Fawzia of Egypt
Fawzia فوزية | |
---|---|
Queen of IranPrincess of Egypt | |
Ras el-Tin Palace, Alexandria, Sultanate of Egypt | |
Died | 2 July 2013 Alexandria, Egypt | (aged 91)
Burial | , Egypt |
Spouse | |
Issue |
|
House | Muhammad Ali (by birth) Pahlavi (by marriage) |
Father | Fuad I of Egypt |
Mother | Nazli Sabri |
Religion | Sunni Islam |
Fawzia of Egypt (
In 1949, Fawzia married Colonel Ismail Chirine, an Egyptian diplomat, with whom she had a son and a daughter.
Early life and education
Princess Fawzia was born Her Sultanic Highness Princess Fawzia bint Fuad at
In addition to her sisters,
Her beauty was often compared to that of film stars Hedy Lamarr and Vivien Leigh.[9]
Marriage
The marriage of Princess Fawzia to Iran's Crown Prince
The Egyptians were not impressed with the gifts sent by Reza Shah to King Farouk to persuade him to marry his sister to the prince Mohammad Reza. When an Iranian delegation arrived in Cairo to arrange the marriage, the Egyptians took the Iranians on a tour of the palaces built by Isma'il Pasha, known as "Isma'il the Magnificent", to show them proper royal splendor.[14] King Farouk was not initially interested in marrying off his sister to the Crown Prince of Iran, but Aly Maher Pasha, the king's favorite political adviser, persuaded him that a marriage alliance with Iran would improve Egypt's position within the Islamic world and against Britain.[15] At the same time, Maher Pasha was working on plans to marry off Farouk's other sisters to King Faisal II of Iraq and to the son of Emir Abdullah of Jordan, intending to forge an Egyptian-dominated bloc in the Middle East.[16] To prepare for life in Iran, Fawzia was assigned a tutor to teach her Persian.[14]
Fawzia and Pahlavi were engaged in May 1938.
When they returned to Iran the wedding ceremony was repeated at the
Queen of Iran
Following the marriage, the Princess was granted Iranian nationality.[26] Two years later the crown prince succeeded his exiled father and was to become the Shah of Iran. Soon after her husband's ascent to the throne, Queen Fawzia appeared on the cover of the 21 September 1942, issue of Life magazine, photographed by Cecil Beaton, who described her as an "Asian Venus" with "a perfect heart-shaped face and strangely pale but piercing blue eyes."[20] She led the newly founded Association for the Protection of Pregnant Women and Children (APPWC) in Iran.[27]
With Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the king of Iran, she had one child, a daughter:[28]
- HIH Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (born 27 October 1940).[29]
The marriage was a failure. Fawzia was deeply unhappy in Iran, and often missed her homeland of Egypt.[30] Fawzia's relations with her mother-in-law and her sisters-in-law were notably tempestuous as the Queen Mother and her daughters saw her as a rival for Mohammad Reza Shah's affections, and the women constantly feuded with each other.[31] One of Mohammad Reza's sisters broke a vase over Fawzia's head.[32] The womanizing Mohammad Reza Shah was frequently unfaithful to Fawzia, and was often seen driving around with other women in Tehran from 1940 onward.[31] Popular rumor had it that Fawzia for her part had an affair with her minder, described as an athletic, handsome man, though her friends insist that this was merely malicious gossip.[32] Fawzia's son-in-law, Ardeshir Zahedi told the Iranian-American historian Abbas Milani in a 2009 interview about the rumors: "She is a lady and never veered from the path of purity and fidelity".[32] From 1944 onward, Fawzia was treated for depression by an American psychiatrist, as she stated her marriage was a loveless one and she desperately wanted to go back to Egypt.[33]
Queen Fawzia (the title of empress was not yet used in Iran at that time) moved to Cairo in May 1945
This divorce was first not recognized for several years by Iran, but eventually an official divorce was obtained in Iran, on 17 November 1948, with Queen Fawzia successfully reclaiming her previous distinction of Princess of Egypt as well. A major condition of the divorce was that her daughter be left behind to be raised in Iran.
