List of Iranian women
- For general information about women in Iran, see Women in Iran.
 | This article or section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic. (September 2017) |
This is a list of Iranian women.
Nobel laureates
- Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Laureate (Peace)
Scientists and engineers
- Anousheh Ansari, first female space tourist, leading telecommunication entrepreneur, and namesake of the X Prize
- Maryam Mirzakhani, mathematician and the first woman to win Fields Medal.
- Nahid Shahmehri, Director of the Laboratory for Intelligent Information, Linköpings Universitet, Sweden[1]
- Alenush Terian, astronomer
- Saba Valadkhan, American Association for the Advancement of Science Young Scientist Award
Academics
- Janet Afary, historian
- Lady Amin (Banoo Amin), jurisprudent and theologian
- Jaleh Amouzgar, Iranologist, professor at Tehran University
- Noushafarin Ansari, professor at University of Tehran; Secretary General of Children's Book Council of Iran
- Camila Batmanghelidjh, psychotherapist
- Mina Bissell, Director of UC Berkeley Life Sciences Division[2]
- Shirin Ebadi, lawyer, lecturer at Tehran University (2003 Nobel Laureate)
- Maryam Mirzakhani, Mathematician, Professor at Stanford University
- Mehrangiz Kar, lawyer, fellow at Harvard University
- Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Professor of History at University of Pennsylvania; novelist[3][4]
- Fatemeh Keshavarz, Chair of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literature Department, Professor of Persian and Comparative Literature, Washington University in St. Louis
- Elaheh Koulaei, Professor of Political sciences, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Tehran University
- Farzaneh Milani, Director of Studies in Women and Gender; Professor of Persian and Women Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States[5]
- Valentine Moghadam, Professor of Sociology and International Affairs; Director of International Affairs Program and Director of Middle East Studies Program, Northeastern University[6]
- Azar Nafisi, former lecturer at Tehran University and Johns Hopkins University
- Afsaneh Najmabadi, Professor of History and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University
- Nasrin Rahimieh, writer of Iranian culture and Persian literature; professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine[7]
- Pardis Sabeti, geneticist at Harvard Medical School
- Reihaneh Safavi-Naini, cryptographer; professor of computer science; head of the Telecommunications and Information Technology Research Institute at University of Wollongong
- Fatemeh Shams, literary scholar at University of Oxford
- Nayereh Tohidi, professor and Chair of the Women's Studies Department at California State University, Northridge; research associate at the Center for Near Eastern Studies at UCLA, US[8]
Authors and poets
- Masoumeh Abad, writer
- Mahnaz Afkhami, writer
- Mana Aghaee, poet, translator and bibliographer
- Farzaneh Aghaeipour, playwright and novelist
- Mahshid Amirshahi, novelist
- Mina Assadi, poet and author; winner of the Hellman/Hammett awards (Human Rights Watch) in New York in 1996
- Sousan Azadi, memoirist
- Simin Behbahani, poet and 1997 Nobel prize nominee
- Niloofar Beyzaie, playwright and theatre director
- Simin Daneshvar, academic, novelist and translator of literary texts from several languages into Persian
- Sahar Delijani (born 1983), widely translated novelist; author of Children of the Jacaranda Tree; living between the United States and Italy
- Parvin E'tesami, poet (classical)
- Forough Farrokhzad, poet (modern)
- Rabe'e Ghazdari, poet
- Roya Hakakian, writer and poet
- Justine Harun-Mahdavi, German-Iranian writer
- Sheema Kalbasi, poet
- Leila Kasra, poet and Lyricist
- Porochista Khakpour, novelist
- Mahsati, Medieval poet
- Shokooh Mirzadegi, novelist, poet and social reformer
- Azadeh Moaveni, writer and journalist
