Farideh Ghotbi

Farideh Ghotbi, also known as Farideh Diba, was an Iranian public figure. She was the mother of Farah Pahlavi, the former Shahbanu and third wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. Ghotbi was known for her influence on both her daughter and within the Diba and Pahlavi families.

Biography

Tadji Ghotbi was born on 1 February 1920 in Lahijan, Gilan province, Qajar-era Iran. She was a descendant of the Sufi scholar, . Ghotbi attended Jeanne d'Arc School in Tehran.
In 1937, she married, a captain in the Imperial Iranian Army and a law student, and son of a Persian Ambassador to the Romanov Court in St. Petersburg, Russia. They had a daughter, Farah Diba born on October 14, 1938. In the summers, the family lived in Shemiran to escape the heat. In 1947, her husband Sohrab Diba fell ill and died a year later of pancreatic cancer.
With the marriage of her daughter Farah to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on 20 December 1959, she became a member of the Iranian Imperial family. She was very close to her younger granddaughter Leila Pahlavi and helped raise her. From the beginnings of the Iranian Revolution in 1978, Ghotbi lived in exile in Paris.

Death and legacy

She died on 29 November 2000 in Paris and was buried in the Passy Cemetery. Her granddaughter Leila died seven months later on 10 June 2001 in London, and was buried next to her.
The posthumously published book, Dokhtaram Farah was falsely attributed as a memoir written by Farideh Ghotbi.
The Sa'dabad Complex in Shemiran, Greater Tehran houses the Museum of Artistic Creatures, which was once known as the Palace of Farideh Ghotbi.
The Iranian television historical drama The Enigma of the Shah, featured actress Afsaneh Naseri as Farideh.