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دختری از ایران
سَتّاره فرمانفرماییان در سال ۱۲۹۹ در شیراز متولد شد. او فرزند عبدالحسین میرزا فرمانفرما از شاهزادگان و شخصیت‌ها� بانفوذ قاجار بود. ستاره دانش‌آموخت� امریکا بود و در سال ۱۳۳۷ مدرسۀ عالی مددکاری اجتماعی تهران را تأسیس کرد. او در مقدمه� کتاب، خود را این چنین معرفی کرده است: «این داستانی حقیقی از زندگی استثنایی من است، همراه تصاویری از مکان‌های� که امروز دیده نمی‌شون�. آدم‌های� که غالبا در این جهان نیستند و نیز بازگویی صورت ساده‌ا� از بیان حوادث آخرین روزهای سلطنت محمدرضا‌شا� و نخستین ماه‌ها� پیروزی انقلاب اسلامی...
467 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
Sattareh Farman Farmaian
1book27followersSattāreh Farmānfarmā'iān (1921 � 23 May 2012; Persian: ستاره فرمانفرمائیان� /author/show...) was one of the daughters of Persian nobleman Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma of the Qajar dynasty.
In addition to her autobiography, Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey from Her Father's Harem through the Islamic Revolution (1992), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, she published "Social Work as Social Development: A Case History" (1996), On the Other Side of the China Wall (1977), "Early Marriage and Pregnancy in Traditional Islamic Society" (1975), Prostitution Problems in the City of Tehran (1969), Children and Teachers (1966), Country Profile of Iranian Family Planning and Social Welfare (1965), and Children's Needs (1960). She has lectured widely worldwide and in 1997 established a website to publicize and facilitate discussion of her autobiography.
(from Wikipedia)
In addition to her autobiography, Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey from Her Father's Harem through the Islamic Revolution (1992), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, she published "Social Work as Social Development: A Case History" (1996), On the Other Side of the China Wall (1977), "Early Marriage and Pregnancy in Traditional Islamic Society" (1975), Prostitution Problems in the City of Tehran (1969), Children and Teachers (1966), Country Profile of Iranian Family Planning and Social Welfare (1965), and Children's Needs (1960). She has lectured widely worldwide and in 1997 established a website to publicize and facilitate discussion of her autobiography.
(from Wikipedia)
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June 3, 2021
Daughter of Persia, Sattareh Farman Farmaian
Sattareh Farman-Farmaian (December 23, 1921 � May 23, 2012), was one of the daughters of Persian nobleman Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma of the Qajar dynasty.
Tells a fascinating tale of growing up in the 1930's in a Persian harem compound in Tehran.
Breaking with Muslim tradition, she became an independent woman and found herself arrested as a counterrevolutionary. A dramatic window on Iran's journey through the twentieth century.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1998میلادی
عنوان: دختری از ایران (خاطرات خانم ستاره فرمانفرماييان)؛ نویسنده: ستاره فرمانفرمائیان (مریم اعلایی)؛ تهران، کارنگ؛ 1383؛ در 480ص؛ شابک 9789646730656؛ موضوع: خاطرات خانم ستاره فرمانفرماييان - سده 20م
این کتاب با عنوانهای: «دختر پارس� ب‍رگ‍ردان� اردش‍ی� روش‍ن‍گ‍ر� اص‍غ� ان‍درودی� تهران نشر البرز، 1377، در سیزده و 552ص، شابک 9644421078؛»»؛ «دختر ایران� م‍ت‍رج‍م� ک‍ی‍وم‍رث� پ‍ارس‍ای� نشر سمیر، 1378؛ در 688ص؛ شابک 9646552870» و «خاطرات دختر فرمانفرما: خاطرات و خطرات زنی از اندرون حرم پدرش تا درون رویدادهای انقلاب اسلامی� ت‍رج‍م‍ه� ه‍وش‍ن‍گ� لاه‍وت‍ی� ت‍ه‍ران‌ف‍رش‍ی�: پ‍ی‍وس‍ت‍ه� 1377؛ در 684ص، و 9ص؛ شابک 9649115439» نیز منتشر گردیده است�.
برای بازنمائی بازیگری روانشاد «عبدالحسین میرزا فرمانفرمائیان (زادروز سال 1231هجری خورشیدی، تبریز - تا سال 1318خورشیدی، تهران)» در دوره ای از تاریخ کشورمان «ایران»، کتابهای چندی از یادمانهای فرزندان نامدار این خاندان را خوانده ام، این داستان از رواق منظر دیگری مینگرد
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 12/03/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Sattareh Farman-Farmaian (December 23, 1921 � May 23, 2012), was one of the daughters of Persian nobleman Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma of the Qajar dynasty.
Tells a fascinating tale of growing up in the 1930's in a Persian harem compound in Tehran.
Breaking with Muslim tradition, she became an independent woman and found herself arrested as a counterrevolutionary. A dramatic window on Iran's journey through the twentieth century.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1998میلادی
عنوان: دختری از ایران (خاطرات خانم ستاره فرمانفرماييان)؛ نویسنده: ستاره فرمانفرمائیان (مریم اعلایی)؛ تهران، کارنگ؛ 1383؛ در 480ص؛ شابک 9789646730656؛ موضوع: خاطرات خانم ستاره فرمانفرماييان - سده 20م
این کتاب با عنوانهای: «دختر پارس� ب‍رگ‍ردان� اردش‍ی� روش‍ن‍گ‍ر� اص‍غ� ان‍درودی� تهران نشر البرز، 1377، در سیزده و 552ص، شابک 9644421078؛»»؛ «دختر ایران� م‍ت‍رج‍م� ک‍ی‍وم‍رث� پ‍ارس‍ای� نشر سمیر، 1378؛ در 688ص؛ شابک 9646552870» و «خاطرات دختر فرمانفرما: خاطرات و خطرات زنی از اندرون حرم پدرش تا درون رویدادهای انقلاب اسلامی� ت‍رج‍م‍ه� ه‍وش‍ن‍گ� لاه‍وت‍ی� ت‍ه‍ران‌ف‍رش‍ی�: پ‍ی‍وس‍ت‍ه� 1377؛ در 684ص، و 9ص؛ شابک 9649115439» نیز منتشر گردیده است�.
برای بازنمائی بازیگری روانشاد «عبدالحسین میرزا فرمانفرمائیان (زادروز سال 1231هجری خورشیدی، تبریز - تا سال 1318خورشیدی، تهران)» در دوره ای از تاریخ کشورمان «ایران»، کتابهای چندی از یادمانهای فرزندان نامدار این خاندان را خوانده ام، این داستان از رواق منظر دیگری مینگرد
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 12/03/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
December 18, 2020
This is a fabulous book.It is the story of one woman but is also a journey through Iranian history ,from the Qajar and Pehalvi dynasties to the chaos of the 1979 revolution.
Sattareh Farman Farmaian tells the story of her life growing up in her father's harem and all the adversity that befell him.He was a prince of the Qajar dynasty,with multiple wives and innumerable children.They all lived in one compound.He was already an old man,when the author was born.
Very ununsually for her time,the author wanted to go to the US (Yengi Donya) for studies.No females from her family had ever done so.She succeeded in convincing her family and studied Social Work in the US.There,she also came across Z.A.Bhutto,Pakistan's future prime minister.
The Qajar dynasty was in decline,and her father's influence on the wane.As she puts it,there wouldn't have been a Pahalvi dynasty in Iran,if her father had not needed a big man to carry a heavy gun.
That man,was Reza Shah I,who rose rapidly through the ranks,and eventually deposed the Qajar dynasty.The author's father would find himself in prison,after Reza Shah took over.His elder son would die in the aftermath.
Reza Shah would eventually be forced to hand power to his son and namesake.The author depicts them both as being extremely cruel.There is also an account of the rise and fall of Dr.Mossadegh and US interference in Iran.
Meanwhile,the author describes setting up the Tehran School of Social Work,and training lots of students.By now,another era was about to begin.
She describes the chaos of the 1979 Revolution and how she attracted some unwelcome attention from the revolutionaries.People were being shot in cold blood at the time and she herself was captured,facing an uncertain fate.
She managed to escape somehow,leaving everything behind.She fled to Karachi,and from there,back to the US,to spend her twilight years there.
It is all very dramatic and provides great insight into Iranian culture and politics.I couldn't put it down.
