Middle Eastern Descent > Iran Archives

Sayyida Shirin

Regent of most of Jibal during the minority of her son, Majd al-Dawla (r. 997–1029), and served as de facto ruler during his reign.

Tomyris

Queen of the Massagetae who defeated and killed Cyrus the Great

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian

As the first internationally famous Iranian woman artist, Monir opened the way for others to follow, although it is difficult to gauge her precise influence on any individual artist. She was the first Iranian woman to have a museum in Tehran dedicated exclusively to her work, and the first Iranian artist of any kind to have a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum (in 2015).

Sediqeh Dowlatabadi

Feminist activist and journalist Sediqeh Dowlatabadi was a pioneering figures in the Persian women’s movement who believed in the advancement of women through education.

Sheema Kalbasi

Sheema Kalbasi is an Iranian American poet, writer, filmmaker and activist for women’s rights, minorities’ rights, children’s rights, human rights and refugees’ rights. Her work discusses these topics as well as other women’s issues, war, refugees, Sharia Law and freedom of expression. In additon to her artistic work, Sheema taught refugee children and worked for the UNHCR and the Center for Refugees in Pakistan, and UNA Denmark. Her poems have been anthologized and translated into more than 20 languages.

Mastoureh Afshar

Mastoureh Afshar was an Iranian intellectual, feminist, and leading figure in Iran’s women’s rights movement. With fellow feminists Mohtaram Eskandari and Noor-ol-Hoda Mangeneh, she co-founded the radicalist Patriotic Women’s League of Iran in Tehran in 1922. She became the society’s president in 1925, a position she held until 1932. Her sisters Alca and Heide were also active politically with the Patriotic Women’s League.
Afshar, along with contemporaries like Sediqeh Dowlatabadi, Mohtaram Eskandari, advocated for the creation of girls schools and increased political rights for women. She attended the first conference on Muslim women held in Damascus in 1930, as part of the Iranian delegation with Sediqeh Dowlatabadi and a Mrs Tabatai.
In 1932, the Iranian government invited her to organize and open the second Eastern Women’s Congress in Tehran from November 27 to December 2 of that year. The congress was attended by women from 15 countries, who passed a 22-point resolution that promoted women’s suffrage, equal opportunities in education and work, the reformation of family law, and prohibition of polygamy and prostitution. However, after the Congress ended, the Iranian government took over the Patriotics Womens League and it ceased to exist.