Fereydoun Farrokhzad (; October 7, 1936 – August 7, 1992) was an Iranian showman, host, poet, actor, political activist, singer, humanitarian, and writer. He is best known for his television variety show, ''The Silver Carnation'', which introduced and featured many artists, such as Ebi,

Leila Forouhar Leila Forouhar (, ''Leilâ Foruhar''; born 23 February 1959) is a Persian pop and classical singer. She was a child star, acting from the age of 3. She relocated to next door Turkey in 1986, then to Paris, before emigrating to Los Angeles in 1988 ...

, Shohreh,

Sattar Sattar or Settar () is a male Muslim given name and surname. It occurs in the compound form *Abdul Sattar, where further details can be found. People with the name in its simple form include: Given name *Sattar (singer) (born 1949) birth name ...

Hayedeh Ma'soumeh Dadehbala (; April 10, 1942 – January 20, 1990), known professionally as Hayedeh (, ), was an Iranian singer with a contralto vocal range. Known for her wide range of voice, her career spanned over two decades, and she has been widely ...

, and many more. Farrokhzad was forced into exile after the 1979

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

. After relocating to Germany, he was the victim of a murder set up by the

Islamic Republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

government as part of the

Chain murders of Iran The chain murders of Iran () were a series of 1988–98 murders and disappearances of certain Iranian dissident intellectuals who had been critical of the Islamic Republic system. The murders and disappearances were carried out by Iranian gover ...

Early life and career

Fereydoun Farrokhzad was born in Tehran, to career military officer Colonel Mohammad Bagher Farrokhzad (originally from

Tafresh Tafresh () is a city in the Central District (Tafresh County), Central District of Tafresh County, Markazi province, Markazi province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Tafresh is located amidst high mountains sou ...

) and his wife Touran Vaziri-Tabar. He was the fourth of seven children ( Pooran, Amir (Masoud), Forugh, Fereydoun, Gloria, Mehrdad, and Mehran). After graduating high school he moved to Germany and Austria for his post-secondary education. He received his doctorate in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

Munich University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. At a young age Fereydoun had a passion for poetry and for singing. He turned that passion to reality in 1962 when he started writing poems in German which were published in two German newspapers. In 1964 he published his collection of poems called "Fasleh Deegar" (Another Season). His book was critically acclaimed and was honored by many German poets. Five months after the release of "Fasleh Deegar", Fereydoun Farrokhzad received the Poetry Award of Berlin. For a couple of years Farrokhzad was a member of the Munich Academy of Poetry. In 1966 he found his way to the Television and Radio of Munich. On Radio he had a comedy and music program which played middle eastern music including music from Iran. On TV he created and produced a show called "Khiyaban-haye Alp" (Alpine Roads). In 1967 he returned to Iran and performed on successful radio and TV shows. His most successful TV show was "Mikhakeh Noghrei" (Silver Carnation), and his radio show which aired every other Friday mornings called "Jom'eh Bazzar" (Friday Bazaar). The TV show was watched by millions of Iranians. On the show Farrokhzad introduced and discovered a number of Iranian artists including

, Shohreh, Shahram Solati, Ebi, Morteza, Rouhi Savoji, Hamid Shabkhiz,

, Saeed Mohammadi, and various others. After the 1979 revolution, Farrokhzad was imprisoned, then released. He escaped the country and settled in Germany.

Politics and activism

Political views

According to ''

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

'', Farrokhzad was known by his fans as an "educated patriot" who frequently criticised the Islamic Republic and its leaders and who was present during many demonstrations against the clerical government. Farrokhzad produced a weekly radio show for the "Voice of the Flag of Freedom Organization of Iran," the radio station of the Organization of Kaviyani Banner, an "organization of exiled supporters of the

Iranian monarchy Iranian monarchism ( Persian: پادشاهی‌خواهی در ایران) is the advocacy of restoring the monarchy in Iran, which was abolished after the 1979 Revolution. History Iran, in its various known forms, beginning with the Median dy ...

." Farrokhzad also acted in a film, ''

I Love Vienna ''I Love Vienna'' is a 1991 Austrian comedy film directed by Houchang Allahyari. The film was selected as the Austrian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Libra ...

'', which was considered by some Iranian authorities as anti-Islamic.

Personal life

Esfandiar Monfaredzadeh claimed that Farrokhzad was homosexual. He said: "His main obstacle was the homosexuality that he was not ashamed of; he knew it and he wanted people to understand it." Farrokhzad married and divorced twice. His first marriage took place in 1962, to a German-Polish woman named Ania Buchkowski, whom he met in Oxford. Like Farrokhzad, she had a passion for poetry and theater; it was after meeting her that Farrokhzad started writing poems. The result of this marriage was a son named Rostam. Farrokhzad and Ania later separated and got divorced. In 1974 he married an Iranian woman named Taraneh. Besides his native language of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, he also spoke

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Death

On the evening of August 3, police officers responded to cries for help at the building where Farrokhzad lived, but were unable to identify the apartment where the screams originated from. On August 8, 1992, Farrokhzad's body was found in the kitchen of his apartment in Bonn, Germany after neighbours reported barking by his two dogs. Farrokhzad had been killed violently, having been stabbed repeatedly in the face and upper torso. Many

urban legends Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

surround Farrokhzad's death, including the widely repeated myth that he was beheaded. Prior to his murder, Farrokhzad had been involved in producing an opposition radio program and, reportedly, received death threats. In his show at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in London, he criticised

Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

and made fun of Khomeini's obsession with sex in his ''Ressaleh'' book, which followed death threats and concerns for him. According to the U.S. state-funded Voice of America (VOA), the murder was "widely believed to be the work of Iran's Islamic government". In March 2025, Mohsen Rafiqdoost, former Minister of the

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khom ...

, admitted that the IRGC had paid Basque separatists to assassinate dissidents abroad, including Fereydoun Farrokhzad.

Legacy

Farrokhzad remains a significant Iranian cultural icon whose popular music and television programs continue to be circulated through various media platforms. His murder—a political assassination of a celebrity activist entertainer—is a well known and oft-cited event amongst Iranians. The play ‘Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World’ by

Javaad Alipoor Javaad Alipoor (born September 1984) is a British-Iranian theatre-maker and writer from Bradford. His work explores the interactions between technology and society, inviting audiences to engage with the kinds of technologies which shape how knowle ...

explores the international cultural coverage of his death.

Filmography

Film

References

External links

*
Fereydoun Foundation on Official Farrokhzad Foundation Website

Farrokhzad's biography on BBC
* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrokhzad, Fereydoun 1938 births 1992 deaths 1992 murders in Germany 20th-century Iranian male actors 20th-century Iranian male singers 20th-century Iranian poets Caltex Records artists Murdered actors Deaths by stabbing in Germany Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in Germany Iranian democracy activists Iranian dissidents Iranian emigrants to Germany Iranian LGBTQ rights activists Iranian male poets Iranian people murdered abroad Iranian pop singers Iranian radio actors Iranian radio and television presenters Iranian critics of religions Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni People from Tafresh People murdered in Germany 20th-century Persian-language poets Poets from Tehran Taraneh Records artists Unsolved murders in Germany Persian-language singers of Iran Persian-language singers of Germany Iranian monarchists Iranian political artists