Sattareh Farman Farmaian tells the story of her life growing up in her father's harem and all the adversity that befell him.He was a prince of the Qajar dynasty,with multiple wives and innumerable children.They all lived in one compound.He was already an old man,when the author was born.
Very ununsually for her time,the author wanted to go to the US (Yengi Donya) for studies.No females from her family had ever done so.She succeeded in convincing her family and studied Social Work in the US.There,she also came across Z.A.Bhutto,Pakistan's future prime minister.
The Qajar dynasty was in decline,and her father's influence on the wane.As she puts it,there wouldn't have been a Pahalvi dynasty in Iran,if her father had not needed a big man to carry a heavy gun.
That man,was Reza Shah I,who rose rapidly through the ranks,and eventually deposed the Qajar dynasty.The author's father would find himself in prison,after Reza Shah took over.His elder son would die in the aftermath.
Reza Shah would eventually be forced to hand power to his son and namesake.The author depicts them both as being extremely cruel.There is also an account of the rise and fall of Dr.Mossadegh and US interference in Iran.
Meanwhile,the author describes setting up the Tehran School of Social Work,and training lots of students.By now,another era was about to begin.
She describes the chaos of the 1979 Revolution and how she attracted some unwelcome attention from the revolutionaries.People were being shot in cold blood at the time and she herself was captured,facing an uncertain fate.
She managed to escape somehow,leaving everything behind.She fled to Karachi,and from there,back to the US,to spend her twilight years there.
It is all very dramatic and provides great insight into Iranian culture and politics.I couldn't put it down.
January 29, 2025
کتاب خیلی خیلی خیلی خوبیه و برای همه علاقمندان به خوندن اتوبیوگرافی ها و یا تاریخ معاصر ایران یه انتخاب عالی می تونه باشه
عبدالحسین میرزا فرمانفرما که خودش صرفنظر از پست های ریز و درشتی که تو دوره قاجار عهده دار بود صدراعظم ایران در زمان احمد شاه بود که از نزدیک به هفت ازدواج خودش صاحب 24 پسر و 12 دختر شد .از این بین تعداد زیادیشون مدارج بالای تحصیلی رو طی و نقش های مهمی رو در ایران ایفا کردند
مریم فیروز موسس سازمان زنان حزب توده، فیروز میرزا نصرت الدوله وزیر رضا شاه، منوچهر مدیر فروش شرکت ملی نفت ایران و اولین سفیر ایران در ونزوئلا،عبدالعزیز معمار ورزشگاه آزادی و بنیانگذار نظام مهندسی جدید در ایران، محمدحسین فیروز وزیر جنگ محمدرضا شاه و در نهایت ستاره مادر مددکاری اجتماعی ایران - این کتاب هم زندگینامه او رو شامل میشه- فقط تعدادی از این جمع هستند.در ضمن دکتر مصدق پسر عمه ی خانم ستاره فرمانفرماییان هم بوده
کتاب فوق العاده شیرین و خواندنیست. میشه گفت دیدی متعادل و به دور از غرض ورزی به اوضاع سیاسی و اجتماعی دوره ای از تاریخ ایران که بهش می پردازه ،داره. با این کتاب از فضای اندرونی یک شازده قجری، سقوط قاجار، به قدرت رسیدن رضا شاه و اوضاع ایران در اون دوره و سپس وضعیت ایران در زمان محمد رضا شاه مطلع میشید. خانم فرمانفرماییان به تفصیل به رخدادهای مربوط به ملی کردن صنعت نفت ایران و کودتا و سقوط دولت مصدق از دید خودش اشاره میکنه. حال و هوای قبل و بعد انقلاب ایران رو هم به خوبی در این کتاب بازتاب میده.
دو کار این زن مسحورم کرد: یکیش اصرار به ادامه تحصیل در امریکا بود که به دلیل تقارنش با جنگ جهانی دوم و خطرات راه، برای دختری تنها و از جامعه ای سنتی این مسیر به شدت سخت طی شد . دومیش هم تلاش و پافشاریش برای ایجاد رشته مددکاری اجتماعی در ایران و تغییر و تحول اساسی در این مسیر بود.
عبدالحسین میرزا فرمانفرما که خودش صرفنظر از پست های ریز و درشتی که تو دوره قاجار عهده دار بود صدراعظم ایران در زمان احمد شاه بود که از نزدیک به هفت ازدواج خودش صاحب 24 پسر و 12 دختر شد .از این بین تعداد زیادیشون مدارج بالای تحصیلی رو طی و نقش های مهمی رو در ایران ایفا کردند
مریم فیروز موسس سازمان زنان حزب توده، فیروز میرزا نصرت الدوله وزیر رضا شاه، منوچهر مدیر فروش شرکت ملی نفت ایران و اولین سفیر ایران در ونزوئلا،عبدالعزیز معمار ورزشگاه آزادی و بنیانگذار نظام مهندسی جدید در ایران، محمدحسین فیروز وزیر جنگ محمدرضا شاه و در نهایت ستاره مادر مددکاری اجتماعی ایران - این کتاب هم زندگینامه او رو شامل میشه- فقط تعدادی از این جمع هستند.در ضمن دکتر مصدق پسر عمه ی خانم ستاره فرمانفرماییان هم بوده
کتاب فوق العاده شیرین و خواندنیست. میشه گفت دیدی متعادل و به دور از غرض ورزی به اوضاع سیاسی و اجتماعی دوره ای از تاریخ ایران که بهش می پردازه ،داره. با این کتاب از فضای اندرونی یک شازده قجری، سقوط قاجار، به قدرت رسیدن رضا شاه و اوضاع ایران در اون دوره و سپس وضعیت ایران در زمان محمد رضا شاه مطلع میشید. خانم فرمانفرماییان به تفصیل به رخدادهای مربوط به ملی کردن صنعت نفت ایران و کودتا و سقوط دولت مصدق از دید خودش اشاره میکنه. حال و هوای قبل و بعد انقلاب ایران رو هم به خوبی در این کتاب بازتاب میده.
دو کار این زن مسحورم کرد: یکیش اصرار به ادامه تحصیل در امریکا بود که به دلیل تقارنش با جنگ جهانی دوم و خطرات راه، برای دختری تنها و از جامعه ای سنتی این مسیر به شدت سخت طی شد . دومیش هم تلاش و پافشاریش برای ایجاد رشته مددکاری اجتماعی در ایران و تغییر و تحول اساسی در این مسیر بود.
December 30, 2015
“You know that isn’t right,� I screamed. “If you and your men are God-fearing and religious, you have to help the weak, regardless of what those poor women do for a living! You’re supposed to protect people in danger, no matter who the government is!�Tomorrow begins the first batch of the classes that need finishing before I return to UCLA. Thus far, only one has made its required reading explicit, and with a title such as 46A British Writers: Medieval to Renaissance, it is obvious which physiognomic aspects of authorial repute will be focused upon. Still, this stratified learning is much too cloaked with normalized terms, disguising a very narrow part of an already narrow field with vague generalizations and institutionalized gatekeeping meant to be swallowed whole by each and every student. Turning this book around, I see the phrases 'Middle Eastern Studies' and 'Women's Studies' printed on the back. In fairness to this phenomenal work, I will render all that Shakespeare and Beowulf I will be chowing down as 'United Kingdom Studies' and 'Men's Studies', and balance my class required reading with outside reading accordingly.
All around her, young Iranian women were getting educations, becoming teachers and nurses, growing interest in reading about and discussing politics and society. She sensed that all this was good for women and for country, yet it seemed to fly in the face of the tradition she loved. The world she lived in was changing in ways she didn’t understand and couldn’t stop, and now I was setting out alone to America, to live there by myself. Her pain was not something she was angry at me for inflicting, but it was also not something she could bear to discuss with me.There's a whole host of nonfiction books with titles like these, sensationalized quips that until recently have always sent me scurrying in the opposite directions. This being the case, I don't have a lot of experience with them, but if even a few of them are this rich in scope, this critically engaging in plot, this comprehensive in sociopolitical knowledge of a country far off from my own, I will have to start devouring them in earnest. Sattareh Farman Farmaian's (name cut short by Eurocentric whims) autobiography is one that forgoes the quibbling over whether such self-reflexive writing can be called nonfiction or otherwise. Instead of pandering to such definitions of "fact" or excusing creative insertion through obfuscation, she states at the very beginning that this is her life as she knew it, and will be written accordingly.
