Esmat Dowlatshahi

Esmat Dowlatshahi
BornEsmat ol-Molouk Dowlatshahi
1905 (1905)
Kermanshah, Sublime State of Iran
Died25 July 1995(1995-07-25) (aged 89–90)
Tehran, Iran
Burial
Behesht-e Zahra, Tehran
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1923; died 1944)​
Issue
House
FatherPrince Gholam Ali Mirza Dowlatshahi
MotherMobtahej Od-dowlah Morad

Esmat ol-Molouk Dowlatshahi (Persian: عصمت‌الملوک دولتشاهی; 1905 – 25 July 1995) was an Iranian royal and the fourth and last wife of Reza Shah.

Early life

Dowlatshahi was born in 1905.[1] She was a member of the Qajar dynasty.[1][2] Her father was Gholam Ali Mirza "Mojalal Dowleh" Dowlatshahi (1878–1934).[1] Her mother was Mobtahedj-od-Dowleh, daughter of Ebtehadj Saltaneh and Abou Nasr Mirza Hessam Saltaneh II.[1] Her paternal grandfather was Hessam-Saltaneh I. She had two brothers and one sister, Ashraf Saltaneh II.[1] Mehrangiz Dowlatshahi, member of the Majlis and Iranian ambassador, was her cousin.[3]

Marriage

In her youth

Dowlatshahi and Reza Shah wed in 1923.[3][4] She was his fourth, last and favourite wife.[5][6] Reza Shah was the minister of war when they married.[3] From this marriage five children were born: Abdul Reza, Ahmad Reza, Mahmoud Reza, Fatemeh and Hamid Reza Pahlavi.[1] Her husband became Shah of Iran in 1925. However, it was her husband's second wife Tadj ol-Molouk who was given a public role as queen.[7] This situation did not make Tadj ol-Molouk happy due to her jealousy of Dowlatshahi which she disclosed in her memoirs.[7]

Dowlatshahi and Reza Shah lived in the Marble Palace in Tehran with their children.[5] She accompanied her husband to Mauritius when he was exiled there in September 1941, but she returned to Iran after a few months.[8]

Later life and death

Grave of Esmat Dolatshahi (2nd from the left) in Behesht-e Zahra

Dowlatshahi stayed in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.[8] She visited the Museum of Reza Shah Pahlavi in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 16 June 1980.[9] She died on 25 July 1995.[10] She was buried in the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, Tehran.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Anne Commire; Deborah Klezmer, eds. (2007). "Esmat (d. 1995)". Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Waterford, CT: Yorkin Publications. pp. 613–614. ISBN 978-0-7876-9394-7.
  2. ^ Eileen Pollack (Fall 2004). "The Jewish Shah". Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction. 6 (2): 53. doi:10.1353/fge.2004.0041. S2CID 109585481.
  3. ^ a b c Camron Michael Amin (2002). The Making of the Modern Iranian Woman: Gender, State Policy, and Popular Culture, 1865-1946. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-8130-3126-2.
  4. ^ Cyrus Ghani (2001). Iran and the Rise of the Reza Shah: From Qajar Collapse to Pahlavi Power. London: I.B.Tauris. p. 425. ISBN 978-1-86064-629-4.
  5. ^ a b Diana Childress (2011). Equal Rights Is Our Minimum Demand: The Women's Rights Movement in Iran 2005. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-7613-7273-8.
  6. ^ "Iranian Princess Fatemeh Pahlavi". The Beaver County Times. London. 2 June 1987. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  7. ^ a b Janet Afary (2009). Sexual Politics in Modern Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-107-39435-3.
  8. ^ a b Mehdi Jangravi. "Reza Shah's Wives". Institute for Iranian Studies. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  9. ^ "South Africa Museum". Associated Press. 16 June 1980. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Reza Shah Pahlavi". Iran Chamber Society. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery". Harmsen. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.