Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiary

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Soraya, 1953

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary , also Soraya Esfandiari-Bachtiari , ( Persian ثریا اسفندیاری بختیاری[ soɾæjjɑ ɛsfændijɑɾi jɛ bæχtijɑɾi ]; * June 22, 1932 in Isfahan , Iran (Persia); † October 25, 2001 in Paris ) was the wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Persia (since 1935 Iran) from 1951 to 1958 .

Life until marriage

Soraya and Reza on their wedding day, February 12, 1951

On her father's side, Soraya came from one of the most distinguished Persian families. Her father, Prince Khalil Esfandiary Bakhtiary (1901-1983), was descended from the powerful tribal princely family of the Bakhtiary nomads and was the Imperial Iranian Ambassador to Germany from 1951 to 1961 . Her mother was Eva Karl (1906–1994) from Berlin, a Moscow- born saleswoman whose grandfather had reorganized the Russian arms system. Soraya's parents met during Prince Khalil Esfandiary Bakhtiary's studies in Berlin.

Soraya had a brother, Bijan Prince Esfandiary Bakhtiary (1937-2001).

Soraya grew up in Berlin and Isfahan, attended Swiss boarding schools in Montreux and Lausanne and the Saint James boarding school in London . She spoke fluent German , English , French and Persian .

Marriage to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and divorce

On February 12, 1951 Soraya married in Golestan Palace of Tehran Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , the last Shah of present-day Iran . Soraya was given the title "Princess" and the salutation " Imperial Highness ". During her marriage to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, she was named Soraya Pahlavi. On the occasion of a visit by the Shah and his wife to Germany, she was awarded the "Special Level of the Grand Cross" of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany .

Since the marriage did not produce the hoped-for heir to the throne, she was divorced on April 6, 1958 for reasons of state . Soraya had already left Iran in February 1958 and first moved to her parents in Cologne. The divorce inspired the Belgian writer Françoise Mallet-Jorris to write a song (Je veux pleurer comme Soraya - I want to cry like Soraya) . It was sung by Marie-Paule Belle .

As Empress she was often the subject of the rainbow press , which she called the "German on the Peacock Throne ". However, this is incorrect, since the coronation did not take place on the (lost) peacock throne, but on the Nader throne and the Pahlavi Shahs otherwise used a simple, Achaemenid-style throne. Her divorce was also followed with great interest by these papers, for a fictional interview assumed in 1961 she received 15,000  marks in damages after the Soraya judgment in 1973 .

Life after divorce

Soraya was in a relationship with the director Maximilian Schell and the industrial heir Gunter Sachs and also lived briefly in Munich . At that time she often visited the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten , which reminded her of her state visit to Germany in March 1955.

Soraya later went to France and began a career as a film actress . She was first seen in the movie Three Faces of a Woman . She later fell in love with the Italian director Franco Indovina (1932–1972), with whom she was in a relationship until his death. After Indovina was killed in a plane crash, she spent the rest of her life traveling around Europe. She shied away from public appearances and was extremely rare in the international jet set because she suffered from depression .

Soraya lived in Paris for the past few years and appeared in public every now and then. She had no contact with Farah Diba , the third wife of the Shah, who also lived in Paris after the fall of the monarchy.

death

The family grave of the Esfandiary-Bakhtiari family in the Westfriedhof in Munich

Soraya died on October 25, 2001 in her Paris apartment at 46 avenue Montaigne. The funeral service took place on November 6 in the American Cathedral in Paris. The mourners were Princess Aschraf Pahlavi , Prince Gholam Reza Pahlavi , the Count of Paris , Victor Emanuel of Savoy , Barbara of Yugoslavia , Nancy Chopard, Rixa of Oldenburg and Ira von Fürstenberg . The remains were buried in the family grave of the Westfriedhof in Munich .

Her time as Queen of Iran was filmed in 2004 by Lodovico Gasparini under the title Soraya with Anna Valle and Erol Sander and Anja Kruse in the lead roles.

Her estate, the value of which is given as 4.5 million euros, was disputed in court until 2016. The Cologne Higher Regional Court ultimately spoke about the movable part of the property, u. a. Jewelry and the furnishings of Soraya's Paris apartment to three French non-profit organizations that Soraya had named as heirs in her will in case her brother Bijan Esfandiary Bakhtiary died without any legitimate children. The remaining fortune went to the universal heir from Soraya's brother, who died just a few days after Soraya. A few hours before his death he wrote a brief note  about his chauffeur and private secretary Hassan F. as his heir. This was recognized by the Cologne Higher Regional Court.

title

  • Her Majesty (Malekeh) the Queen of Persia (1951–1956)
  • Her Imperial Highness Princess Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary (1956-2001)

Awards (selection)

Works

Biographies

  • Soraya Esfandiary: My Own Story (1963)
  • Princess Soraya: The Palace of Solitude (1991)

Filmography

literature

Web links

Commons : Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiary  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Life of Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari . tv.orf.at
  2. ↑ the form of the name Eva Carl occurs
  3. ↑ Paparazzi they are still flashing: The Shah's ex-wife is queen of the crowd . In: Berliner Zeitung , July 1, 1995
  4. ↑ a b Empress Soraya in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
  5. ↑ Ex-Empress Soraya died . Tobias Daniel, October 26, 2001
  6. ↑ munzinger.de
  7. ^ Anselm Weyer: Princess Soraya. A princess enchanted Cologne. Article in the Kölnische Rundschau on May 21, 2016, accessed on August 13, 2016
  8. ↑ Gunter Sachs: The best game . In: Der Spiegel . No. 39 , 1962 ( online ).
  9. ↑ Soraya and the history of the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten
  10. ↑ Dominik Cziesche: The Empress' jackpot . In: Der Spiegel . No. 48 , 2003, p. 64 ( online ).
  11. ↑ Hundreds of people at the funeral service in Paris . ( bz-berlin.de [accessed on October 7, 2016]).
  12. ↑ http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/archiv/trauerfeier-fuer-ex-kaiserin-soraya-in-paris-requiem-fuer-eine-verstossene-maerchenfee,10810590,9949174.html
  13. ^ "Soraya in Munich - The Empress on the Westfriedhof" , series "Land und Menschen" from October 19, 2014, Bayerischer Rundfunk , Bayern 2 (article and audio)
  14. ^ Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved September 19, 2017 (English).
  15. ↑ Article in Legal Times Online
  16. ↑ Soraya's estate: Brother's chauffeur inherits , accessed on February 23, 2016
  17. ↑ 30 million euros estate: Soraya - Battle for Legacy . ( Memento from June 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) mdr.de, February 23, 2011
  18. ^ Dispute over the legacy of ex-Empress Soraya settled , report from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , accessed on February 23, 2016.
predecessor Office Successor
Fausia of Egypt Empress of Iran
1951–1958 		Farah Pahlavi
personal data
SURNAME Esfandiary Bakhtiary, Soraya
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Esfandiary-Bakhtiary, Soraya (full name); ثریا اسفندیاری بختیاری (Persian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Iranian nobles, Queen of Persia (1951-1958)
DATE OF BIRTH June 22, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Isfahan , Iran
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 2001
Place of death Paris