Fatemeh Pahlavi | |
---|---|
Born | 30 October 1928 Tehran, Imperial State of Persia |
Died | 27 May 1987 London, United Kingdom | (aged 58)
Spouse | |
House | Pahlavi dynasty |
Father | Reza Shah |
Mother | Esmat Dowlatshahi |
Fatemeh Pahlavi (Persian: فاطمه پهلوی; 30 October 1928 – 27 May 1987) was the Iranian-born tenth child of Reza Shah Pahlavi, and half-sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. She was a member of the Pahlavi dynasty.
Fatemeh Pahlavi was born in Tehran on 30 October 1928.[1][2] She was the tenth child of Reza Shah and the fourth of his fourth and last wife, Esmat Dowlatshahi.[3][4] Her mother was from the Qajar dynasty and married Reza Shah in 1923.[5] Fatemeh was the younger full-sister of Abdul Reza Pahlavi, Ahmad Reza Pahlavi and Mahmoud Reza Pahlavi and the older full-sister of Hamid Reza Pahlavi.[6]
Pahlavi attended Converse College (now Converse University) in Spartanburg, South Carolina.[7] She attended the College with her lady-in waiting, Kokab Moarefi, in the 1947–1948 school year, but did not return any following years or obtain her degree.[7][8][9] However, Moarefi would stay behind, and graduate from Converse in 1950.[9] She and her brothers lived at the Marble Palace in Tehran with their parents.[4]
During the reign of her half-brother, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Fatemeh Pahlavi owned a bowling club and dealt with business, having shares in the firms involved in construction, vegetable oil production and engineering.[10] She also had a fortune of some $500 million during that time.[11] Her fortune came from the "commissions" extracted from military contractors by her second husband, Mohammad Amir Khatami.[11] Pahlavi also involved in activities concerning higher education in Iran[12] and had shares in an Iranian football team, Persepolis F.C.[13]
Pahlavi took courses from a British pilot to learn to fly a helicopter,[14] becoming the first Iranian woman with a helicopter license.[15] After she completed the first solo flight, she gifted her trainer with a watch, Omega Speedmaster, which had been given to the Shah by the Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 when they visited Iran as part of a tour to celebrate the first Moon landing.[14] In early 2021 the watch was sold for £18,000 at auction.[14]
Fatemeh Pahlavi married twice. She married Vincent Lee Hillyer (1924 – 7 July 1999) in a civil ceremony in Civitavecchia, Italy, on 13 April 1950.[3] Hillyer converted to Islam.[3] On 10 May, they wed in a religious ceremony at Iran's embassy in Paris.[3][16] Hillyer was a friend of her brother Abdul Reza Pahlavi.[17] Fatemeh and Hillyer met in Iran during the latter's visit to the country. The marriage was not fully endorsed by Shah Mohammad Reza,[18] probably due to negative reactions in Iran.[19] They had three children, two sons, Kayvan and Dariush, and one daughter, Rana, who died in an accidental fall in infancy in 1954.[20] They divorced in September 1959.[21][22]
After divorcing Hillyer, she married Mohammad Amir Khatami, the commanding general of Iran's air force, on 22 November 1959.[22][23] The shah and his then fiancée Farah Diba attended the wedding ceremony.[22] They had two sons, Kambiz (born 1961) and Ramin (born 1967), and a daughter, Pari (born 1962).[24]
Pahlavi left Iran before the Islamic revolution in 1979.[19] During her last years, she was living in London.[25]
Pahlavi died at her London home on 27 May 1987 of cancer.[2][26] She was 58 years old and was survived by her four sons.[25][26]