Giti Pashaei Tehrani ( fa, گیتی پاشایی تهرانی; sometimes spelt Giti Pashayi; June 13, 1940 – May 7, 1995) was an Iranian singer and musician. Pashaei was one of the most popular Iranian singers of the late 1960s and 1970s.
Biography
Giti Pashaei was born on June 13, 1940, in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
. She inherited her passion for music from her grandfather,
Jafar Mansoori, who was known as a poet and musician. Her early life was spent attending the master-classes of such musicians as
Faramarz Payvar and
Mehdi Forough
Mehdi Forough (1911–2008) was an Iranian scholar, author, dramatist, writer on dramatic arts and culture, translator, and founder of the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Tehran. A native of Esfahan, Mehdi Forough attended Danesh Sara-ye Aali in Tehr ...
. She continued her education in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, where she obtained a diploma in
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
and also studied orchestration and harmony and became a composer.
In 1979,
Islamic Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
put an end to her singing career. Women were forbidden to sing in public. Later on, she composed many soundtracks for
Iranian movies after the revolution in 1979. As a composer, most of the time she worked with her husband
Masoud Kimiai
Masoud Kimiai (or Masoud Kimiaei, fa, مسعود کیمیایی, born 29 July 1941) is an Iranian director, screenwriter and producer.
Biography
Kimiai started his career as an assistant director and made his debut, ''Come Stranger'', in 19 ...
, a film director, whom she married in 1969.
Personal life

Giti married to
Masoud Kimiai
Masoud Kimiai (or Masoud Kimiaei, fa, مسعود کیمیایی, born 29 July 1941) is an Iranian director, screenwriter and producer.
Biography
Kimiai started his career as an assistant director and made his debut, ''Come Stranger'', in 19 ...
, an Iranian film director,
in 1969. In the late 1980s, she moved to
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
, where she researched
Western Church
Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...
and
Baroque music. The couple separated in 1991, and have a son
Poulad Kimiayi, a pianist, who was born on 14 July in 1980.
She died of
breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...
in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...
on 7 May 1995. Her songs and compositions are still heard abroad.
Works
Discography
*''Miravam & Ye Del Daraam'' (1969)
*''Be Man Nakhand & Nemikham Doroogh Begi'' (1969)
*''Tasbih-e Sad Dooneh & Gol-e Maryam'' (1971)
*''Shadi Ba Man Ghahre & Rizeh Rizeh, (album, Persian, 1971)
*''Ki Migeh Donya Ghashange & Heyfe Harf-e Mano Del Tamoom Besheh'' (1972)
*''Mageh Mano Khaab Bebini & Ey Vaay Ey Vaay'' (1973)
*''Arezooha'' (1976)
*''Ghoroobe & Khoda Mehrabooneh'' (1976)
;Memorable songs
*''Gol-e Maryam''
*''Molana''
*''Shirin Sokhan''
*''Bot-e Ayyar''
*''Lili Hozak''
*''Kaniz''
Compilation
* ''Arezooha'' (1995)
* ''Gole Maryam'' (1996)
* ''Rangarang: Pre-revolutionary Iranian Pop'' (2011, as co-artist)
Filmography
;as actor
*''
Safar sang
Ṣafar ( ar, صَفَر) also spelt as Safer in Turkish, is the second month of the lunar Islamic calendar. The Arabic word ''ṣafar'' means "travel, migration", corresponding to the pre-Islamic Arabian time period when muslims flee the opp ...
'' (''The Journey of the Stone'', 1978), as Fatemeh
;as composer
* ''Blade and Silk'' (1986)
* ''Tigh o abrisham'' (1987)
* ''Sorb'' (''The Lead'', 1989), as Giti Pashayi
* ''The Snake Fang'' (1989)
* ''Goroohban'' (''The Sergeant'', 1991), as Giti Pashayi
References
External links
*
*
*
1948 births
1995 deaths
Singers from Tehran
20th-century Iranian women singers
Iranian women pop singers
Iranian film score composers
20th-century women composers
Deaths from cancer in Iran
Deaths from breast cancer
Burials at artist's block of Behesht-e Zahra
{{Iran-singer-stub