List of Iranian women

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

This is a list of Iranian women.

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
• Maryam Mirzakhani, mathematician and the first woman to win Fields Medal.
• Nahid Shahmehri, Director of the Laboratory for Intelligent Information, Linköpings Universitet, Sweden^[1]
• Alenush Terian, astronomer
• Saba Valadkhan, American Association for the Advancement of Science Young Scientist Award

Academics

• Janet Afary, historian
• Lady Amin (Banoo Amin), jurisprudent and theologian
• Jaleh Amouzgar, Iranologist, professor at 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^[2]
• Shirin Ebadi, lawyer, lecturer at Tehran University (2003 Nobel Laureate)
• Maryam Mirzakhani, Mathematician, Professor at Stanford University
• Mehrangiz Kar, lawyer, fellow at Harvard University
• Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Professor of History at University of Pennsylvania; novelist^[3][4]
• 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; Professor of Persian and Women Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States^[5]
• Valentine Moghadam, Professor of Sociology and International Affairs; Director of International Affairs Program and Director of Middle East Studies Program, Northeastern University^[6]
• 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^[7]
• Pardis Sabeti, geneticist at Harvard Medical School
• Reihaneh Safavi-Naini, cryptographer; professor of computer science; 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; research associate at the Center for Near Eastern Studies at UCLA, US^[8]

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 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)
• Rabe'e Ghazdari, poet
• Roya Hakakian, writer and poet
• Justine Harun-Mahdavi, German-Iranian writer
• Sheema Kalbasi, poet
• Leila Kasra, poet and Lyricist
• Porochista Khakpour, novelist
• Mahsati, Medieval poet
• 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
• Shahrnush Parsipur, novelist
• Zoya Pirzad, novelist and winner of Hooshang Golshiri Literary Award
• Masoumeh Ramhormozi, writer
• Moniru Ravanipor, writer
• 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
• 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
• Sholeh Wolpe, poet

Actresses and filmmakers

• Narges Abyar, author, film director and screenwriter
• Pegah Ahangarani, actress and winner of Best Actress award, 23rd Cairo International Film Festival
• Mahnaz Afshar, actress
• Nazanin Afshin-Jam, actress, singer/songwriter, human rights campaigner, author
• Shohreh Aghdashloo, actress, 2003 Oscar nominee for House of Sand and Fog
• Taraneh Alidoosti, Best Actress award winner, Locarno International Film Festival, 2002
• Mary Apick, actress, Best Actress award winner (1977)
• Behnoosh Bakhtiari, actress
• Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, director
• Catherine Bell, actress, JAG (half Iranian)
• Niloofar Beyzaie, playwright, theatre director
• Nadia Bjorlin, actress
• Shiva Boloorian, actress and play director
• Nazanin Boniadi, actress
• Pouran Derakhshandeh, film director, producer, screenwriter, and researcher
• Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, actress and social photographer
• Golshifteh Farahani, actress and musician; Best Actress award from the 22nd Nantes 3 Continents Festival; Symorgh for Best Actress from the 16th Fajr International Film Festival
• Aryana Farshad, cineaste and documentary film maker; winner of Audience Award, Telly Award, and Davey Award, 2008
• Tina Gharavi, screenwriter and director
• Googoosh, actress, singer, songwriter
• Azita Hajian, actress, Crystal Simorgh winner for Best Actress, 17th Fajr International Film Festival
• Mitra Hajjar, actress
• Leila Hatami, Best Actress award, Locarno International Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival (2002)
• Rita Jahanforuz, actress and singer
• Niki Karimi, actress and director
• Maryam Kavyani, actress
• Maryam Keshavarz, director
• Baran Kosari, 25th Fajr International Film Festival awards winner
• Hana Makhmalbaf, director
• Samira Makhmalbaf, director
• Yassamin Maleknasr, actress and director
• Tahmineh Milani, feminist filmmaker
• Hengameh Mofid, film and theatre actress, director, dramatist and university professor
• Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, actress and director
• Granaz Moussavi, film director, screenwriter
• Mahin Oskouei, first female Iranian film director
• Shiva Rose, actress and anti-war activist^[9]
• Nahid Persson Sarvestani, documentary filmmaker
• Sarah Shahi, actress
• Yara Shahidi, actress
• Bahar Soomekh, actress, Crash and Saw III
• Hāni'eh Tavassoli, actress
• Hedyeh Tehrani, actress
• Necar Zadegan, actress
• Nina Zanjani, actress
• Merila Zarei, award-winning actress
• Irene Zazians, actress

Fine arts

• Akram Monfared Arya, painter
• Iran Darrudi, painter
• Mokarrameh Ghanbari, painter
• Nahid Hagigat, painter and illustrator based in New York City.
• 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
• Sara Shamsavari, visual artist, photographer, musical artist
• Niloofar Ziae, painter, art instructor

