List of Iranian women

For general information about women in Iran, see Women in Iran.

This is a list of Iranian women. As one person may have contributed to more than one field, they can be categorized in multiple areas.

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
• Nahid Shahmehri, Director of the Laboratory for Intelligent Information, Linköpings Universitet, Sweden.
• Saba Valadkhan, American Association for the Advancement of Science Young scientist award
• Maryam Mirzakhani, Mathematician
• Alenush Terian, Astronomer

Academics

sorted alphabetically by surname

• Janet Afary, Historian
• Lady Amin (Banoo Amin), Jurisprudent and theologian
• Jaleh Amouzgar, Iranologist, Professor of 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.
• Shirin Ebadi, Lawyer, lecturer at Tehran University (2003 Nobel Laureate)
• Mehrangiz Kar, Lawyer, fellow at Harvard University
• 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 and Professor of Persian and Women Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
• 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.
• Pardis Sabeti, geneticist at Harvard Medical School
• Reihaneh Safavi-Naini, Cryptographer, professor of computer science, and 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 and Research Associate at the Center for Near Eastern Studies at UCLA, USA

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 the year of 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)* Roya Hakakian, Writer and Poet
• Leila Kasra, Poet and Lyricist
• Rabe'e Ghazdari, Poet
• Justine Harun-Mahdavi, German-Iranian writer.
• Sheema Kalbasi, Poet
• Porochista Khakpour, Novelist and writer
• Mahsati, Medieval poet
• Rosie Malek-Yonan, Author, actor and director
• 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"
• Shima Nesari Haghighi Fard, Poet and writer
• Shahrnush Parsipur, Novelist
• Zoya Pirzad, Novelist and winner of Hooshang Golshiri Literary Award
• 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
• Roxana Shirazi, Author, The Last Living Slut: Born in Iran, Bred Backstage
• 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
• Masoumeh Ramhormozi, Writer
• Moniru Ravanipor, Writer
• Sholeh Wolpe, poet

Visual and Fine Arts

• Iran Darrudi, Painter
• Mokarrameh Ghanbari, Painter
• 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
• Akram Monfared Arya, Painter
• Farshid Moussavi, Architect, founder of Foreign Office Architects
• Mina Marefat, Architect, PhD, Harvard Graduated, MIT Graduated
• Niloofar Ziae, painter, art instructor

Artists

Googoosh won the best actress award of Persian Sepeas film festival in 1972 for Bitâ

• Narges Abyar, author, film director and screen writer
• Irene Zazians, Actress
• Baran Kosari, 25th fajr film festival awards winner
• Yara Shahidi, Actress
• Mahnaz Afshar, Actress
• Lily Afshar, Guitarist
• Azam Ali, Musician
• Sara Shamsavari Visual artist,photographer, Musical artist
• Behnoosh Bakhtiari, Actress
• Niloofar Beyzaie, Playwright, theatre director
• Nadia Bjorlin, Actress
• Hengameh Mofid, Film and theatre actress, director, dramatist and University professor
• Farzaneh Kaboli, a leader in the Iranian Folkloric and National Dance Art
• Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Actress, Singer/Songwriter, Human Rights Campaigner, author
• Shohreh Aghdashloo, Actress 2003 Oscar nominee for House of Sand and Fog
• Nahid Persson Sarvestani Documentary film maker
• Nina Zanjani, actress
• Aryana Farshad, Cineaste and documentary film maker. Winner of "Audience Award", Telly Award, and Davey Award, 2008.
• Pegah Anvarian, Fashion Designer in L.A..
• Pegah Ahangarani, Actress and winner of Best Actress Award, 23rd Cairo International Film Festival.
• Taraneh Alidoosti, Best Actress Award Winner, Locarno International Film Festival, awarded in August 2002
• Mary Apick, Actress, Best Actress Award Winner(1977)
• Leila Arab, Musician
• Mitra Hajjar, Actress
• Soodabeh Salem, Musician, conductor
• Roya Arab, Musician, singer and songwriter
• Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Director
• Rita Jahanforuz, Actress and Singer
• Catherine Bell, Actress JAG (Half)
• Sima Bina, Singer.
• Shiva Boloorian, Actress and play director
• Nazanin Boniadi, Actress
• Delkash (Esmat Bagherpour), Singer
• Granaz Moussavi,Film Director, Screenwriter
• Golshifteh Farahani, Actress and musician, Best Actress Award from the 22nd Nantes 3 Continents Festival and Symorgh for Best Actress from the 16th Fajr International Film Festival
• Leila Forouhar, Singer
• Leila Kasra, Poet and lyricist
• Googoosh, Actress, singer, songwriter
• Hayedeh, Singer
• Mahasti, Singer
• Arefeh Mansouri, Wedding dress designer, Costume designer
• Azita Hajian, Actress, Crystal Simorgh winner for the Best Actress, the 17th Fajr International Film Festival
• Leila Hatami, Best Actress Award Locarno International Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival (2002)
• Monika Jalili, Persian vocalist of Dutch-German origin
• Ghashang Kamkar, Musician
• Niki Karimi, Actress and director
• Anousheh Khalili, Singer-songwriter
• Merila Zarei, Award-winning actress
• Maryam Keshavarz, Director
• Hana Makhmalbaf, Director
• Samira Makhmalbaf, Director
• Marjane Satrapi, film director and graphic novelist
• Shohreh Solati, Singer
• Rosie Malek-Yonan, Actor, director and writer
• Yassamin Maleknasr, Actress and director
• Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Actress and director
• Marzieh, Singer
• Tahmineh Milani, Feminist filmmaker
• Pouran Derakhshandeh, Film director, producer, screen writer, and researcher
• Mahin Oskouei, First female Iranian film director
• Laleh Pourkarim, Singer-songwriter
• Parisa (Fatemeh Va'ezi), Doyen of the classical-Persian singers
• Behnaz Sarafpour, Couture fashion designer in NYC
• Shakila, Singer, winner of the Persian Academy Award
• Bahar Soomekh, Actress (Crash and Saw III)
• Qamar ol-Molouk Vaziri, Queen of the Persian Music
• Mahla Zamani, Iranian fashion designer; expert on traditional Iranian dressings
• Sarah Shahi, Actress
• Hedyeh Tehrani, Actress
• Darya Dadvar, Soprano soloist and composer
• Shiva Rose, Actress and anti-war activist
• Hāni'eh Tavassoli, Actress
• Shushā Guppy, Writer, editor, and singer of Persian and Western folk-songs
• Monir Vakili, Singer of Western Opera and Persian Folk Music
• Salome, Hip Hop Artist
• Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, Actress and Social Photographer
• Maryam Kavyani, Actress
• Tahereh Salmassi, Singer
• Necar Zadegan, Actress
• Sahba Motallebi, Tar Player and Composer

