Mahtob Maryam Mahmoody ( Persian: مهتاب محمودى born September 4, 1979) is an American author who wrote the autobiographical memoir ''My Name is Mahtob'', which depicts her perspective of her family's story when she and her mother,

Betty Mahmoody Betty Mahmoody (née Lover; born June 9, 1945, in Alma, Michigan) is an American author and public speaker best known for her book, '' Not Without My Daughter'', which was subsequently made into a film of the same name. She is the President and ...

, were held captive by her father, Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody, in his country of birth,

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 ...

, for a period of 18 months during the mid 1980s. Her mother wrote her version of their story in her 1987 biography '' Not Without My Daughter'', which was adapted into a 1991 feature film of the same name in which Mahtob was portrayed by Sheila Rosenthal and her parents were portrayed by

Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...

and

Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British-American actor known for his work on the stage and screen. He first rose to prominence in the West End, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Pla ...

Biography

Mahtob was born to parents Betty and Sayyed Bozorg "Moody" Mahmoody in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

on September 4, 1979. Her first name means "Moonlight" in Persian. It was her father who named her that after he was inspired by a

full moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This mean ...

. Mahtob has two half-brothers through Betty's first marriage, Joe and John, who are 13 and nine years older than her respectively. Mahtob and her parents lived in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

before moving to

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. She grew up in

Alpena, Michigan Alpena ( ') is the only city in and county seat of Alpena County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,483 at the 2010 census. After Traverse City, it is the second most populated city in the Northern Michigan region. The city ...

. On August 4, 1984, Mahtob and her parents arrived 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 ...

to meet with Moody's relatives. Their stay was originally meant to have lasted only two weeks, but Mahtob and Betty were held captive by Moody for eighteen months. According to Mahtob, Betty suspected that Moody would keep them in Iran when he suggested that they visit, but she was afraid that if she said no, he would abduct Mahtob. Mahtob stated in an interview with NPR: Since Sayyed was Iranian by birth, he legally had complete custody of Mahtob. Betty was worried that Mahtob would learn anti-American sentiment at school. Mahtob also alleged that her father would beat her and her mother. After eighteen months, Mahtob and her mother managed to escape Iran by crossing the mountains of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. They successfully made it back to the United States and Mahtob never saw her father again. Six years after Moody's death in 2009, Mahtob has confirmed that she has forgiven her father for his actions. When Mahtob was 13, she was diagnosed with

lupus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Commo ...

. She managed to survive the disease because of experimental treatment. She resides in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

. Mahtob is a devout member of the

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwauke ...

. In 2015, Mahtob's memoir ''My Name is Mahtob'' was published. Though it depicts Mahtob's version of her family's story, ''My Name is Mahtob'' has been considered a sequel to her mother's book, ''Not Without My Daughter''.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahmoody, Mahtob Living people 1979 births People from Houston People from Alpena, Michigan American activists American memoirists Writers from Houston Writers from Michigan American people of Iranian descent People from Grand Rapids, Michigan Writers from Grand Rapids, Michigan American Lutherans Christians from Michigan Christians from Texas American women memoirists 21st-century American women