Designers

• Farshid Moussavi, architect, founder of Foreign Office Architects
• Marjane Satrapi, film director and graphic novelist

Musicians

• Lily Afshar, guitarist
• Leila Arab, musician
• Roya Arab, musician, singer and songwriter
• Sima Bina, singer
• Darya Dadvar, soprano soloist and composer
• Delkash (Esmat Bagherpour), singer
• Leila Forouhar, singer
• Shushā Guppy, writer, editor, and singer of Persian and Western folk-songs
• Hayedeh, singer
• Monika Jalili, Persian vocalist of Dutch-German origin
• Farzaneh Kaboli, a leader in Iranian folkloric and national dance art
• Ghashang Kamkar, musician
• Leila Kasra, poet and lyricist
• Anousheh Khalili, singer-songwriter
• Mahasti, singer
• Arefeh Mansouri, Inventor, designer
• Marzieh, singer
• Parisa (Fatemeh Va'ezi), doyen of the classical Persian singers
• Laleh Pourkarim, singer-songwriter
• Soodabeh Salem, musician, conductor
• Salome, hip hop artist
• Shakila, singer, winner of Persian Academy Award
• Shohreh Solati, singer
• Monir Vakili, singer of western opera and Persian folk music^[10]
• Qamar ol-Molouk Vaziri, "queen of Persian music"
• Farzane Zamen, musician, singer, producer, songwriter

Athletes

• Padideh Boloorizadeh, Asian Pentathlon champion, captain of Iranian National Volleyball team
• Leila Ebrahimi, runner
• Janet Kohan-Sedq, runner
• Aravane Rezaï, tennis player
• Laleh Seddigh, autoracing and rally champion of Iran
• Shima Mehri, Motorcycle Biker
• Behnaz Shafiei, Motocross Rider
• Kimia Alizadeh, First Iranian Female Olympic Medalist

Politicians

• Masoumeh Abad
• Marzieh Afkham, ambassador
• 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
• Professor Haleh Afshar, the Baroness Afshar, feminist academic and crossbench Peer in the British House of Lords
• Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent
• Goli Ameri, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
• Masoumeh Ebtekar, Iranian Vice President
• Sibel Edmonds, PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award winner;^[11] effectively challenged FBI
• Shahla Habibi
• Fatemeh Haghighatjou, former Member of Parliament
• Fatemeh Javadi, Vice President and head of the Department of the Environment
• Farah Karimi, Iranian female Dutch Member of Parliament
• Elaheh Koulaei, former Member of Parliament and Professor of political sciences
• Azar Majedi, Communist activist and politician
• Farrokhroo Parsa, medical doctor and former Minister of Education (the first Iranian woman to become a deputy and later Minister of Education); executed in 1980, following the Iranian Revolution
• Nasrin Soltankhah
• Raumesh Akbari, Tennessee State Representative for District 91
• Nusrat Bhutto, former First Lady of Pakistan, 2nd chairperson of Pakistan People's Party

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
• Nur Jahan, Mughal Empress

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 the 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
• Parvaneh Eskandari, Dariush Forouhar's wife
• Roya Hakakian, Iranian-Jewish human rights activist and author
• Faezeh Hashemi, journalist, women rights activist, and former member of Iranian parliament
• Sheema Kalbasi, human rights activist, author
• Mehrangiz Kar, human rights lawyer and winner of the Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize
• Zahra Kazemi, slain political photographer
• Shahla Lahiji, human rights activist
• Lily Mazahery, internationally recognized lawyer and human rights activist
• Narges Mohammadi, 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
• Azadeh Shahshahani, human rights lawyer and past president of the US-based National Lawyers Guild
• Shahla Sherkat, editor; pioneer of the women's movement in modern Iran
• Nasrin Sotoudeh, 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

• 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
• Neda Agha-Soltan, shot during the 2009 Iranian election protests; her name quickly became a rallying cry for the opposition
• Zahra Bani Ameri, physician
• Ramona Amiri, Miss World Canada 2005, first runner up in Miss Universe Canada 2007 pageant
• Rudi Bakhtiar, TV news anchor
• Ladan and Laleh Bijani, conjoined twins
• Sahar Biniaz, Miss Universe Canada 2012
• Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
• Haleh Esfandiari, scholar, detainee^[12]
• Nazanin Fatehi, controversially sentenced to death for murder
• Zeynab Jalaliyan, Kurdish prisoner
• Behnaz Mozakka, died in 2005 London bombing
• Shermine Shahrivar, Miss Germany in 2004 and then won the overall title of Miss Europe in 2005 while competing in France
• Samantha Tajik, Miss Universe Canada 2008

Others

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

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Women of Iran.