Iranians in France include immigrants from Iran to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as well as their descendants of Iranian heritage or background. Iranians in France are referred to by hyphenated terms such as French-Iranians or French-Persians.

Terminology

French-Iranian is used interchangeably with French-Persian, partly due to the fact that, in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

was known as "Persia". On the

Nowruz Nowruz (, , () , () , () , () , Kurdish language, Kurdish: () , () , () , () , , , , () , , ) is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many ...

of 1935,

Reza Shah Pahlavi Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...

asked foreign delegates to use the term Iran, the

endonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

of the country used since the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

, in formal correspondence. Since then, usage of the term "Iran" has become more common in Western countries. Therefore, the term used to refer to citizens of Iran changed from "Persian" to "Iranian". In 1959, the government of

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution, which ...

, Reza Shah Pahlavi's son, announced that both "Persia" and "Iran" could officially be used interchangeably.Yarshater, Ehsa
Persia or Iran, Persian or Farsi
, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) However the issue is still debated today. Majd, Hooman, ''The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran'', by Hooman Majd,

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the followin ...

, September 23, 2008, , 9780385528429. p
161
/ref> There is a tendency among French-Iranians to categorize themselves as "Persian" rather than "Iranian", mainly to dissociate themselves from the Islamic regime of Iran which has been in charge since the

1979 Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

and the negativity associated with it, and also to distinguish themselves as being of Persian ethnicity, which comprise about 65% of Iran's population. While the majority of British-Iranians come from Persian backgrounds, there is a significant number of non-Persian Iranians such as

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...

and

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

within the British-Iranian community, leading some scholars to believe that the label "Iranian" is more inclusive, since the label "Persian" excludes non-Persian minorities. The ''

Collins English Dictionary The ''Collins English Dictionary'' is a printed and online dictionary of English. It is published by HarperCollins in Glasgow. It was first published in 1979. Corpus The dictionary uses language research based on the Collins Corpus, which is ...

'' uses a variety of similar and overlapping definitions for the terms "Persian" and "Iranian".

History

Early history

ians from within the modern-day or previous borders of disestablished Iranian states have a relatively long history in France.

Jean Althen Jean-Baptiste Joannis Althen, better simply known as Jean Althen (Hovhannès Althounian; 1709–1774), was an Armenian agronomist from Safavid Iran who developed the cultivation of madder in France. Although the plant had been present in the regi ...

(Hovhannès Althounian), a Persian-Armenian agronomist from Nakhchivan, is known to have introduced

madder ''Rubia'' is the type genus of the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, which also contains ''Coffea'' (coffee). It contains around 80 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and subshrubs native to the Old World. The genus and it ...

to southern France in the 1750s. A statue of him was erected in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

expressing the city's gratitude for him. The emergence of a genuine Iranian community in France can perhaps be traced back to 1855-6, when Farrokh Khan Ḡaffārī, Amīn-ol-Molk, later Amīn-ol-Dawleh was sent to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

as the shah's envoy. During his embassy, a group of forty-two Persian students, who became known as ''les enfants de Perse'' (Thieury, p. 39) and who were chosen mostly from the graduates of the recently founded Dar ol-fonūn, were sent to France. Meanwhile, in the course of the latter part of the 19th century, the Persian upper classes gradually began to send their sons to Europe and especially to France to pursue higher studies.

Early 20th century

France was a popular destination for

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 ...

(Iranian)

international student International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 million international ...

s in the early 20th century. The first government-sponsored Persian students, a group of 20, all went to France in 1926. In 1932, the Pahlavi government drew up a competitive examination to determine the distribution of government scholarships to aspiring international students; 110 out of the 125 students who passed the examination went to France, making them the overwhelming majority of all Persian students abroad. Another 66 chose France as their destination the following year. Aside from government-sponsored students, there were also 537 privately financed Persian students living in France in 1934, nearly half of the total 1,165 privately financed international students. However, in 1938, a governmental decree prohibited students from going abroad on private funds to pursue degrees. The Iranian students in France lived in dormitories on their school campuses, unlike Iranian students in Germany who rented private accommodations by themselves; this meant that they were often subject to surveillance by officials from the Iranian embassy, and prevented the growth of anti-Pahlavi activism among them. Germany, rather than France, would thus become the major European centre of Iranian dissent in the 1930s. Notable Iranians who studied in France include

Mehdi Bazargan Mehdi Bazargan (; 1 September 1907 – 20 January 1995) was an Iranian scholar, academic, long-time pro-democracy activist and head of Interim government of Iran, 1979, Iran's interim government. One of the leading figures of Iranian Revolutio ...

