An Enduring Love -- Fara Pahlavi
Fri., October 26, 07:19 PM
Today in history: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,the Shah of Iran — born October 26, 1919; crowned twenty-six years after he became shah — October 26, 1967. My daily newspaper picked up the anniversary of the coronation but not the birthday. I knew about it because I had read An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah by Fara Pahlavi, his third wife.
I began reading with a certain sense of detachment, for I had no particular admiration for the Shah. The book was an autobiography, which I usually enjoy, and it was available in large print. I would try it.
“Readers seeking a female perspective on Iran's turbulent recent history will enjoy this candid, straightforward account,” said Publishers Weekly. I wasn't thrilled with the physical book; there was no index, and the pictures were grainy. As I read I discovered that the pictures were not in order, and many of them were not dated. There was a map, however, and I found that useful.
I knew very little about Persia/Iran, and what I knew was not especially flattering. I first heard of Farah, probably through Time magazine, when the announcement was made that the Shah of Iran had chosen a new bride (his third). She may have been “not of royal blood” — whatever that means — but she was brought up a child of privilege. (Certainly, the Shah could not just pluck some little shepherdess off a hillside.) Farah was educated — remarkable in itself, given the illiteracy rate in Iran seventy years ago. Not only that, she went to European schools, run by priests and nuns, in order that she might learn to speak French and become cosmopolitan. The Diba family, however, were devout Muslims with a love of their Persian heritage.
I was surprised at the modern level of her education. Along with her academic studies, Farah played tennis and basketball; she led a group of cub scouts. These activities added to her experience and abilities and would serve her well in her life as Shahbanou. She was studying architecture in Paris when she first caught the attention of the King.
They were married in 1959, when she was twenty-one and he was forty-nine. By the time I got to that part, I was intrigued. This was different from Queen Noor, who was an American and a Christian when she met King Hussein. Yet I sensed similarities. Farah's most important function, of course, was to produce an heir to the throne; eventually she had two boys and two girls. But she was also involved in civic duties, especially in the White Revolution that was the program of the Shah.
Bringing the old civilization into the modern era was an enormous undertaking, begun by Reza Shah in the 1920's and continued by his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It included giving land back to the people and privatizing government enterprises. According to Farah, the Shah gave large portions of his own land back to the people, but the clerics fought it every step of the way. Their reaction was reminiscent of what I said in A Question of Religion. The most vocal of the dissidents was Ayatollah Khomeini, who took refuge in France for many years. We all know what he did — now.
I have only Her Highness' side of the story, but much of it is heartbreaking, as she describes the revolution that removed the king from power. He suffered through his final illness far from his home and with something less than the best of medical care, as far as I can see.
It was interesting to follow, from another country's viewpoint, the role of the United States in this civil controversy. (I can't call it a war in that time.) The U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists. That is supposed to be a given, but it is not the way it looks to me. Oh, well, we don't torture prisoners either, do we?
It was an interesting book, even when I did not agree with it. But I came away with no enlightenment or compassion or any answers to most of my questions. Someone else may have better luck.
