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His Imperial Highness Prince Alireza Pahlavi, third child of Their Imperial Majesties Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and Empress Farah Pahlavi, was born in Tehran on April 28 1966. In his lifetime he was a much-loved son and loyal friend renowned for his sense of humour. Intelligent and curious in his intellectual pursuits, Prince Alireza was passionate about all aspects of Iranian culture and an enthusiastic and accomplished athlete who enjoyed skydiving, scuba diving and flying.

Prince Alireza attended primary school at the Lycée Razi and primary school at Niavaran Palace School. Following the Pahlavi family’s departure from Iran in January 1979, Prince Alireza attended secondary school at St. David’s School in New York City followed by high school at the American College Cairo, Egypt. He returned to the United States in 1981 to complete his high school education at Mt. Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Prince Alireza graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. (Music/Ethnomusicology) and completed his M.A. (Ancient Iranian Studies) from Columbia University in New York. At the time of his death on January 4, 2011 he was near completion on a doctorate at Harvard University (Ancient Iranian Studies/ Philology). He shares a daughter, Iryana, with his companion Ms. Raha Didevar.

To learn more about Prince Alireza’s life and the foundation that bears his name please visit this site: alirezapahlavifoundation.org

Siblings

Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi, half-sister, (born October 27, 1940)

Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (born 31 October 1960)

Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi (born 12 March 1963)

Prince Leila Pahlavi (27 March 1970 - 10 June 2001)

Father Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi

Mother Farah Diba

Born 28 April 1966 - Died, January 4, 2011 (aged 45) Boston, Massachusetts

Iran, (Persia) Tehran

Suggested Links

The Foundation for the Establishment of Prince Alireza Pahlavi Fellowship in Ancient Iranian Studies

In Remembrance by Professor Ehsan Yarshater

One cannot erase the memory of Prince Alireza Pahlavi from one’s mind even if one tried. I knew him when he was a lively, well-dressed, and socially active young man who had registered at Columbia University and was a student in the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures.

Academically, he was interested particularly in two fields: the history of pre-Islamic Iran and the culture and languages of Iran prior to Islam. For the latter, he took courses with Professor James Russell, an expert in Middle Iranian and Armenian literature, now the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard. He later pursued this field at Harvard, which was better equipped to give instruction on these subjects. For Persian history, he took a course that I was giving. He showed a healthy and lively curiosity in historical problems.

It is a great pity that an untimely passing cut his plans short. It is hard to believe that such an excellent and most promising young man is no longer with us. His indelible memory and that of his joie de vivre haunts me and keeps posing unanswerable questions about the enigma of fate.

It is most appropriate and a cause for great appreciation by all the lovers of Iran and its culture that Her Imperial Majesty Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi has founded a Fellowship in Ancient Iranian Studies in the name of Prince Alireza Pahlavi at Harvard University.

The significance of her Majesty’s act becomes clearer when we remember how important it is to fortify the foundations of Iranian Studies. Iran has had a long and rich history and has contributed remarkably to the progress of world culture. It was Iran that founded the first empire in the world with a humane policy bringing many countries and many races under one rule. Its poetry is among the best in the world, its art has no rival in the entire Middle East, and its cultural influence in neighboring countries, particularly in the Subcontinent and Anatolia, has been profound. All these and more need to be made known and written about. Any step taken to promote the knowledge of Iranian history and culture is a service to the promotion of humanities. The establishment of a Fellowship in Prince Alireza Pahlavi’s memory helps to advance the study of ancient Iran.

Professor Ehsan Yarshater,

Columbia University

This poem was written for Prince Alireza by his friend

Mehrnaz Ghaffari commemorating his unbearable loss.

Banished Children of Iran

Prince and Brother, Beloved Son and Friend

With you we mourn the loss

of a childhood incomplete,

Of our once proud Nation whose fall we

witnessed in the shadow of the night

Of a beloved homeland seized and denied us

I speak of the banished children of Iran.

With you we mourn innocence lost,

A time when the air we breathed was sweet and full of promise

Like the limitless horizon of our Caspian Sea,

That magical place where our childhood laughter

will ring out loud for eternity

We mourn with you silently that Paradise Lost

May you return to that place on your mystical journey Your Highness!

And through your sacrificial journey fulfill in us all

that burning and undying longing for Home.

M.Ghaffari – Jan 7th 2011

The Shah of Iran had vowed that he would not have his Coronation held until he couldn’t bring development and growth to his country, and he kept his promise. In the decade of greatest development Iran had in the 20th century, it was announced that over a quarter of a century after his accession to the Peacock Throne, His Imperial Majesty Mohamed Reza, Shah of Iran, would have his coronation held in Teheran, on the 26th October 1967. He would then be the very same age his father was when he crowned himself, in 1926. Just like 41 years before, in 1967 the splendor was promised and achieved in the most dramatic fashion. The Coronation of Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi was undoubtedly one of the most fantastic events of Persian long royal history, watched all over the world with unprecedented curiosity, for a country usually away of the scenes of royal glitter.

The curiosity was perhaps bigger due to the fact that, marking the new role the Shah wanted to give women in the Iranian society (in the amendment to the Constitution in 1967, it was decided that the Shahbanou would be regent in case of death of the Shah during the minority of the heir to the throne), his wife, Empress Farah, the Shahbanou of Iran, would become the first Empress ever to be crowned in an history of 2500 years. And for that purpose, it was necessary to order a new crown. The honor fell on the famous Parisian jewelers Van Clef & Arpels, who created the most awesome crown, along with new parures to be worn by the sisters of the Shah at the Coronation.

Also specially ordered for the event was the Coronation Coach, made in Vienna by Josef Klicmann. The carriage was sent by plane to Teheran in peaces and was built there. In blue and gold, it was a replica of the Austrian Imperial Carriage used by the Habsburgs. This was one of the most harshly criticized expenses of the Coronation, because the Imperial had already a carriage, which had been used by the Shah’s father in 1926 and would be used again by the Crown Prince during the procession. The result was, nevertheless, marvelous. A gilded crown, a replica of the Shah’s Crown, topped the carriage and in the door the coat of arms of the Imperial Family was also in gold.

It was decided that the Coronation ceremony would be held in the magnificent Grand Hall of the Golestan Palace, the dramatically stunning former home of the Qajar Dynasty. Also named Grand Throne Room, this magnificent hall was dominated by the Sun Throne, also known as the Peacock Throne, but before it was intended, ever since being built, as a museum room. This remarkably long hall, 150 metres long, was one of those specially refurbished for the occasion. The fact that the Grand Hall could only take around 500 guests, made that in the gardens of the Golestan special tribunes were built to accommodate around 5000 other guests.