The United States, having foisted on us a leader who had never allowed any other leaders to develop, seemed to have no policy for dealing with the eventuality that he might not have survive. If the State Department didn’t know enough by now to decide on what position to take, I wondered, what had the CIA been doing in our country all those years, with its big American Embassy and its helpful Iranian businessmen and its many dear friends at the imperial court and in General Nassiri’s office? America now appeared as blind, confused, and desperate as the Shah himself.If history does not horrify you, you are not reading the right history. This is as simply as I can put my experiences of 2014, one that I did not expect to turn so overtly political and now cannot think it could have turned out any better. It is fitting that 2015 starts with more of the same, a work initially added for its 500 GBBW qualities and foreign landscape and ultimately favored for describing a life by a woman who should have won the Nobel Prize. Judging by ratings on ŷ is not the best way to gauge how well known Farmaian is known offline. However, as this offline that is in my case one of the heavily indoctrinated manipulators of the author's life and her country's fate, I doubt I would have ever read her book had I not been on this site.
Recently, however, Al Azhar University in Cario, the greatest institution of Islamic learning in the world, had issued a ruling on birth control, citing passages from the Koran in which the Prophet commanded believers to care for the health and welfare of women and children. This ruling stated that birth control was in accordance with Islamic law, because the planning and spacing of children promoted the health of women and the financial well-being of the entire family.I will not delve into summary beyond what quotes I have offered, for the insights she offers of Islam, Iran, and all the work she did for her beloved people are best experienced in her own words. These insights are valuable not only for being grounded in a country much abused by my blindered-media, but are fully involved with the movements of the 20th century, vital to any whose conceptions of Farmaian's world extend from the Arabian Nights to terrorists and leave a vast gap in between. Her story is only a small part of this wealth of thought and history, and I can only hope to live to see the end of this latest "peril" of the US mind and the regeneration of this rest of the world that follows.
With its last word on the subject, the American press was reducing the most benevolent and democratic leader we had ever had to a foolish, half-mad old man making an indecent spectacle of himself in public.Beyond the tidbits both historical and sociopolitical, her thoughts on the upheavals sparked some of my own. While she does not pretend the United States is as powerfully benevolent as she believed in her youth, she does view democracy as a goal and praises the "freedom of speech" US citizens have in comparison to Iranians. While I value it as well, I find you cannot call it "free" so long as capitalism is in place. The experience I've had with social justice movements has shown me that the ultimate threat to protests and, indeed, "radical" thoughts, are the connections lost, the career-ruining jail time served, the boss' that fire "threats to the workplace" and many an online arguer whose every statement screams "I will not respect you due to your common humanity, but due to the fear you inspire in me that what I think will bar me from making a living by having the same thoughts as all those likely to hire/network with/get me in the door." When you see how the US government treats the homeless and those unable to make the right emotional bonds to get respect for their right to live, the fear is real.
My mother looked troubled. “God forbid that mullahs should come to power,� she said after a moment. “Religion should remain religion.�Farmaian berates herself near the end of the book for believing her social work excused her using the oppressive government for her own ends. It may be this that turns away those readers who have not yet stopped due to the 12-year old bride, the multiple wives, and any other sensationalized excuses that evaporate when faced with issues of owned slaves, age of consents in "civilized" countries, and systematic genocide. In the end, the author does not set those against her as enemies, but instead acknowledges how her privilege enabled her to escape being pushed until millions of others could be pushed no more. It is a privilege that could be overwhelmed in any country, and the US serves as an example of survival only due to its blood-thirst, sacrilegious opportunism, and ideological hierarchy. It has turned its guns on protesters before; perhaps it is only the memory of Iran and other revolutions it lost its grip on that stop it from going farther.
Perhaps, after all, Iranians were not unique in their faithlessness, merely human; other nations had been luckier in their history than we.This is a life that went a far more complicated pathway of morals and loyalty than anything of the dominant discourse can offer, a dominant discourse that has only worsened with 9/11 and its military industrial complexed response. That is no reason to not read it.
August 31, 2022
《دختر� از ایران�
این کتاب رو برای دومین بار بعد از ۸ سال خوندم؛ ایندفعه با پیش زمینه ی خیلی بیشتر برای سنجیدن نظرات و روایتای سیاسیش که قسمت زیادی از کتاب رو در برمیگیره.
این بخشها از کتاب بنظرم با اغراق و سوءنظر و سیاه نمایی همراهه درباره خیلی از وقایع. اما در همون حین میشه یسری جزییات خوبی هم فهمید درباره دوران پهلوی و اوایل انقلاب. فقط خیلی مهمه که موقع خوندن این قسمت ها بدونیم راویش یه قاجار زاده س:)) و طبیعیه با یسری سوءنظرها و زاویه گیری ها و البته ناآگاهی سیاسی یا دیدگاه های عامیانه نسبت به علت خیلی وقایع دوران پهلوی اظهارنظر کنه...
خیلی حرفهای بیشتری درباره این قسمت ها تو ذهنم بود ولی تصمیم گرفتم به همین بسنده کنم.
قسمت داستانیش رو البته خیلی دوست داشتم. تلاشها و سختی ها و پشتکار زیاد و در نهایت تاسیس مدرسه مددکاری اجتماعی در ایران (هرچند معتقدم در کنار تلاش ها، روابط و جایگاه خانواده هم در سراسر موفقیت ها تاثیر زیادی داشته) ولی تلاشهاش برام خیلی قابل تحسینه.
کتاب قشنگیه و با وجود احساسات متناقضم نسبت بهش توصیه میکنم بخونیدش اما با دید باز و پیش زمینه سیاسی و تاریخی.
این کتاب رو برای دومین بار بعد از ۸ سال خوندم؛ ایندفعه با پیش زمینه ی خیلی بیشتر برای سنجیدن نظرات و روایتای سیاسیش که قسمت زیادی از کتاب رو در برمیگیره.
این بخشها از کتاب بنظرم با اغراق و سوءنظر و سیاه نمایی همراهه درباره خیلی از وقایع. اما در همون حین میشه یسری جزییات خوبی هم فهمید درباره دوران پهلوی و اوایل انقلاب. فقط خیلی مهمه که موقع خوندن این قسمت ها بدونیم راویش یه قاجار زاده س:)) و طبیعیه با یسری سوءنظرها و زاویه گیری ها و البته ناآگاهی سیاسی یا دیدگاه های عامیانه نسبت به علت خیلی وقایع دوران پهلوی اظهارنظر کنه...
خیلی حرفهای بیشتری درباره این قسمت ها تو ذهنم بود ولی تصمیم گرفتم به همین بسنده کنم.
قسمت داستانیش رو البته خیلی دوست داشتم. تلاشها و سختی ها و پشتکار زیاد و در نهایت تاسیس مدرسه مددکاری اجتماعی در ایران (هرچند معتقدم در کنار تلاش ها، روابط و جایگاه خانواده هم در سراسر موفقیت ها تاثیر زیادی داشته) ولی تلاشهاش برام خیلی قابل تحسینه.
کتاب قشنگیه و با وجود احساسات متناقضم نسبت بهش توصیه میکنم بخونیدش اما با دید باز و پیش زمینه سیاسی و تاریخی.
June 9, 2023
4.5 stars
I love a good firsthand account of life in a time and place very different from the one I know, and this memoir is pretty much perfect. It’s long and detailed and compelling, it offers a window into a very different life, the author’s achievements are impressive, and it leaves the reader with a lot to think about.
Sattareh Farman Farmaian was an Iranian woman born shortly after the end of WWI, the 15th of her aristocratic father’s 36 children and the 3rd of 9 from her mother, a common-born girl who became his third wife at age 12 (he was in his 50s). The first approximately 150 pages of the book are all about her young life in her father’s compound, and do a fabulous job of showing the reader what that life was like, how she understood and related to her family. Family clearly meant a great deal to her throughout her life, and she presents all of her relatives in the most sympathetic light possible, but there’s a lot of messiness there as well. I loved this section for getting me into a completely different cultural mindset and challenging assumptions.