Athletes

• Leila Ebrahimi, runner
• Laleh Seddigh, autoracing and rally champion of Iran
• Aravane Rezaï, tennis player
• Janet Kohan-Sedq, runner
• Padideh Boloorizadeh, Asian Pentathlon Champion, Captain of Iranian National Volleyball team

Politicians

• Masoumeh Abad
• Farrokhroo Parsa, Medical doctor and former Minister of Education (the first Iranian woman to became a deputy and later Minister of Education); executed in 1980, following the Iranian Revolution
• 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
• Sibel Edmonds, PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award winner Iranian who effectively challenged FBI
• Azar Majedi, Communist activist and politician
• Masoumeh Ebtekar, Iranian Vice President
• Goli Ameri, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
• Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent
• Fatemeh Haghighatjou, former Member of Parliament
• Elaheh Koulaei, former Member of Parliament and Professor of political sciences
• Farah Karimi, Iranian female Dutch Member of Parliament.
• Shahla Habibi
• Nasrin Soltankhah
• Fatemeh Javadi, Vice-President, and head of the Department of the Environment
• Professor Haleh Afshar, The Baroness Afshar, Iranian feminist academic and crossbench Peer in the British House of Lords.
• Marzieh Afkham, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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
• Effat Shariati, Member of Parliament, poet, author

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 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,
• Roya Hakakian, Iranian-Jewish human rights activist and author
• Faezeh Hashemi, journalist, women rights activist, and former member of Iranian parliament
• Mehrangiz Kar, Human rights lawyer and winner of the Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize
• Parvaneh Eskandari Dariush Forouhar's wife
• Sheema Kalbasi, Human rights activist, author
• Zahra Kazemi, Slain political photographer
• Shahla Lahiji, Human rights activist
• Rosie Malek-Yonan, Actor, author and activist who testified at the United States House of Representatives in 2006 on behalf of the Assyrians in Iraq
• Lily Mazahery, Internationally recognized lawyer and 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
• Shahla Sherkat, Editor and a pioneer of women's movement in the modern Iran
• Nasrin Sotoudeh, Iranian 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

• Neda Agha-Soltan, Shot during the 2009 Iranian election protests, her name quickly became a rallying cry for the opposition
• Zahra Bani Ameri, physician
• Behnaz Mozakka, died in 2005 London bombing
• 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
• Shermine Shahrivar, Miss Germany in 2004 and then won the overall title of Miss Europe in 2005 while competing in France.
• Ramona Amiri, Miss World Canada 2005, first runner up in Miss Universe Canada 2007 pageant
• Samantha Tajik, Miss Universe Canada 2008
• Rudi Bakhtiar, TV news anchor
• Ladan and Laleh Bijani, conjoined twins
• Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
• Haleh Esfandiari, scholar, detainee
• Nazanin Fatehi, controversially sentenced to death for murder.
• Nasrin Sotoudeh, human rights lawyer
• Narges Mohammadi, human rights activist
• Zeynab Jalaliyan, Kurdish prisoner
• Sahar Biniaz, Miss Universe Canada 2012

Others

• Shadi Paridar, chess grandmaster
• Atousa Pourkashiyan, chess grandmaster
• Christiane Amanpour, CNN's Chief International Correspondent
• Atoosa Rubenstein, founder and the editor of CosmoGirl magazine and the editor of Seventeen
• Zahra Rahnavard, first female chancellor of university after revolution
• Roza Montazemi, Iranian author of cookbooks.
• Akram Monfared Arya, first female pilot of Iran

References