the Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize
Parvaneh Eskandari Dariush Forouhar's wife
Sheema Kalbasi, Human rights activist, author
Zahra Kazemi, Slain political photographer
Shahla Lahiji, Human rights activist
Rosie Malek-Yonan, Actor, author and activist who testified at the United States House of Representatives in 2006 on behalf of the Assyrians in Iraq
Lily Mazahery, Internationally recognized lawyer and human rights activist
Azar Nafisi, Activist and novelist (Reading Lolita in Tehran)
Maryam Namazie, Feminist and communist and the leader of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain.
Marina Nemat, Activist, past political prisoner and author.
Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
Shadi Sadr, Feminist activist, lawyer and journalist
Shahla Sherkat, Editor and a pioneer of women's movement in the modern Iran
Nasrin Sotoudeh, Iranian human rights lawyer for opposition activists and politicians
Badri Teymourtash, First female Iranian doctor; a founder of School of Dentistry, Mashad University
Iran Teymourtash, journalist and early activist; daughter of Abdolhossein Teymourtash

In the news

Neda Agha-Soltan, Shot during the 2009 Iranian election protests, her name quickly became a rallying cry for the opposition
Zahra Bani Ameri, physician
Behnaz Mozakka, died in 2005 London bombing
Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Author, 2003 Miss World 1st runner up, Miss Canada 2003, Human Rights Activist, Singer and Songwriter, married to Peter MacKay Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada
Shermine Shahrivar, Miss Germany in 2004 and then won the overall title of Miss Europe in 2005 while competing in France.
Ramona Amiri, Miss World Canada 2005, first runner up in Miss Universe Canada 2007 pageant
Samantha Tajik, Miss Universe Canada 2008
Rudi Bakhtiar, TV news anchor
Ladan and Laleh Bijani, conjoined twins
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
Haleh Esfandiari, scholar, detainee^[9]
Nazanin Fatehi, controversially sentenced to death for murder.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, human rights lawyer
Narges Mohammadi, human rights activist
Zeynab Jalaliyan, Kurdish prisoner
Sahar Biniaz, Miss Universe Canada 2012

Others

Shadi Paridar, chess grandmaster
Atousa Pourkashiyan, chess grandmaster
Christiane Amanpour, CNN's Chief International Correspondent
Atoosa Rubenstein, founder and the editor of CosmoGirl magazine and the editor of Seventeen
Zahra Rahnavard, first female chancellor of university after revolution
Roza Montazemi, Iranian author of cookbooks.
Akram Monfared Arya, first female pilot of Iran

References

^ http://www.ida.liu.se/labs/iislab/people/nahsh
^ http://www.asip.org/mtgs/EB03/Bissell.htm
^ "Faculty and Staff". Retrieved 27 September 2014.
^ "Nasrin Rahimieh, Professor, Comparative Literature". University of California, Irvine. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
^ Dr. Nayereh Tohidi's Webpage
^ "Irandokht-Weekly TV Program- interviewing Shiva Rose". Retrieved 27 September 2014.
^ "Monir Vakili". Retrieved 27 September 2014.
^ "Sibel Edmonds PEN Newman Award". YouTube. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
^ [http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/21/iranian.woman/index.html "Tehran:�Iranian-American scholar acted against Iran - CNN.com"]. Retrieved 27 September 2014. {{cite web}}: replacement character in |title= at position 8 (help)

[1] ttp://www.ida.liu.se/labs/iislab/people/nahsh

[2] ttp://www.asip.org/mtgs/EB03/Bissell.htm

[3] "Faculty and Staff". Retrieved 27 September 2014.

[UC-4] "Nasrin Rahimieh, Professor, Comparative Literature". University of California, Irvine. Retrieved November 10, 2014.

[5] Dr. Nayereh Tohidi's Webpage

[6] "Irandokht-Weekly TV Program- interviewing Shiva Rose". Retrieved 27 September 2014.

[7] "Monir Vakili". Retrieved 27 September 2014.

[8] "Sibel Edmonds PEN Newman Award". YouTube. Retrieved 27 September 2014.

[9] [http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/21/iranian.woman/index.html "Tehran:�Iranian-American scholar acted against Iran - CNN.com"]. Retrieved 27 September 2014. {{cite web}}: replacement character in |title= at position 8 (help)

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