- Akram Monfared Arya, author, poet
- Granaz Moussavi, poet
- Azar Nafisi, writer, Reading Lolita in Tehran
- Shahrnush Parsipur, novelist
- Zoya Pirzad, novelist and winner of Hooshang Golshiri Literary Award
- Masoumeh Ramhormozi, writer
- Moniru Ravanipor, writer
- Golrokhsar Safi Eva, national poet of Tajikistan
- Marjane Satrapi, writer, Persepolis, Embroideries and Chicken with Plums
- Hila Sedighi, poet
- Mahasti Shahrokhi, novelist
- Fatemeh Shams, poet, author
- Tahereh Qorrat Al-'Ayn, poet, philosopher and theologist; seventeenth disciple or Letter of the Living of the Báb (mid-19th century)
- Niloufar Talebi, writer, translator, theater artist
- Lobat Vala, poet
- Sholeh Wolpe, poet
Actresses and filmmakers
- Narges Abyar, author, film director and screenwriter
- Pegah Ahangarani, actress and winner of Best Actress award, 23rd Cairo International Film Festival
- Mahnaz Afshar, actress
- Nazanin Afshin-Jam, actress, singer/songwriter, human rights campaigner, author
- Shohreh Aghdashloo, actress, 2003 Oscar nominee for House of Sand and Fog
- Taraneh Alidoosti, Best Actress award winner, Locarno International Film Festival, 2002
- Mary Apick, actress, Best Actress award winner (1977)
- Behnoosh Bakhtiari, actress
- Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, director
- Catherine Bell, actress, JAG (half Iranian)
- Niloofar Beyzaie, playwright, theatre director
- Nadia Bjorlin, actress
- Shiva Boloorian, actress and play director
- Nazanin Boniadi, actress
- Pouran Derakhshandeh, film director, producer, screenwriter, and researcher
- Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, actress and social photographer
- Golshifteh Farahani, actress and musician; Best Actress award from the 22nd Nantes 3 Continents Festival; Symorgh for Best Actress from the 16th Fajr International Film Festival
- Aryana Farshad, cineaste and documentary film maker; winner of Audience Award, Telly Award, and Davey Award, 2008
- Tina Gharavi, screenwriter and director
- Googoosh, actress, singer, songwriter
- Azita Hajian, actress, Crystal Simorgh winner for Best Actress, 17th Fajr International Film Festival
- Mitra Hajjar, actress
- Leila Hatami, Best Actress award, Locarno International Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival (2002)
- Rita Jahanforuz, actress and singer
- Niki Karimi, actress and director
- Maryam Kavyani, actress
- Maryam Keshavarz, director
- Baran Kosari, 25th Fajr International Film Festival awards winner
- Hana Makhmalbaf, director
- Samira Makhmalbaf, director
- Yassamin Maleknasr, actress and director
- Tahmineh Milani, feminist filmmaker
- Hengameh Mofid, film and theatre actress, director, dramatist and university professor
- Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, actress and director
- Granaz Moussavi, film director, screenwriter
- Mahin Oskouei, first female Iranian film director
- Shiva Rose, actress and anti-war activist[9]
- Nahid Persson Sarvestani, documentary filmmaker
- Sarah Shahi, actress
- Yara Shahidi, actress
- Bahar Soomekh, actress, Crash and Saw III
- Hāni'eh Tavassoli, actress
- Hedyeh Tehrani, actress
- Necar Zadegan, actress
- Nina Zanjani, actress
- Merila Zarei, award-winning actress
- Irene Zazians, actress
Fine arts
- Akram Monfared Arya, painter
- Iran Darrudi, painter
- Mokarrameh Ghanbari, painter
- Nahid Hagigat, painter and illustrator based in New York City.
- Mansooreh Hosseini, painter
- Noreen Motamed, painter
- Shirin Neshat, conceptual artist
- Guity Novin, painter, graphic artist and the founder of Transpressionism movement in painting
- Behjat Sadr, painter
- Sara Shamsavari, visual artist, photographer, musical artist
- Sara Shamsavari, visual artist, photographer, musical artist
- Niloofar Ziae, painter, art instructor
Designers
- Farshid Moussavi, architect, founder of Foreign Office Architects
- Marjane Satrapi, film director and graphic novelist
Fashion designers
- Pegah Anvarian, fashion designer in L.A.
