Fatemeh Pahlavi ( fa, فاطمه پهلوی; 30 October 1928 – 2 June 1987) was Reza Shah Pahlavi's tenth child and half-sister of

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran , image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg , caption = Shah in 1973 , succession = Shah of Iran , reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979 , coronation = 26 October ...

. She was a member of the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...

Early life and education

Fatemeh Pahlavi was born in Tehran on 30 October 1928. She was the tenth child of Reza Shah and his fourth and last wife, Esmat Dowlatshahi. Her mother was from the

Qajar dynasty The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic peoples ...

and married Reza Shah in 1923. Fatemeh was the full-sister of Abdul Reza Pahlavi, Ahmad Reza Pahlavi, Mahmoud Reza Pahlavi and Hamid Reza Pahlavi. She and her brothers lived at the

Marble Palace Marble Palace (Мраморный дворец) is one of the first Neoclassical palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is situated between the Field of Mars and Palace Quay, slightly to the east from New Michael Palace. Design and pre-1917 ...

in Tehran with their parents.

Activities

During the reign of her half-brother, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Fatemeh Pahlavi owned a bowling club and dealt with business, having shares in the firms involved in construction, vegetable oil production and engineering. She also had a fortune of some $500 million during that time. Her fortune came from the "commissions" extracted from military contractors by her second husband,

Mohammad Amir Khatami Arteshbod Mohammad Amir Khatami ( fa, محمدامیر خاتمی) (1920 – 12 September 1975), CVO, was the commander of the Imperial Iranian Air Force, advisor to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the second husband of Fatemeh Pahlavi, half- ...

. Pahlavi also involved in activities concerning higher education in Iran and had shares in an Iranian football team,

Persepolis F.C. Persepolis Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال پرسپولیس, Bâšgâh-e Futbâl-e Perspolis) is an Iranian professional football club based in Tehran, that competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Persepolis was founded in 1 ...

Personal life

Fatemeh Pahlavi married twice. She married Vincent Lee Hillyer (1924 – 7 July 1999) in a civil ceremony in Civitavecchia, Italy, on 13 April 1950. Hillyer converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. On 10 May they wed in a religious ceremony at Iran's embassy in Paris. Hillyer was a friend of her brother Abdul Reza Pahlavi. Fatemeh and Hillyer met in Iran during the latter's visit to the country. The marriage was not fully endorsed by Shah Mohammad Reza, probably due to negative reactions in Iran. They had three children, two sons, Kayvan and Dariush, and one daughter, Rana, who died in an accidental fall in infancy in 1954. They divorced in September 1959. After divorcing Hillyer, she married Mohammad Amir Khatami, the commanding general of Iran's air force, on 22 November 1959. The shah and his then fiancée

Farah Diba 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 from 1 ...

attended the wedding ceremony. They had two sons, Kambiz (born 1961) and Ramin (born 1967), and a daughter, Pari (born 1962). Pahlavi took courses from a British pilot to learn to fly a helicopter. After she completed the first solo flight she gifted her trainer with a watch, Omega Speedmaster, which had been given to the Shah by the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

astronauts in 1969 when they visited Iran as part of a tour to celebrate the first Moon landing. In early 2021 the watch was sold for £18,000 at auction.

Later years and death

Pahlavi left Iran before the

1979 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 dynas ...

. During her last years, she was living in London. Pahlavi died at the age of 58 in London on 2 June 1987. She was survived by her four sons.

Honours

National

Dame Grand Cordon Imperial Order of the Pleiades, 2nd Class

Foreign

Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(21 October 1965).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pahlavi, Fatemeh 20th-century Iranian businesspeople 20th-century Iranian women 1928 births 1987 deaths Daughters of kings Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in the United Kingdom Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Iranian women in business Mazandarani people Pahlavi princesses