The next 150 pages or so focus on the author’s higher education and her career. Despite being an extremely sheltered young woman for whom eating in a café in Tehran (virtually all-male at the time) was excruciating, in 1944 she undertook an epic several-month journey around the world, in the midst of WWII, to attend university in the U.S. There, she trained as a social worker, and this middle section is largely focused on her foundation of a school of social work in Tehran. This is incredibly impressive and again fascinating in its detail: this is a woman who knew how to work the system, from raising money to making concrete change. Despite her family’s painful history with the Pahlavi regime (which had confiscated most of her father’s property, kept him under quasi-house arrest, and murdered her eldest half-brother), she was able to focus on the goal and her school was extremely successful during its 20-year run.
The final 100 pages are about the Islamic Revolution, and this part is intense, though also in many ways surprising. It’s not the fact that the revolution happened that was surprising—indeed, the author cites educating Americans about her country as one of her purposes in writing the book, and discusses the politics of Iran and the West throughout, in a way that feels balanced and also makes the end seem inevitable. (Exploit people for long enough, prop up oppressive and violent regimes, and obviously they’re going to hate you.) But the author’s own experiences on the ground are compelling, and she undergoes an ordeal that’s traumatic for her, although it probably doesn’t need a trigger warning for readers. Ultimately she’s left questioning whether her career was worth it and whether taking a moderate political stance in order to get things done makes her complicit in the abuses leading to the revolution—not easy questions to answer (although my personal opinion is yes to the first and no to the second).
In fact I have almost no criticism here. The author avoids certain topics I’d have loved to hear more about (like her father’s last three wives), but the book is long enough and she digs deep enough into so many other issues that I don’t blame her. And she comes across as a little self-righteous at times, but then I don’t know any visionary professional who doesn’t—it makes her seem more human, and overall she approaches others with a desire for understanding. In the end, a fantastic and fascinating book that I absolutely recommend.
I love a good firsthand account of life in a time and place very different from the one I know, and this memoir is pretty much perfect. It’s long and detailed and compelling, it offers a window into a very different life, the author’s achievements are impressive, and it leaves the reader with a lot to think about.
Sattareh Farman Farmaian was an Iranian woman born shortly after the end of WWI, the 15th of her aristocratic father’s 36 children and the 3rd of 9 from her mother, a common-born girl who became his third wife at age 12 (he was in his 50s). The first approximately 150 pages of the book are all about her young life in her father’s compound, and do a fabulous job of showing the reader what that life was like, how she understood and related to her family. Family clearly meant a great deal to her throughout her life, and she presents all of her relatives in the most sympathetic light possible, but there’s a lot of messiness there as well. I loved this section for getting me into a completely different cultural mindset and challenging assumptions.
The next 150 pages or so focus on the author’s higher education and her career. Despite being an extremely sheltered young woman for whom eating in a café in Tehran (virtually all-male at the time) was excruciating, in 1944 she undertook an epic several-month journey around the world, in the midst of WWII, to attend university in the U.S. There, she trained as a social worker, and this middle section is largely focused on her foundation of a school of social work in Tehran. This is incredibly impressive and again fascinating in its detail: this is a woman who knew how to work the system, from raising money to making concrete change. Despite her family’s painful history with the Pahlavi regime (which had confiscated most of her father’s property, kept him under quasi-house arrest, and murdered her eldest half-brother), she was able to focus on the goal and her school was extremely successful during its 20-year run.
The final 100 pages are about the Islamic Revolution, and this part is intense, though also in many ways surprising. It’s not the fact that the revolution happened that was surprising—indeed, the author cites educating Americans about her country as one of her purposes in writing the book, and discusses the politics of Iran and the West throughout, in a way that feels balanced and also makes the end seem inevitable. (Exploit people for long enough, prop up oppressive and violent regimes, and obviously they’re going to hate you.) But the author’s own experiences on the ground are compelling, and she undergoes an ordeal that’s traumatic for her, although it probably doesn’t need a trigger warning for readers. Ultimately she’s left questioning whether her career was worth it and whether taking a moderate political stance in order to get things done makes her complicit in the abuses leading to the revolution—not easy questions to answer (although my personal opinion is yes to the first and no to the second).
In fact I have almost no criticism here. The author avoids certain topics I’d have loved to hear more about (like her father’s last three wives), but the book is long enough and she digs deep enough into so many other issues that I don’t blame her. And she comes across as a little self-righteous at times, but then I don’t know any visionary professional who doesn’t—it makes her seem more human, and overall she approaches others with a desire for understanding. In the end, a fantastic and fascinating book that I absolutely recommend.
July 11, 2020
Through this book you experience dictatorship, democracy, dictatorship (again) and revolution through the life of Sattareh Farman Farmian. She was born in an andarun (a sub-compound within a harum) in 1921. Her father was a prince of the (former) Qajar dynasty; he had 38 other children by 8 wives; 9 by her mother.
There is a wonderful portrait of life in the andarum. The patriarch’s first wife selected her mother as her husband’s third wife because she was 12 years old, meek, patient, not noble and; therefore, not a threat. SFF describes the warmth and companionship among the stepmothers, how the children played, how daily chores were accomplished, how the children were educated, how a mini-city within the compound was managed and the weekly line up in which the patriarch inspected all his children.
Following a brief period of limited democracy, western powers were influential in the installation of a new government led by Reza Shaw Pahlavi who saw the country as his personal property. You will page turn as you see how this dictatorship plays out in SFF’s life. A good portion of the FF compound is taken and parts are torn down while the family is still living in them. Later, the full home was taken for a road, again with little notice. The patriarch’s dapper, intelligent and charismatic first born son was a threat to the Shaw and; therefore, imprisoned where he “died�. Through these and other losses, the patriarch settled the family and all its retainers on another estate and was able to educate his children abroad. Girls were not considered for higher education (abroad), but SFF convinced her mother to speak for her.
There is more page turning as you travel with SFF to America via India in 1943. Underdeveloped transportation and communication, compounded by war-time constraints made this a harrowing journey. Then there are the author’s impressions of America, brief marriage, earning a BA and MA and temporary jobs. She writes of her passion to return to Iran to help Iranians by training people to provide social services.
While abroad she saw her uncle, Mohammad Mossadegh, Iran’s first democratically elected Prime Minister overthrown by the US through the CIA. She returns to Iran which was governed by a new dictator- installed by the CIA - the son of the man who took her family’s home.
As she builds the Tehran School of Social Work you see the terrible condition of orphanages and the rural poor. You also see how things get done. She walks a tight rope in raising money and avoiding politics. Amazingly, family planning is a successful initiative of her school.
As the Shaw is secularizing the country he is building a repressive apparatus such that stating facts can be dangerous.
SFF is only vaguely aware of Ayatollah Khomeini as his influence builds. She shows how, from abroad he was able to foment dissent. From his fiery sermons became what the Iranians call “harj-o-marj� the chaos which SFF describes in detail. It took months of demonstrations, fires, looting, riots and deaths for the Shaw to leave, and when he went he said it was a vacation. To the revolutionaries it meant that the CIA could install him again so “harj-o-marj� did not end.What was left of the government no longer had the authority to govern. Soldiers left their stations and took and distributed weapons.
The saddest part is at the end when SFF describes losing everything. The students in the school joined the revolution. Some had grudges because of their grades, others because they were not selected for assignments abroad, and surely some because of SFF’s high born status. She describes the “court� which finds her innocent, but cannot protect her from the angry, armed students. Finally she describes how, if you are lucky, strong and have contacts and resources you might be able to leave.
You see how fragile democracy can be, how big powers can break entire societies. The book ends in 1979. As SFF has lost all but has $500 and family abroad . After all this trauma she is resilient. You can see on the internet that she then built a life and career in the US.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in how Iran got to be as it is today. For those who know the contours of this recent history (and I have outlined the story) to experience this with SFF as she lives through this you get a deeper understanding of how Iran's tragedy happened. There are lessons here for those who study political science, social psychology, and/or organizational behavior.
There is a wonderful portrait of life in the andarum. The patriarch’s first wife selected her mother as her husband’s third wife because she was 12 years old, meek, patient, not noble and; therefore, not a threat. SFF describes the warmth and companionship among the stepmothers, how the children played, how daily chores were accomplished, how the children were educated, how a mini-city within the compound was managed and the weekly line up in which the patriarch inspected all his children.