- Behnaz Sarafpour, couture fashion designer in New York City
- Mahla Zamani, fashion designer; expert on traditional Iranian dressing
Musicians
- Lily Afshar, guitarist
- Leila Arab, musician
- Roya Arab, musician, singer and songwriter
- Sima Bina, singer
- Darya Dadvar, soprano soloist and composer
- Delkash (Esmat Bagherpour), singer
- Leila Forouhar, singer
- Shushā Guppy, writer, editor, and singer of Persian and Western folk-songs
- Hayedeh, singer
- Monika Jalili, Persian vocalist of Dutch-German origin
- Farzaneh Kaboli, a leader in Iranian folkloric and national dance art
- Ghashang Kamkar, musician
- Leila Kasra, poet and lyricist
- Anousheh Khalili, singer-songwriter
- Mahasti, singer
- Arefeh Mansouri, Inventor, designer
- Marzieh, singer
- Parisa (Fatemeh Va'ezi), doyen of the classical Persian singers
- Laleh Pourkarim, singer-songwriter
- Soodabeh Salem, musician, conductor
- Salome, hip hop artist
- Shakila, singer, winner of Persian Academy Award
- Shohreh Solati, singer
- Monir Vakili, singer of western opera and Persian folk music[10]
- Qamar ol-Molouk Vaziri, "queen of Persian music"
- Farzane Zamen, musician, singer, producer, songwriter
Athletes
- Padideh Boloorizadeh, Asian Pentathlon champion, captain of Iranian National Volleyball team
- Leila Ebrahimi, runner
- Janet Kohan-Sedq, runner
- Aravane Rezaï, tennis player
- Laleh Seddigh, autoracing and rally champion of Iran
- Shima Mehri, Motorcycle Biker
- Behnaz Shafiei, Motocross Rider
- Kimia Alizadeh, First Iranian Female Olympic Medalist
Politicians
- Masoumeh Abad
- Marzieh Afkham, ambassador
- Mahnaz Afkhami, first Minister of Women's Affairs in Iran and second woman in the world to hold the position; former professor of English Literature at the National University and former Secretary General of the Women's Organization of Iran
- Professor Haleh Afshar, the Baroness Afshar, feminist academic and crossbench Peer in the British House of Lords
- Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent
- Goli Ameri, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
- Masoumeh Ebtekar, Iranian Vice President
- Sibel Edmonds, PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award winner;[11] effectively challenged FBI
- Shahla Habibi
- Fatemeh Haghighatjou, former Member of Parliament
- Fatemeh Javadi, Vice President and head of the Department of the Environment
- Farah Karimi, Iranian female Dutch Member of Parliament
- Elaheh Koulaei, former Member of Parliament and Professor of political sciences
- Azar Majedi, Communist activist and politician
- Farrokhroo Parsa, medical doctor and former Minister of Education (the first Iranian woman to become a deputy and later Minister of Education); executed in 1980, following the Iranian Revolution
- Nasrin Soltankhah
- Raumesh Akbari, Tennessee State Representative for District 91
- Nusrat Bhutto, former First Lady of Pakistan, 2nd chairperson of Pakistan People's Party
Royalty
- Shirin, Persian queen during the Sassanid era, wife of Khosrow Parviz
- Purandokht, Sassanid crown princess and queen
- Stateira II, wife of Alexander the Great
- Parysatis, wife of Alexander the Great
- Shahnaz Pahlavi, princess
- Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari, former queen
- Ashraf Pahlavi, princess
- Farah Pahlavi, empress (Mohammad Reza Shah's wife)
- Leila Pahlavi, princess
- Tadj ol-Molouk, queen of Iran and wife of Reza Shah
- Shahr-banu, princess
- Nur Jahan, Mughal Empress
Activists
- Mahnaz Afkhami, human rights and women's rights activist, leading figure in the international women's movement
- Nazanin Afshin-Jam, human rights activist, author, singer and songwriter, 2003 Miss World 1st runner up, Miss Canada 2003
- Shiva Nazar Ahari, human rights activist
- Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi, author and pioneer of the Persian women's movement in modern Iran
- Forough Azarakhshi, pioneer of modern education for women in Mashhad
- Parvin Darabi, author and activist
- Sediqeh Dowlatabadi, author and pioneer of Persian women's movement in modern Iran
- Shirin Ebadi, human rights lawyer and judge, 2003 Nobel Laureate
- Camelia Entekhabifard, journalist and author
