Farah Pahlavi and his mother, Farideh Ghotbi 01

Farideh Ghotbi (; née Tadji Ghotbi; 1 February 1920 – 29 November 2000), also known as Farideh Diba (), was an Iranian public figure. She was the mother of

Farah Pahlavi Farah Pahlavi ( fa, فرح پهلوی, née Farah Diba ( fa, فرح دیبا, label=none); born 14 October 1938) is the widow of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and was successively Queen and Empress ('' Shahbanu'') of Iran fro ...

(née Diba), the former

Shahbanu Shahbanu ( fa, شهبانو, ''Šahbānū'' lit. "Lady King") was the title for empress consort in Persian and other Iranian languages. The two Sassanian empresses regnant, Boran and Azarmidokht, c. 630, were the last two that carried the titl ...

and third wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last

Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...

. Ghotbi was known for her influence on both her daughter and within the Diba and Pahlavi families.

Biography

Tadji Ghotbi was born on 1 February 1920 in

Lahijan Lahijan ( fa, لاهیجان, Lāhijān, also known as, Lāyjon in Gilaki) is a city near the Caspian Sea and the capital of Lahijan County, Gilan Province, Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population was 167,544 in 58,378 families. La ...

in the Gilan province,

Qajar Iran Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

. She was related to the Sufi master, (c. 1601–1664). Ghotbi attended Jeanne d'Arc School in Tehran. In 1937, she married , a Captain in the

Imperial Iranian Army , founded = , current_form = ( Islamic Republic) , disbanded = , branches = , headquarters = Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, Tehran , website = , commander-in-chief = Maj. Ge ...

and law student. They had a daughter, Farah Diba born on October 14, 1938. In the summers the family would live in

Shemiran Shemirān ( fa, شمیران, , also Romanized as Shemīrān or Šemirân), also known as Shemirānāt ( fa, شمیرانات ) is the capital of Shemiranat County, Tehran Province, Iran, but is actually located just north of the borders of Teh ...

, to escape the heat. In 1946, her husband Sohrab Diba fell ill and died a year later of pancreatic cancer. With the marriage of her daughter Farah to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on 20 December 1959, she became a member of the Iranian imperial family. She was very close with her younger granddaughter Leila Pahlavi and helped raise her. After the start of the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

in 1978, Ghotbi lived in exile in Paris.

Death and legacy

She died on 29 November 2000 in Paris and was buried in the

Passy Cemetery Passy Cemetery (french: Cimetière de Passy) is a small cemetery in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. History The current cemetery replaced the old cemetery (''l'ancien cimetière communal de Passy'', located on Rue Lekain), ...

. Her granddaughter Leila died six months later on 10 June 2001 in London; they were buried next to each other in the same cemetery. The posthumously published book, ''Dokhtaram Farah'' (English: ''My Daughter Farah'') (2001, Behfarin Publications) was falsely attributed as a memoir written by Farideh Ghotbi. The

Sa'dabad Complex The Sa'dabad Complex ( fa, مجموعه سعدآباد – ''Majmue ye Sa’dābād'') is a 110 hectare complex built by the Qajar and Pahlavi monarchs, located in Shemiran, Greater Tehran, Iran. Today, the official residence of the President o ...

(

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: مجموعه سعدآباد; ''Majmue ye Sa’dābād'') in

, Greater Tehran houses the ''Museum of Artistic Creatures'', which was once known as the ''Palace of Farideh Ghotbi''. The Iranian television historical drama '' The Enigma of the Shah'' (2014–2016), featured actress Afsaneh Naseri as Farideh.

References

External links

* * Video
1970s Interview with Farideh Ghotbi Mother of Iran Empress Farah Diba
from Kinolibrary {{DEFAULTSORT:Diba, Farideh Ghotbi 1920 births 2000 deaths People from Lahijan Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in France 20th-century Iranian women People of Pahlavi Iran Burials at Passy Cemetery