Following a brief period of limited democracy, western powers were influential in the installation of a new government led by Reza Shaw Pahlavi who saw the country as his personal property. You will page turn as you see how this dictatorship plays out in SFF’s life. A good portion of the FF compound is taken and parts are torn down while the family is still living in them. Later, the full home was taken for a road, again with little notice. The patriarch’s dapper, intelligent and charismatic first born son was a threat to the Shaw and; therefore, imprisoned where he “died�. Through these and other losses, the patriarch settled the family and all its retainers on another estate and was able to educate his children abroad. Girls were not considered for higher education (abroad), but SFF convinced her mother to speak for her.
There is more page turning as you travel with SFF to America via India in 1943. Underdeveloped transportation and communication, compounded by war-time constraints made this a harrowing journey. Then there are the author’s impressions of America, brief marriage, earning a BA and MA and temporary jobs. She writes of her passion to return to Iran to help Iranians by training people to provide social services.
While abroad she saw her uncle, Mohammad Mossadegh, Iran’s first democratically elected Prime Minister overthrown by the US through the CIA. She returns to Iran which was governed by a new dictator- installed by the CIA - the son of the man who took her family’s home.
As she builds the Tehran School of Social Work you see the terrible condition of orphanages and the rural poor. You also see how things get done. She walks a tight rope in raising money and avoiding politics. Amazingly, family planning is a successful initiative of her school.
As the Shaw is secularizing the country he is building a repressive apparatus such that stating facts can be dangerous.
SFF is only vaguely aware of Ayatollah Khomeini as his influence builds. She shows how, from abroad he was able to foment dissent. From his fiery sermons became what the Iranians call “harj-o-marj� the chaos which SFF describes in detail. It took months of demonstrations, fires, looting, riots and deaths for the Shaw to leave, and when he went he said it was a vacation. To the revolutionaries it meant that the CIA could install him again so “harj-o-marj� did not end.What was left of the government no longer had the authority to govern. Soldiers left their stations and took and distributed weapons.
The saddest part is at the end when SFF describes losing everything. The students in the school joined the revolution. Some had grudges because of their grades, others because they were not selected for assignments abroad, and surely some because of SFF’s high born status. She describes the “court� which finds her innocent, but cannot protect her from the angry, armed students. Finally she describes how, if you are lucky, strong and have contacts and resources you might be able to leave.
You see how fragile democracy can be, how big powers can break entire societies. The book ends in 1979. As SFF has lost all but has $500 and family abroad . After all this trauma she is resilient. You can see on the internet that she then built a life and career in the US.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in how Iran got to be as it is today. For those who know the contours of this recent history (and I have outlined the story) to experience this with SFF as she lives through this you get a deeper understanding of how Iran's tragedy happened. There are lessons here for those who study political science, social psychology, and/or organizational behavior.
December 29, 2018
عالی - خیلی گویا بود و لذت بخش
January 20, 2021
I'm really glad to have found this book. It's a clearly written memoir of an authentically noble woman. Her writing conveys the vast beauty and pain of Iran through the twentieth century. Farman Farmaian was one of the legions of Persian women who laid the foundations of education and social support for women and children in the modernizing age. She was one of the real spiritual leaders of Iran, whose life work changed the nation in ways that can hardly be reversed.
In 1958, Farman Farmaian founded her School of Social Work. This school offered a two-year study program, for certification in a profession that was previously unknown in Iran. She took young men and women who hoped for a respected career, and taught them to operate as servants for the slum dwellers of south Tehran. Encountering horrible filth and neglect in the orphanages, mental hospitals, workhouses, or prisons, they labored for weeks on end to clean out the facilities, demonstrate compassion for the inmates, and challenge the local officials to take pride in making a difference. Farman Farmaian described her trainees as “bulldozers.� Within a few years, the shah personally pledged regular funding for her school, and she moved on to found the Family Planning Association of Iran.
In 1958, Farman Farmaian founded her School of Social Work. This school offered a two-year study program, for certification in a profession that was previously unknown in Iran. She took young men and women who hoped for a respected career, and taught them to operate as servants for the slum dwellers of south Tehran. Encountering horrible filth and neglect in the orphanages, mental hospitals, workhouses, or prisons, they labored for weeks on end to clean out the facilities, demonstrate compassion for the inmates, and challenge the local officials to take pride in making a difference. Farman Farmaian described her trainees as “bulldozers.� Within a few years, the shah personally pledged regular funding for her school, and she moved on to found the Family Planning Association of Iran.
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February 20, 2016به نظرم هیچ کتابی از دودمان پهلوی و قاجار ارزش خواندن ندارند. هر کدام با پول های به ارث رسیده از پدربزرگانشان که مملکت را چاپیده اند به تحصیلات و زندگی های خواستنی رسیده اند و بعد هم یک کتاب خاطره نویسی تنگش زده اند که از خود و عقاید خود (که هیچ و پوچ است و صرفا احساسات شخصی)و املاک اعیانی که نصف مملکت را به نام خود زده بودند و حق خود می دانند دفاع کنند. مابقی هم اراجیف و خاله زنکی های سلطنتی و درباری.
October 13, 2022
Oct 12, 2022, 11am ~~ Review asap.
3pm ~~ In this book we journey with the author from the later years of the Qajar dynasty in the early 1900s, through the entire reign of the two Pahlavi Shahs, ending with the 1979 Revolution, later known as the Islamic Revolution.
I have read a little bit about Iran's history and of course I remember the turmoil in the 70's and the hostage crisis. But this book took me to Iran, introduced me to the people and their lives, and showed me how the government worked and how the people themselves reacted to the world around them.
Farman Farmaian (I will call her Satti after this) was an intelligent woman who dreamed of being able to do something meaningful for her country. She came from a privileged and powerful family, so was able to get more of an education than the majority of women ever could. She studied in the USA, going for degrees in Social Work, and she was able eventually to return to Iran and introduce the concept of that field to the country.
Satti has a clear vision about what she tried to do and what went wrong. She says in her 'To The Reader' section at the beginning of the book that she is telling her story as she lived it, and that any of the political situations she describes can be easily verified by the reader. And she writes for her daughter, her two grandchildren, and all the other young Iranians who have had to grow up away from their home country. She is trying to explain to them and to the world what she felt went wrong, what her generation mishandled. And perhaps to point the way towards a solution to the problems that remain after all these years.
As she said, the Shahs built many buildings and factories and roads, but they did not take care of the people. Has anyone managed to do that yet? I wondered as I began the book how Satti would feel about the upheaval going on in 2022 in Iran. I think she would have been proud of the brave women who are making their point all across the country, but I also think she would have been disappointed that the same vicious cycle she witnessed so many times in her own life was still the only option for a chance at change.
3pm ~~ In this book we journey with the author from the later years of the Qajar dynasty in the early 1900s, through the entire reign of the two Pahlavi Shahs, ending with the 1979 Revolution, later known as the Islamic Revolution.
I have read a little bit about Iran's history and of course I remember the turmoil in the 70's and the hostage crisis. But this book took me to Iran, introduced me to the people and their lives, and showed me how the government worked and how the people themselves reacted to the world around them.
Farman Farmaian (I will call her Satti after this) was an intelligent woman who dreamed of being able to do something meaningful for her country. She came from a privileged and powerful family, so was able to get more of an education than the majority of women ever could. She studied in the USA, going for degrees in Social Work, and she was able eventually to return to Iran and introduce the concept of that field to the country.
Satti has a clear vision about what she tried to do and what went wrong. She says in her 'To The Reader' section at the beginning of the book that she is telling her story as she lived it, and that any of the political situations she describes can be easily verified by the reader. And she writes for her daughter, her two grandchildren, and all the other young Iranians who have had to grow up away from their home country. She is trying to explain to them and to the world what she felt went wrong, what her generation mishandled. And perhaps to point the way towards a solution to the problems that remain after all these years.
As she said, the Shahs built many buildings and factories and roads, but they did not take care of the people. Has anyone managed to do that yet? I wondered as I began the book how Satti would feel about the upheaval going on in 2022 in Iran. I think she would have been proud of the brave women who are making their point all across the country, but I also think she would have been disappointed that the same vicious cycle she witnessed so many times in her own life was still the only option for a chance at change.
February 25, 2021
دقیقا دوماه ودو روز طولش دادم!اخه خیلی قشنگ وواقعی بود!تمام توصیفات جلوی چشمم جون میگرفت،من از خوندن اتوبیوگرافی زیاد خوشم نمیاد اما از کتاب دختری از ایران ونقطه مقابلش کتاب دا حقیقتا لذت بردم...