- Zahra Eshraghi, feminist activist
- Parvaneh Eskandari, Dariush Forouhar's wife
- Roya Hakakian, Iranian-Jewish human rights activist and author
- Faezeh Hashemi, journalist, women rights activist, and former member of Iranian parliament
- Sheema Kalbasi, human rights activist, author
- Mehrangiz Kar, human rights lawyer and winner of the Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize
- Zahra Kazemi, slain political photographer
- Shahla Lahiji, human rights activist
- Lily Mazahery, internationally recognized lawyer and human rights activist
- Narges Mohammadi, human rights activist
- Azar Nafisi, activist and novelist (Reading Lolita in Tehran)
- Maryam Namazie, feminist and communist and the leader of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
- Marina Nemat, activist, past political prisoner and author
- Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
- Shadi Sadr, feminist activist, lawyer and journalist
- Azadeh Shahshahani, human rights lawyer and past president of the US-based National Lawyers Guild
- Shahla Sherkat, editor; pioneer of the women's movement in modern Iran
- Nasrin Sotoudeh, human rights lawyer for opposition activists and politicians
- Badri Teymourtash, first female Iranian doctor; a founder of School of Dentistry, Mashad University
- Iran Teymourtash, journalist and early activist; daughter of Abdolhossein Teymourtash
In the news
- Nazanin Afshin-Jam, author, 2003 Miss World 1st runner up, Miss Canada 2003, human rights activist, singer and songwriter, married to Peter MacKay Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada
- Neda Agha-Soltan, shot during the 2009 Iranian election protests; her name quickly became a rallying cry for the opposition
- Zahra Bani Ameri, physician
- Ramona Amiri, Miss World Canada 2005, first runner up in Miss Universe Canada 2007 pageant
- Rudi Bakhtiar, TV news anchor
- Ladan and Laleh Bijani, conjoined twins
- Sahar Biniaz, Miss Universe Canada 2012
- Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
- Haleh Esfandiari, scholar, detainee[12]
- Nazanin Fatehi, controversially sentenced to death for murder
- Zeynab Jalaliyan, Kurdish prisoner
- Behnaz Mozakka, died in 2005 London bombing
- Shermine Shahrivar, Miss Germany in 2004 and then won the overall title of Miss Europe in 2005 while competing in France
- Samantha Tajik, Miss Universe Canada 2008
Others
- Christiane Amanpour, CNN's Chief International Correspondent
- Akram Monfared Arya, first female pilot of Iran
- Roza Montazemi, author of cookbooks
- Shadi Paridar, chess grandmaster
- Atousa Pourkashiyan, chess grandmaster
- Zahra Rahnavard, first female chancellor of university after revolution
- Atoosa Rubenstein, founder and editor of CosmoGirl magazine; editor of Seventeen
- Effat Tejaratchi, first Iranian woman to fly an airplane
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Women of Iran.
- ^ http://www.ida.liu.se/labs/iislab/people/nahsh
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2003-09-08. Retrieved 2006-01-28.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Q&A with Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet | Penn Current". penncurrent.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
- ^ "Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet | Department of History". www.history.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
- ^ "Faculty and Staff". Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ^ "Valentine M. Moghadam - College of Social Sciences and Humanities". College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
- ^ "Nasrin Rahimieh, Professor, Comparative Literature". University of California, Irvine. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
- ^ Dr. Nayereh Tohidi's Webpage Archived 2009-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Irandokht-Weekly TV Program- interviewing Shiva Rose". Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ^ "Monir Vakili". Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ^ "Sibel Edmonds PEN Newman Award". YouTube. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ^ "Tehran: Iranian-American scholar acted against Iran". Retrieved 27 September 2014.