Azadeh Shafiq Explained

Issue:Kamran Vahid
House:Pahlavi
Father:Ahmad Shafiq
Mother:Ashraf Pahlavi
Birth Date:1951
Birth Place:Tehran, Pahlavi Iran
Death Place:Paris, France

Azadeh Shafiq (Persian: آزاده شفیق; 1951 – 23 February 2011) was an Iranian royal and a member of the Pahlavi dynasty, being daughter of Ashraf Pahlavi. Following the Iranian revolution that toppled her uncle, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, she exiled in Paris and involved in opposition activities to the Islamic regime in Iran.

Early life and education

Shafiq was born in 1951.[1] She was the daughter of Ashraf Pahlavi, twin sister of the Shah Mohammad Reza, and her Egyptian second husband, Ahmad Shafiq. She had a brother, Shahriar.[2] Although her parents were divorced in 1960, her father did not return to Egypt and stayed in Tehran to raise his children.[2]

She was educated in German school in Tehran and in France.[2]

Personal life and activities

Shafiq married twice. She married Farshad Vahid in 1972 and they had a son, Kamran (born 1973). She divorced from Vahid in 1975. She later wed a former Iranian military officer.

She began to live in Paris following the Iranian revolution. Later her brother joined her and they shared the Ashraf Pahlavi's residence near Rue Pergolese.[2] They both acted as the Pahlavi family's principal spokesmen.[3] She participated in protests and opposition activities against the Islamic regime. She supported efforts to restore the monarchy in Iran[4] and headed a monarchist group, Free Iran movement in Paris.[5] [6] In 1979 she began to publish a weekly magazine, Iran-e Azad, which was disbanded in the 1980s. She served as a social and humanitarian worker with the Iranian community in Turkey from 1984 to 1991.[7]

Death

Shafiq died of leukemia in Paris on 23 February 2011.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Dominique Bonnet. Elle était la jumelle de l'ancien Shah d'Iran. Paris Match. Agence France-Presse. 21 October 2020. fr. 16 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20201021220624/https://www.parismatch.com/Royal-Blog/Monde/Jumelle-de-l-ancien-Shah-d-Iran-Mohammad-Reza-Pahlavi-la-princesse-Ashraf-Pahlavi-est-decedee-a-Monaco-897323.
  2. Web site: Cyrus Kadivar. Villa Dupont. Iranian. 4 August 2013. 31 October 2003.
  3. Web site: No Safe Haven: Iran's Global Assassination Campaign. Iran Human Rights. 4 August 2013. 2008.
  4. Book: Michael M. J. Fischer. 239. Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution. 2003. Univ of Wisconsin Press. Madison, WI. Michael M. J. Fischer. 978-0-299-18473-5.
  5. News: Frank J. Prial. Shah's niece leads monarchist cause. The New York Times. Paris. 4 August 2013. 19 September 1981.
  6. Annabelle Sreberny-Mohammadi. Ali Mohammadi. Post-Revolutionary Iranian Exiles: A Study in Impotence. Third World Quarterly. January 1987. 9. 1. 10.1080/01436598708419964. 108–129. 3991849.
  7. News: Azadeh Shafiq who was Ashraf's daughter. 7 December 2020. One News Box. 3 May 2020.
  8. Web site: Darius Kadivar. Tribute to Princess Azadeh Shafigh Pahlavi (1951-2011). Iranian. 4 August 2013. 26 February 2011.