قبلنا همیشه ارزوم بود با موهای پریشون ولباسای گل گلی توی دشت ودمن وکوه وقت بگذرونم وشاکی بودم چرا ماشین زمان ندارم تا توی ادوار قبلی ایران باشم اما حقیقتا با گوش کردن به پادکست رادیو نیست وخوندن کتاب دختری ازایران دیدم همه ی ادوار ایران مث هم بوده...پر از هرج ومرج وبی عدالتی وتجمع ثروت وشادی برای عده ای نور چشمی!
بعدشم که تحمل این همه سختی رو شاید نداشتم...
به اینم فکر کردم که حقیقتا خانواده نقش مهمی توی موفقیت داره وصرفا تلاش خود ادم تنها یکمی خنده داره!شاید واسه همین بود اول بیوگرافی ها مینویسن وی در خانواده ای چنین وچنان زاده شد!
قبلنا همیشه ارزوم بود با موهای پریشون ولباسای گل گلی توی دشت ودمن وکوه وقت بگذرونم وشاکی بودم چرا ماشین زمان ندارم تا توی ادوار قبلی ایران باشم اما حقیقتا با گوش کردن به پادکست رادیو نیست وخوندن کتاب دختری ازایران دیدم همه ی ادوار ایران مث هم بوده...پر از هرج ومرج وبی عدالتی وتجمع ثروت وشادی برای عده ای نور چشمی!
بعدشم که تحمل این همه سختی رو شاید نداشتم...
به اینم فکر کردم که حقیقتا خانواده نقش مهمی توی موفقیت داره وصرفا تلاش خود ادم تنها یکمی خنده داره!شاید واسه همین بود اول بیوگرافی ها مینویسن وی در خانواده ای چنین وچنان زاده شد!
April 23, 2020
top drawer lady brings social work to Iran
Sattareh Farman Farmaian was born the year that her family, the royal Qajars, gave way to a new dynasty in Persia (Iran). She grew up in luxury, with a father who believed in education for girls. As time passed, the new rulers, the Pahlavis, made things hard for the old guard. Still, picnics in the mountains, connections to all important people, and plum jobs for the brothers and cousins signify their elite position. Along with her personal story, the author weaves in the political history of 20th century Iran too. The country was pushed around continually by the British and the Russians, later on, the Americans. She shows how Mossadegh, her father's nephew, was demonized by the Western press for wanting to nationalize the oil and how the chance for a democratic, more secular Iran was lost so that the oil companies could maintain control. She herself left Iran in 1944, determined to come to America for higher education. After many adventures--including getting torpedoed off Bombay-- she made it to the University of Southern California where eventually she became the first Iranian student to get a degree there. It was in social work. An interlude in New York followed, but she wound up starting the whole profession of social work in Iran. She began an institute of social work in Tehran which produced numerous students over 21 years before the advent of the Islamic Revolution destroyed her work and she was forced to flee the country. It seems that she didn't really see the writing on the wall and didn't predict what was likely to happen if the Islamic radicals took over. She wound up back in America, where she died in 2012, a very interesting woman. Take this chance to read such an adventurous life story, from a country much in the news, but little known.
My only criticism is that there is a co-author whose influence is all too apparent. She pushed a kind of "purple prose" onto the basic story, striving for an exoticity that was not necessary. Ms. Farman Farmaian seems to have been highly disciplined and not inclined to daub color onto everything. Also, a simple remark. On the cover of my volume, Iran is referred to as her "exasperating homeland". Of course "exasperating" is in the eye of the beholder, but some might think that a certain, much larger power is rather exasperating as well.
Sattareh Farman Farmaian was born the year that her family, the royal Qajars, gave way to a new dynasty in Persia (Iran). She grew up in luxury, with a father who believed in education for girls. As time passed, the new rulers, the Pahlavis, made things hard for the old guard. Still, picnics in the mountains, connections to all important people, and plum jobs for the brothers and cousins signify their elite position. Along with her personal story, the author weaves in the political history of 20th century Iran too. The country was pushed around continually by the British and the Russians, later on, the Americans. She shows how Mossadegh, her father's nephew, was demonized by the Western press for wanting to nationalize the oil and how the chance for a democratic, more secular Iran was lost so that the oil companies could maintain control. She herself left Iran in 1944, determined to come to America for higher education. After many adventures--including getting torpedoed off Bombay-- she made it to the University of Southern California where eventually she became the first Iranian student to get a degree there. It was in social work. An interlude in New York followed, but she wound up starting the whole profession of social work in Iran. She began an institute of social work in Tehran which produced numerous students over 21 years before the advent of the Islamic Revolution destroyed her work and she was forced to flee the country. It seems that she didn't really see the writing on the wall and didn't predict what was likely to happen if the Islamic radicals took over. She wound up back in America, where she died in 2012, a very interesting woman. Take this chance to read such an adventurous life story, from a country much in the news, but little known.
My only criticism is that there is a co-author whose influence is all too apparent. She pushed a kind of "purple prose" onto the basic story, striving for an exoticity that was not necessary. Ms. Farman Farmaian seems to have been highly disciplined and not inclined to daub color onto everything. Also, a simple remark. On the cover of my volume, Iran is referred to as her "exasperating homeland". Of course "exasperating" is in the eye of the beholder, but some might think that a certain, much larger power is rather exasperating as well.
March 10, 2015
یکبار در وبلاگی این جمله از این کتاب را خواندم :((افسوس زندگي گذشته رانمي خورم. اگر دوباره جوان شوم همين راه را خواهم پيمود. من نمي خواستم در اندروني باقي بمانم، حتي اگر كسي به هر پنج انگشت دست من يك انگشتري الماس مي كردند))و من از همان زمان دلم می خواست از این زن بیشتر بدانم و امروز چقدر خوشحالم از خواندن داستان زندگی ستاره. زنی که نماد مدرنیته و انسانیت شد برایم و حتی نفرت قدیمی ام از شازده ها را کمی تعدیل کرد. لحن نوشتاری داستان ساده و صمیمی بودو تو ستاره را نه مادر مددکاری ایران که یک دوست دلسوز می دیدی که برایت از زندگی اش می گفت. منتها در طول داستان منتظر ردپایی از مریم فیروز دیگر خواهر ستاره بودم که جزو سران مطرح حزب توده در ایران بود و اینکه بین آن همه اشارات سیاسی حرفی از او نبود کمی برایم جای تعجب داشت.
و البته روایت های ستاره از ایران قدیم از جمله دوران کودکی اش بسیار دلچسب بود.
اسفند ماه 93
May 29, 2009
I learned a LOT about the culture and 20th century history of Iran. This book clarified my formerly vague understanding of how the CIA's meddling in Iran contributed to our current dismal non-relationship. Sattareh Farman Farmaian is an amazing woman! Born into a (pre-Reza Pahlavi) aristocratic family, she comes to the U.S. for college and then decides to establish the field of social work in her own country, which she does almost single-handedly. Her family's extensive connections help her to become successful, but her upper-class origins in no way shield her from the shifting political forces during the Reza Pahlavi years. Due to a high profile resulting from her efforts to raise the standard of living of her fellow Iranians, she barely survives the Islamic Revolution with her life--the last two chapters are nail-biters! She is smart, courageous, and principled (but true to her own ethical code, which is neither religious nor political). These qualities get her into trouble, but ultimately help her to survive.
Read
January 2, 2014درحقیقت هرگز به خاطرم خطور نکرده بود که افکاربالای شازده فقط تا آنجا پیش می رفت که زنان تا این حد قادرند تحصیل کنند که بتوانند زنها ومادران خوبی باشند......دیدگاه او درمورد زن هیچ فرقی بادیدگاه یک ایرانی آن دوران نداشت.
May 23, 2012
جزو کتابهایی بود که دوستش داشتم، خیلی وقت پیش خوندمش اما دید منصفانه و خوبی از حوادث اوائل انقلاب داشت و روایتی دلنشین داشت. همراهش زندگی می کردی.�
January 2, 2015
A wonderful book!