, the first Iranian to pass the entrance examination to any of the ''

grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: *Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician * Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia * Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain ...

''; he went on to become

prime minister of Iran The prime minister of Iran was a political post that had existed in Iran (Persia) during much of the 20th century. It began in 1906 during the Qajar dynasty and into the start of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1923 and into the 1979 Iranian Revolution ...

after the 1979

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

After the Iranian Revolution

Today, Iranians in France consist primarily of "political emigrants", who left Iran immediately after the revolution, because their association with communists, monarchists, or other opposition groups put them in danger, and "socio-cultural emigrants"—especially women and youths—who had little political affiliation but left Iran more slowly in the years following the revolution due to despair over the future of Iranian society. France expelled some of the political migrants, including

Massoud Rajavi Massoud Rajavi (, born 18 August 1948 – disappeared 13 March 2003) is an Iranian politician and revolutionary who became the leader of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) in 1979. After leaving Iran in 1981, he resided in France ...

and his People's Mojahedin of Iran, in an effort to improve relations with Iran and secure the release of French hostages held by pro-Iranian forces in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Notable people

Alireza Firouzja Alireza Firouzja (, ; born 18 June 2003) is an Iranian and French Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Firouzja is the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE Elo rating system, rating of 2800, beating the previous record set by Magnus Carls ...

, chess grandmaster and the youngest chess player to have surpassed a 2800 FIDE rating. *

Anicée Alvina Anicée Alvina, also known as Anicée Schahmaneche (born Anicée Shahmanesh or Anicee Schahmane (; 28 January 1953 – 11 November 2006) was a French singer and actress. Early life and career Alvina was born at Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Sei ...

, singer and actress * Babak Amir-Tahmasseb, world champion kayaker *

Barbara Pravi Barbara Piévic (born 10 April 1993), known professionally as Barbara Pravi, is a French singer, songwriter, and actress. She represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "", securing second place, the best result for Fr ...

, singer, songwriter and actress (nationality is French, but her maternal grandfather, Hossein Zenderoudi, is Iranian) *

Golshifteh Farahani Rahavard Farahani (; born 10 July 1983), known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani (), is an Iranian and French actress. She is known for her performances in '' M for Mother'' (2006), '' Body of Lies'' (2008), ''About Elly'' (2009), ''The Pat ...

, actress and musician *

Soheil Ayari Soheil Ayari (born 5 April 1970) is a French-Iranian race car driver born in Aix-les-Bains, Savoie, from an Iranian father and a French mother. He won the French Formula Ford championship of 1994, Formula Three championship of 1996 and the Maca ...

, race car driver * Sarah Kazemy, actress *

Mansour Bahrami Mansour Bahrami (; born 26 April 1956) is an Iranian-French former professional tennis player. He is Iranian with French nationality since 1989. While not highly successful on the ATP Tour, his showmanship has made him a long-standing and popu ...

, professional tennis player and entertainer *

Heydar Ghiai Heydar-Gholi Khan Ghiaï- Chamlou (; 23 October 1922 – 6 September 1985)Mahmoud Khayami Mahmoud Khayami, CBE, KSS, GCFO (7 January 1930 – 28 February 2020) was an Iranian industrialist and philanthropist. Life Mahmoud Khayami was born in 1930 in Mashhad, Persia where he attended elementary and high school. In 1951 he transfe ...

, founder of

Iran Khodro Iran Khodro (, ''Irān Xodro''), branded as IKCO, is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. IKCO was founded in 1962 as Iran National (, ''Irān Nāsionāl''). The public company manufactures vehicles, including Samand, Peugeot and Rena ...