In the official announcement of the divorce, it was stated that "the Persian climate had endangered the health of Queen Fawzia, and that thus it was agreed that the Egyptian King's sister be divorced." In another official statement, the Shah said that the dissolution of the marriage "cannot affect by any means the existing friendly relations between Egypt and Iran."[40] After her divorce Princess Fawzia headed the Egyptian court.[35]
Later life
On 28 March 1949, at the Koubba Palace in Cairo, Princess Fawzia married Colonel Ismail Chirine (or Shirin) (1919–1994), who was the eldest son of Hussein Chirine Bey and his wife, HH Princess Amina Bihruz Khanum Effendi.[41][42] He was a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a one-time Egyptian minister of war and the navy. Following the wedding they lived in an estate owned by the Princess in Maadi, Cairo.[42][43] They also resided in a villa in Smouha, Alexandria.[44] Unlike her first marriage, this time Fawzia married for love and she was described as far happier being married to Colonel Chirine than she ever had been to the Shah of Iran.[45]
They had two children, one daughter and one son:[46]
- Nadia Chirine (19 December 1950, Cairo[47] – October 2009). She married firstly (and divorced) Yusuf Shabaan, an Egyptian actor.[44] Her second husband was Mustafa Rashid. She had two daughters, one with each husband:
- Sinai Shabaan (born October 1973)[44]
- Fawzia Rashid
- Hussein Chirine (1955–2016)
Fawzia lived in Egypt after the
Death
In her later life, Princess Fawzia lived in Alexandria, where she died on 2 July 2013 at the age of 91.[1][49] Her funeral ceremony was held after noon prayers at Sayeda Nafisa Mosque in Cairo on 3 July.[50] She was buried in Cairo next to her second husband.[20] At her death, she was the oldest member of the deposed Muhammad Ali dynasty residing in Egypt.
Gallery
-
Queen Fawzia with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlevi and their daughter, Princess Shahnaz inSecond World War.
-
The wedding ceremony of Princess Fawzia and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. From left to right: King Farouk of Egypt (the bride's brother), Princess Fawzia (the bride) and the Crown Prince of Iran (the groom).
-
Commemoration Medallion of Marriage of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and Princess Fawzia of Egypt – March 1939 – The medallion is now in Sahebgharanie palace inNiavaran Palacecomplex.
Legacy
A town in Iran, Fawziabad, was named for Princess Fawzia in 1939.[8] A street in Maadi, Cairo, was again named for her in 1950 as Amira Fawzia street, but in 1956 it was renamed as Mustafa Kamel street.[51]
Honours
- Egypt: Decoration of al-Kamal in brilliants (16 May 1939)
- Iran: Grand Cordon of the Order of Khorshid (27 October 1940)
Ancestry
Ancestors of Fawzia of Egypt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
References
- ^ a b c "Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt". The Telegraph. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- OCLC 18496936.
- ISBN 978-1-4917-7939-2
- ^ Samir Raafat (March 2005). "Women whose husbands ruled the realm" (PDF). Egyptian Europe Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ISBN 1-55587-229-8.
- ^ "Weekend Nostalgia". The Middle East Journal. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ "Nazli". A Bit of History. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
- ^ a b c "Colorful Fetes Mark Royal Wedding that will Link Egypt and Persian". The Meriden Daily Journal. 13 March 1939. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
- ^ Hansen, Suzy (21 December 2013). "Queen Fawzia". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-8130-3126-2.
- ^ "Centers of Power in Iran" (PDF). CIA. May 1972. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
- ^ a b "Princess Fawzia of Egypt Married". The Meriden Daily Journal. Cairo. AP. 15 March 1939. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ Miliani, Abbas The Shah, London: Macmillan 2011 pp. 62–63.