No other words can describe the book other than those!It's a very beautifully written book by a lady from a very high ranking family of Iran!What makes this book so special is how the book describes life in Iran during 3 time periods,before 1979 under Shah,the chaos during 1979 and life after 1979!The chapter about how she met Ayatollah Khomeini's men was especially harrowing!And I luved that part of the book the most:)
The author is from a very well known family of Iran,her father was a leading statesman,her life in her father's home was very rich at the same time gave me the impression that she had to endure a lot,interesting part of the book is her commentary about Iran's history,her betrayals by rulers and foreigners..The most interesting being how social life in Iran was during her childhood,I loved how she remembers her time in My India dearly:)
Many books on Iran are written with too much partisanship,ut this book is very flawless,if you like reading biographies,history and want to read an insider's look of Iran,this is the book for you:)
5 Stars
No other words can describe the book other than those!It's a very beautifully written book by a lady from a very high ranking family of Iran!What makes this book so special is how the book describes life in Iran during 3 time periods,before 1979 under Shah,the chaos during 1979 and life after 1979!The chapter about how she met Ayatollah Khomeini's men was especially harrowing!And I luved that part of the book the most:)
The author is from a very well known family of Iran,her father was a leading statesman,her life in her father's home was very rich at the same time gave me the impression that she had to endure a lot,interesting part of the book is her commentary about Iran's history,her betrayals by rulers and foreigners..The most interesting being how social life in Iran was during her childhood,I loved how she remembers her time in My India dearly:)
Many books on Iran are written with too much partisanship,ut this book is very flawless,if you like reading biographies,history and want to read an insider's look of Iran,this is the book for you:)
5 Stars
June 25, 2007
اين كتاب رو دوست داشتم چون خاطرات دختر فرمانفرماييان بود. آخه خيلي ها پدر من رو حاجي فرمانفرما صدا مي كنن. محل كار پدرم و همين طور خونه ي ما در محدوده اي هست كه در زمان رضا شاه خونه ي فرمانفرما بوده...
ستاره توي اين كتاب بيشتر به شرح حوادث سياسي اون زمان پرداخته.
ستاره توي اين كتاب بيشتر به شرح حوادث سياسي اون زمان پرداخته.
August 26, 2014
این کتاب زندگی نامه ستاره فرمانفرماییان است که با همکاری خانوم دانا مانکرا در امریکا نوشته شده .ستاره فرمانفرماییان یکی از شاهزاده های قاجار بود .دختری از اندرون خانه فرمانفرماییان بزرگ یکی از با نفوذترین شاهزادگان قاجار .ستاره در این کتاب از بدو تولد خود تا رفتن به مدرسه //تحصیل در خارج از کشور همراه با تحولات سیاسی اجتماعی اواخر دوره قاجار واوایل دوره پهلوی صحبت کرده بعدها در زمان پهلوی دوم او به ایران بازگشت وبرای اولین بار موسسه مدد کاری اجتماعی را در زمان محمد رضا وبا همکاری فرح پهلوی ایجاد کرد او در پایان دوره پهلوی وشروع انقلاب دستگیر شده اما به دلیل خدماتش ازاد گردید ولیکن به ناچار وطن را ترک گفت وبرای همیشه به امریکا مهاجرت نمود .این کتاب زندگی سیاسی اجتماعی مردم ایران را از اغاز تا پایان سلسله پهلوئ به تصویر میکشد وبسیار اموزنده وخواندنی واز لحاظ تاریخی با حوادث ورویداد ها قرن اخیر مطابقت دارد نگارش کتاب هم بسیار عالی وتحسین برانگیز است .کتابی است که ارزش خواندن را دارد
May 19, 2009
I learned a lot about Iran... and of the courage and integrity of the woman who wrote this book. I found her and emailed her my appreciation of her work and I heard back from her! wow -
March 23, 2014
bi nazireh
April 7, 2013
This is, quite frankly, one of the most fascinating memoirs I have ever read.
Sattareh Farman Farmaian was born the year Reza Shah (father of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the ousted Shah of Iran) came to power. Born into one of Iran's noble families, she led a privileged life. However, because of her family's beloved servants, Farmaian was exposed to the squalor in which the majority of her country lived. She became determined to do something to help.
After studying abroad to become a social worker, Farmaian returned to her country to establish social work there. Starting with donations from her family and friends, she took on a small cadre of students and taught them how to improve the lot of those around them.
The school survived and thrived under Farmaian's tutelage, with support and interest from the Shah's government. However, when the Islamic Republican Revolution (under Ayatollah Khomeini) began, Farmaaian found herself picking up dead bodies in the streets of Tehran ... and more. She was eventually denounced by her own students, narrowly escaped execution, and left her country as a refugee.
Farmaian provides an exceptional opportunity to understand Iran's socio-political climate from a non-Western perspective. She writes frankly about the problems that colonial-type interventions from Britain and the US caused in the country, as well as how the country's cultural attitude of "wait and see which way the wind blows" added to the eventual cultural fire.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough to those who wish to understand more about Persian culture and how it came to be where it is today.
Sattareh Farman Farmaian was born the year Reza Shah (father of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the ousted Shah of Iran) came to power. Born into one of Iran's noble families, she led a privileged life. However, because of her family's beloved servants, Farmaian was exposed to the squalor in which the majority of her country lived. She became determined to do something to help.
After studying abroad to become a social worker, Farmaian returned to her country to establish social work there. Starting with donations from her family and friends, she took on a small cadre of students and taught them how to improve the lot of those around them.
The school survived and thrived under Farmaian's tutelage, with support and interest from the Shah's government. However, when the Islamic Republican Revolution (under Ayatollah Khomeini) began, Farmaaian found herself picking up dead bodies in the streets of Tehran ... and more. She was eventually denounced by her own students, narrowly escaped execution, and left her country as a refugee.
Farmaian provides an exceptional opportunity to understand Iran's socio-political climate from a non-Western perspective. She writes frankly about the problems that colonial-type interventions from Britain and the US caused in the country, as well as how the country's cultural attitude of "wait and see which way the wind blows" added to the eventual cultural fire.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough to those who wish to understand more about Persian culture and how it came to be where it is today.
August 21, 2012
I have read my fair share of books about Iran, both fiction and non-fiction. After completing "Daughter of Persia," I have to rank this book in the top three books about Iran, right up there with "Reading Lolita in Tehran" and "Iran Awakening."
Ms. Farman Farmaian does an excellent job detailing the political events of Iran from pre-Mossadegh to the revolution from the point of view of someone who was moderate and fairly removed from politics. It is an interesting take on events in Iran, viewed from the lens of Ms. Farman Farmaian's passion - social work.
Throughout the book, she seeks to define Iranianness and find the positive in her countrymen as a whole. Sometimes she is able to win that battle and sometimes it is hard for her to reconcile politics with social empathy. Taught that education is power and must be used to benefit of her country, Ms. Farman Farmaian details her battle to carve out a place for herself and social work in an ever changing, volatile Iran.
Ms. Farman Farmaian does an excellent job detailing the political events of Iran from pre-Mossadegh to the revolution from the point of view of someone who was moderate and fairly removed from politics. It is an interesting take on events in Iran, viewed from the lens of Ms. Farman Farmaian's passion - social work.
Throughout the book, she seeks to define Iranianness and find the positive in her countrymen as a whole. Sometimes she is able to win that battle and sometimes it is hard for her to reconcile politics with social empathy. Taught that education is power and must be used to benefit of her country, Ms. Farman Farmaian details her battle to carve out a place for herself and social work in an ever changing, volatile Iran.
November 18, 2016
بالاخره تموم شد با تشکر از نشونه جغدی نازنینم که محرکم بود:-) ...اگه یه پزشک یا مهندس یا تحصیل کرده در هر رشته ای بود بهش حق میدادم این قضاوت رو داشته باشه اما به عنوان یه مددکار انتظار نداشتم همچین قضاوتی بکنه... البته جای ایشون نیستم و نمیدونم اگه چنین ظلمی به خودم میشد عکس العملم چی بود ولی از مادر مددکاری ایران انتظار متفاوته.... ولی واقعن در جریان انقلاب به خیلی آدمها ظلم شد و این قابل انکار نیست:-(
March 8, 2020
احتمال لو رفتن داستان هست:
زندگی‌نام� ستاره فرمانفرماییان فرزند یکی از شاهزادگان دوره قاجار است، در ابتدا در خانه‌ا� به همراه دیگر همسران شازده زندگی می‌کنن�. شازده در تمام مدت به آن‌ه� آموزش میداد که هدف آنها باید پیشرفت کشور و در راستای بهتر شدن مملک باشد. پسرانش را به خارج از کشور برای تحصیل میفرستاد و سپس‌ب� میهن بازمیگشتند تا به میهنشان در راستای علمی که آموختن خدمت کنند.