Darius Khondji Darius Khondji (; born 21 October 1955) is an Iranian-French cinematographer. He is known for his work with directors such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet, David Fincher, Michael Haneke, Woody Allen, James Gray, Bong Joon-ho, Wong Kar-Wai, and the Safdi ...

, cinematographer *

Mehran Karimi Nasseri Mehran Karimi Nasseri (, ; 1945 – 12 November 2022), also known as Sir, Alfred Mehran, was an Iranian refugee who lived in the departure lounge of Terminal 1 in Charles de Gaulle Airport from 26 August 1988 until July 2006, when he was hospit ...

, famous refugee *

Tristane Banon Tristane Banon (born 13 June 1979) is a French journalist and writer. She is the daughter of Anne Mansouret and . She is a regular contributor on youth affairs at the French news website Atlantico. Early life and education Tristane Banon was ...

, journalist and writer. *

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary (; 22 June 1932 – 25 October 2001) was Queen of Iran as the second wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whom she married in 1951. Their marriage suffered many pressures, particularly when it became clear that she w ...

, former Queen of Iran, actress *

Shapour Bakhtiar Shapour Bakhtiar (, ; 26 June 19146 August 1991) was an Iranian politician who served as the last Prime Minister of Iran under the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In the words of the historian Abbas Milani: "more than once in the tone of a jere ...

, political scientist, writer and the last Prime Minister of Iran under king Mohammad Reza Pahlavi *

Pierre Omidyar Pierre Morad Omidyar (born Parviz Morad Omidyar, June 21, 1967) is a French-born Iranian-American billionaire and the grandson of General Mahmud Mir-Djalali. A technology entrepreneur, software engineer, and philanthropist, he is the foun ...

, founder of

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

Bahram Aryana Field Marshal Bahram Aryana (); also spelled Bahram Ariana born Hossein Manouchehri; 17 March 1906 – 21 June 1985) was the most senior military commander of the Imperial Iranian Army during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and an Iranian nat ...

, former military commander under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi *

Patrick Ali Pahlavi Patrick Ali Pahlavi (; born 1 September 1947) is a member of the deposed Pahlavi dynasty of Iran and was heir presumptive from 1954 to 1960. According to the former Persian Constitution of 1906, constitution of Iran Patrick was the first in the ...

, member of the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty () is an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian royal dynasty that was the Pahlavi Iran, last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was abolished by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah, Reza S ...

Aravane Rezaï Aravane Rezaï (; ''Arghavān-e Rezāyi'' , born 14 March 1987) is an Iranian–French professional tennis player. She has defeated many top players on the WTA Tour, such as Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharap ...

, professional tennis player *

Philippe Khorsand Philippe Khorsand (February 17, 1948 – January 29, 2008) was a French actor. His father was Iranian and his mother was French. He first appeared in a number of small roles in the 1970s. One of his most memorable roles as husband and father in ' ...

, actor * Mahyar Monshipour, boxer * Djahanguir Riahi, French furniture collector *

Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi (; ; born 22 November 1969) is a French-Iranian graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, film director, and children's book author. Her best-known works include the graphic novel ''Persepolis (comics), Persepolis'' and Persepo ...

, graphic novelist *

Abbas Gharabaghi Arteshbod Abbas Karim Gharabaghi (; 9 February 1918 – 13 October 2000) was an Iranian general who was the last chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces as well as deputy commander-in-chief of the Iranian Imperial Army under the rule of Moham ...

, the last chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces as well as deputy commander-In-chief of the Iranian Imperial Army during the rule of the

. *

Abolhassan Banisadr Abolhassan Banisadr (; 22 March 1933 – 9 October 2021) was an Iranian politician, writer, and political dissident. He was the first president of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution abolished the monarchy, serving from February 1980 until h ...

Terminology

History

Early history

Early 20th century

After the Iranian Revolution

Notable people

See also

References

Notes

Sources

Further reading