- ^ a b c Miliani, Abbas The Shah, London: Macmillan 2011 p. 63.
- ^ Stadiem, William Too Rich, New York: Harper Collins, 1991 pp. 170–171.
- ^ a b Stadiem, William Too Rich, New York: Harper Collins, 1991 p. 171.
- ^ Charmody, Diedre (27 July 1973). "Nixon forth to see Shah". The Leader Post. New York. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ Rizk, Yunan Labib (2–8 March 2006). "Royal mix". Al Ahram Weekly (784). Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ a b c "Earlier Marriages Ended in Divorce. Deposed Shah of Iran". The Leader Post. AP. 29 July 1980. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ a b c Ghazal, Rym (8 July 2013). "A forgotten Egyptian Princess remembered". The National. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ a b c Miliani, Abbas The Shah, London: Macmillan 2011 p. 64.
- ^ a b Stadiem, William Too Rich, New York: Harper Collins, 1991 p. 176.
- ^ a b Stadiem, William Too Rich, New York: Harper Collins, 1991 p. 177.
- ^ Miliani, Abbas The Shah, London: Macmillan 2011 pp. 64–65.
- ^ Miliani, Abbas The Shah, London: Macmillan 2011 p. 65.
- ^ Kashani-Sabet, Firoozeh (2011). Conceiving Citizens: Women and the Politics of Motherhood in Iran. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 71.[ISBN missing]
- ISBN 9780190254292.
- ^ Dagres, Holly (4 February 2013). "When they were friends: Egypt and Iran". Ahram Online. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-595-09140-9.
- ^ Miliani, Abbas The Shah, London: Macmillan 2011 p. 90.
- ^ a b Miliani, Abbas The Shah, London: Macmillan 2011 p. 78.
- ^ a b c Miliani, Abbas The Shah, London: Macmillan 2011 p. 139.
- ^ Stadiem, William Too Rich, New York: Harper Collins, 1991 p. 278.
- ^ ]
- ^ a b Steyn, Mark (5 July 2013). "The Princess and the Brotherhood". National Review Online. Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ St. Petersburg Times. Washington. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ a b Miliani, Abbas The Shah, London: Macmillan 2011 p. 138.
- ^ a b "Queens Lack Male Heirs, Lose Mates". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Cairo. AP. 19 November 1948. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-313-26213-5.
- ^ "2 Moslem Rulers let the man and wife divorce if they need to", The New York Times, 20 November 1948, page 1.
- ^ "Princess Fawzia engaged". The Indian Express. 28 March 1949. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ^ a b "Princess Fawzia weds diplomat". Meriden Record. 29 March 1949. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ "Maadi's Ottomans". Egy. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ^ a b c Sami, Soheir (4–10 June 1998). "Profile: Youssef Shaaban". Al Ahram Weekly (380). Archived from the original on 22 December 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ^ Stadiem, William Too Rich, New York: Harper Collins, 1991 p. 290.
- ^ "Shah's ex-wives keep low profiles in Egypt, Europe". The Palm Beach Post. AP. 28 July 1980. Retrieved 6 November 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Girl is born to Princess Fawzia". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Cairo. AP. 20 December 1950. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ^ "Shah's first wife Princess Fawzia dies in Egypt". Dawn. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ "Princess Fawzia, Shah's first wife, dies in Egypt". Reuters.
- ^ "Death of Princess Fawzia". Alroeya News. 2 July 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ^ "Maadi Street Names". Egy. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
External links
Media related to Fawzia Fuad at Wikimedia Commons
- Her funeral by Yqeen News on YouTube
- Egyptian Royalty by Ahmed S. Kamel, Hassan Kamel Kelisli-Morali, Georges Soliman and Magda Malek.
- L'Egypte D'Antan... Egypt in Bygone Days Archived 22 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine by Max Karkegi.
- Chirine Family tree