The most beautiful Persian woman

July 27th, 2009

I always thought that a woman out of a Persian Miniature will be known as the Iranian Marianne—maybe something like this dreamy painting by Farah Ossouli:

farah ossouli adam and eve painting three angels watching michele roohani

or the ageless super model, Yasmin Parvaneh (picture on the left) or her daughter Amber Le Bon (on the right):

yasmin parvaneh amber le bon michele roohani persian

It could have been one of the young beautiful movie stars or myriads of miscellaneous beauty queens or even one of these two who represent the separate worlds of today’s Iranian women:

iranian women worlds apart

Little did we know that an unknown young woman, Neda Agha Soltan, killed ruthlessly in the Iranian election protests last month would be the face of the Persian woman to the world…

jacques brinon AP neda iranian protests

Neda was a “casualty” of the conflict; she gave a face to the faceless victims. May she not have been killed in vain…

melvin sokolsky twiggy masks michele roohani

I am sure Melvin Sokolsky doesn’t mind the great Reza being inspired by him in making the Neda masks.

Posted by micheleroohani
Filed in painting, photography, politics
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7 Responses to “The most beautiful Persian woman”

  1. Mehr Says:
    July 27th, 2009 at 11:17 pm

    Dear Michele:
    Another beautiful post expected of you!!!!
    I am sure neither Melvin nor Twiggy would mind the beautiful job you did. You might want to post this picture in Youtube for people to see. Yes, Neda was not killed in vain. She became the voice of all women in the world who cry for freedom. Her mission in this life ended this way. She agreed to become a symbol of this green movement by intention, though not aware herself. Life is not accidental, more is death.
    Thank you

  2. Farhad Says:
    July 28th, 2009 at 6:02 am

    You are right about the beauty of Persian women but do not forget about the Persian men, they are okay too.
    I want to add some words to the subject of”Beautiful women”: I believe the beauty of mind and character define the quality of beauty.

  3. zoe Says:
    July 28th, 2009 at 7:27 am

    this is a beautiful post, thank you.

  4. Ali Says:
    July 28th, 2009 at 11:08 pm

    Great post Michele. Persian woman have a beauty all their own. Today, we unfortunately have come to define beauty by the photoshop images of anorexic woman forced down our throat by the fashionistas of Paris and Milan. But I hope a balance is reached where we can appreciate beauty in diversity of looks and shapes and not only the one dictated by fashion gurus!

    By the way, an interesting note here is that the candid shot in your blog of the young girl crossing the street in Tehran with the background of another in black veil is that of my first cousin Atlassi! This picture was taken unbeknownst to her as she was crossing the street one day in Tehran a couple of years ago and has been circulating the web since! It’s a small world! :)

  5. HT Says:
    July 29th, 2009 at 10:30 am

    Encore une fois le despotisme a frappé, encore une fois de TROP, les mercenaires dévoilent leur vrai visage devant les yeux des milliers de gens, sur les écrans du monde entier. Quel mépris pour les droits de l’homme !!

    Nedah, Sohrab, et tous ces défenseurs de la liberté……..Vous êtes plus vivants que jamais, nous portons votre beau visage pour défier ces criminels.

    Nous avons besoin de votre courage pour continuer ce combat.
    Vous êtes plus vivants que jamais dans notre cœur et dans notre pensée.
    Grâce à vous le monde sait que les dirigeants iraniens sont une petite minorité.
    Grâce à vous le monde connaît mieux nos revendications les plus élémentaires
    Grâce à vous les peuples opprimés peuvent espérer combattre leurs oppresseurs.
    Et enfin grâce à vous l’anéantissement de ces régimes totalitaires qui règnent sans partage
    Et étouffent toute forme d’expression c’est imminent.

    Croyez-moi, le glas sonnera bientôt sur ce Régime de corruption et de répression à outrance !
     

  6. micheleroohani Says:
    July 29th, 2009 at 1:38 pm

    thank you guys for all the great comments! thank you ali for “unveiling” your beautiful cousin, Atlassi, in the picture of two different iranian women (i still don’t know the pgotographer’s name and i ALWAYS credit the original artist so if anybody knows please let me know).

    i recommend Roger Cohen’s masterpiece from the New York Review of Books http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22952

    i’ve been waiting for him to get back to writing about Iran again since his return from Tehran.

  7. joseph r buckley Says:
    August 5th, 2009 at 5:19 pm

    god bless beautiful Neda brave and free in her Persian heart .
    the Creator saw everything may freedom and blessings rain from heaven those with open eyes have seen the Truth perhaps someday t shall prevail.
    the earth has lost a beautiful light and is a darker place…….rest in peace for it is the only place i fear we shall truly find in this evil system .