رضا شاه پهلوی به دلیل آنکه این‌ه� از خانواده قاجار بودند با آنها به درستی تا نمیکرد و بر این اساس کاخ خود را بر روی زمین� آنها ساخت و بسیاری از املاک� آن‌ه� را تحت تصرف خود در آورد. شازده به خاطر اینکه میدانست اگر مخالفتی کند رضاشاه آن‌ه� را دستگیر می‌کن� به تمام اوامر او گوش میداد تا از خانواده خود مراقبت کند.
با تمام این مواظبت‌ه� یکی از پسرانش را از دست میده�. پس از آن از غم آن اتفاق سکته و فوت می‌کن�.
ستاره که ازدواج نکرده بود براساس عرف آن روز‌ه� به کالیفرنیای جنوبی میرود تا در رشته جامعه شناسی تحصیل کند، انتخاب این رشته تنها دلیلش دغدغه اوست برای کمک به کشورش.
با تمام فراز و نشیب ها به کشور بازمیگردد و موسسه مددکاری اجتماعی تاسیس میکند. میسازد، بسیار میسازد، ملک و ساختمان و ... نه‌هااا� آدم دانا میسازد، آدمها� فقیر و بی‌سوا� را آموزش می‌دا� تا بتوانند برای خود شغلی برپا کنند و...
انقلاب شد، تعدادی از دانشجوهایش او را متهم به سمت شاه بودن و صهیونیسم بودن و ... کردن. او را دستگیر و پس از بازجویی با جانب داری آیت الله طالقانی او از اعدام جان سالم به در میبرد ولی از زبان طالقانی به گوشش میرسانند که هر چه زودتر از کشور خارج شود.
سال‌ه� زحمت کشید، از صفر شروع کرد، بدون آنکه به قول خودش از حزب باد باشد کارش را پیش برد، اما همه� را مجبور شد پشت سر بگذارد و به آمریکا پیش دخترش برود.
البته قابل ذکر هست که آدمها� تندرو آن زمان تا خبر دستگیریش را شنیدند تمام اموال او را غارت و مصادره کردند.
با هیچ دارایی از کشور خارج شد و پس از تلاشها� بسیار آن سر دنیا به کار مشغول شد. دست از کمک به کسی برنداشت.
کتاب از زبان خودش براساس دست نوشته‌های� که به دست کسی از طریق دوست مشترک میرسد در طول چهار سال و نیم گفت و گو بین ستاره و آن نویسنده آمریکایی کتاب نگاشته می‌شو�.
در بین گفتن داستان زندگی‌اش� داستان تاریخ دوران پهلوی و انقلاب با جزییات روایت میشه.
جواب خوبیه� همیشه داده نمیشه، جواب سالم بودن همیشه داده نمیشه، البته خب این از رسوم دنیاست.
پیشنهاد میکنم بخونیدش
زندگی‌نام� ستاره فرمانفرماییان فرزند یکی از شاهزادگان دوره قاجار است، در ابتدا در خانه‌ا� به همراه دیگر همسران شازده زندگی می‌کنن�. شازده در تمام مدت به آن‌ه� آموزش میداد که هدف آنها باید پیشرفت کشور و در راستای بهتر شدن مملک باشد. پسرانش را به خارج از کشور برای تحصیل میفرستاد و سپس‌ب� میهن بازمیگشتند تا به میهنشان در راستای علمی که آموختن خدمت کنند.
رضا شاه پهلوی به دلیل آنکه این‌ه� از خانواده قاجار بودند با آنها به درستی تا نمیکرد و بر این اساس کاخ خود را بر روی زمین� آنها ساخت و بسیاری از املاک� آن‌ه� را تحت تصرف خود در آورد. شازده به خاطر اینکه میدانست اگر مخالفتی کند رضاشاه آن‌ه� را دستگیر می‌کن� به تمام اوامر او گوش میداد تا از خانواده خود مراقبت کند.
با تمام این مواظبت‌ه� یکی از پسرانش را از دست میده�. پس از آن از غم آن اتفاق سکته و فوت می‌کن�.
ستاره که ازدواج نکرده بود براساس عرف آن روز‌ه� به کالیفرنیای جنوبی میرود تا در رشته جامعه شناسی تحصیل کند، انتخاب این رشته تنها دلیلش دغدغه اوست برای کمک به کشورش.
با تمام فراز و نشیب ها به کشور بازمیگردد و موسسه مددکاری اجتماعی تاسیس میکند. میسازد، بسیار میسازد، ملک و ساختمان و ... نه‌هااا� آدم دانا میسازد، آدمها� فقیر و بی‌سوا� را آموزش می‌دا� تا بتوانند برای خود شغلی برپا کنند و...
انقلاب شد، تعدادی از دانشجوهایش او را متهم به سمت شاه بودن و صهیونیسم بودن و ... کردن. او را دستگیر و پس از بازجویی با جانب داری آیت الله طالقانی او از اعدام جان سالم به در میبرد ولی از زبان طالقانی به گوشش میرسانند که هر چه زودتر از کشور خارج شود.
سال‌ه� زحمت کشید، از صفر شروع کرد، بدون آنکه به قول خودش از حزب باد باشد کارش را پیش برد، اما همه� را مجبور شد پشت سر بگذارد و به آمریکا پیش دخترش برود.
البته قابل ذکر هست که آدمها� تندرو آن زمان تا خبر دستگیریش را شنیدند تمام اموال او را غارت و مصادره کردند.
با هیچ دارایی از کشور خارج شد و پس از تلاشها� بسیار آن سر دنیا به کار مشغول شد. دست از کمک به کسی برنداشت.
کتاب از زبان خودش براساس دست نوشته‌های� که به دست کسی از طریق دوست مشترک میرسد در طول چهار سال و نیم گفت و گو بین ستاره و آن نویسنده آمریکایی کتاب نگاشته می‌شو�.
در بین گفتن داستان زندگی‌اش� داستان تاریخ دوران پهلوی و انقلاب با جزییات روایت میشه.
جواب خوبیه� همیشه داده نمیشه، جواب سالم بودن همیشه داده نمیشه، البته خب این از رسوم دنیاست.
پیشنهاد میکنم بخونیدش
May 11, 2009
In this heartfelt autobiography, Ms. Farman-Farmaian provides us with a personal account of Persian history and culture. The book chronicles her life experiences � as a young girl born into an aristocratic Qajar family to an adult woman who founded social work in Iran and was then forced into exile in order to survive. The writing is clear, wonderfully descriptive and contains a smattering of the Farsi language. It is amazing that after all she has been through that she is able to provide a fairly unbiased account of not only the events that took place but also of the men in power (the Shah and Ayatollah Khomeini). She is certainly a very courageous individual.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the Iranian culture.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the Iranian culture.
June 20, 2009
This is a hauntingly beautiful account, not only of one woman's life story, but of the 20th-century history of Iran. It traces the rise and fall of Shahs, princes, and political movements, all as a tapestry through which the thread of Sattareh Farman Farmaian's remarkable life is woven. It is an absolutely essential background to understanding the current political turmoil in Iran and it gives powerful insights into Persian culture and the mindset and outlook of the Iranian people.
I only gave it five stars because I couldn't give it six. Highly, highly recommended.
I only gave it five stars because I couldn't give it six. Highly, highly recommended.
May 9, 2021
A fascinating memoir covering many decades of Iranian history thru the life experiences of one woman. Having been a child in Iran during the last decade that the book covers, the Islamic Revolution, I was given an insight not afforded to a child but I also remember crystal clearly the fear and anxiety she describes as well as the sense of loss. A lot of emotions were stirred for me that I'm not eloquent enough to put into words, I'm happy that the author was!
October 12, 2018
همیشه از خوندن تاریخ لذت میبرم اما از خوندن تاریخ از دریچه نگاه آدمها لذت بیشتری عایدم میشه. سَتاره از اون دسته آدماییه که براش احترام زیادی قائلم. البته جاهایی توی کتاب کلی گویی هایی کرده بود مثلا "ایرانی‌ه� حزب بادند" و یا "ایرانی‌ه� حسودند" و از این قبیل جملات که با توجه به اتفاقایی که طی سالهای ۵۷ براش تو ایران میفته بهش تا حدودی حق میدم که با بغض بنویسه.
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