Hamid Reza Pahlavi ( fa, حمیدرضا پهلوی; 4 July 1932 – 12 July 1992) was

Reza Shah , , spouse = Maryam Savadkoohi Tadj ol-Molouk Ayromlu (queen consort) Turan Amirsoleimani Esmat Dowlatshahi , issue = Princess Hamdamsaltaneh Princess Shams Mohammad Reza Shah Princess Ashraf Prince Ali Reza Prince Gholam Reza P ...

's eleventh and last born child, and a half-brother of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last

shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Early life and education

Hamid Reza Pahlavi was born on 4 July 1932. He was the youngest son of Reza Shah and his fourth and favourite wife,

Esmat Dowlatshahi Esmat Dowlatshahi ( fa, عصمت‌الملوک دولتشاهی; 1905 – 25 July 1995) was an Iranian royal and the fourth and last wife of Reza Shah. Early life Dowlatshahi was born in 1905. She was a member of the Qajar dynasty. Her father w ...

. His parents married in 1923. His mother was a member of the Qajar dynasty. Of both his parents he had four siblings:

Abdul Reza Pahlavi Abdul Reza Pahlavi ( fa, عبدالرضا پهلوی; 19 August 1924 – 11 May 2004) was a member of Iran's Pahlavi dynasty. He was a son of Reza Shah and a half-brother of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Early life and education Abdul Reza Pahlavi was ...

Ahmad Reza Pahlavi Ahmad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, احمدرضا پهلوی; 27 September 1925 – 1981) was a member of Iran's Pahlavi dynasty. He was a son of Reza Shah and a half-brother of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Biography Ahmad Reza Pahlavi was born on 27 September ...

Mahmoud Reza Pahlavi Mahmoud Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمودرضا پهلوی; 5 October 1926 – 15 March 2001) was a member of Iran's Pahlavi dynasty. He was a son of Reza Shah and a half-brother of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Biography Pahlavi was born on 5 October 1926 a ...

and

Fatemeh Pahlavi 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. She was a member of the Pahlavi dynasty. Early life and education Fatemeh Pahlavi wa ...

. They lived in 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 o ...

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

with their parents. He studied in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and in Tehran. While attending high school in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, (the Honeywell Foundation) in September 1947, he skipped school to take a train to

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, to visit his brother, Mahmoud, who was studying at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. He stated that he did so because his high school did not have girl students and he was homesick. He had acted similarly three months previously, leaving his high school in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, to travel to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

."Hamid flies coop again. School without girls fails to charm Iranian Prince." ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 18 September 1947

Personal life

Hamid Reza married three times and had four children. He first married Minou Dowlatshahi in Tehran in March 1951. Of this marriage he got a daughter: Niloufar Pahlavi (born 1953). In 1959 he married Homa Khameneh, by whom he had two children: Behzad Pahlavi (1957–1983) and Nazak Pahlavi (12 February 1958 – 27 December 1987). In 1974 Hamid Reza married Houri Khameneh, by whom he had one child: Ja'afar Pahlavi (born 1975). One of his sons, Behzad, lived in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for a while, but he was brought by Shah Mohammad Reza to Iran and attended the military school in Tehran. Due to his scandalous lifestyle, Hamid Reza's title of prince was removed and the Shah banned him from the court. In the 1960s he became known as a leading figure in opium trafficking business.

Later years and death

After 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 ...

that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Hamid Reza stayed in Iran and changed his name to Islami. However, he was arrested as a

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

in 1986. He received a sentence of ten years in Evin prison on drug charges. In an interview held in prison in 1989, Pahlavi however stated that he was sentenced for his family connections. He also said that he was not treated badly in prison and "things could be worse". Inmates in his prison cell included a former general and senior officials of the Shah's regime. In July 1992, while serving his sentence, he died of a heart attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pahlavi, Hamid Reza 1932 births 1992 deaths Burials at Behesht-e Zahra Iranian royalty Mazandarani people Hamid Reza Prisoners who died in Iranian detention Sons of national leaders