Shahla Safi Zamir
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Shahla Safi Zamir (; born 14 July 1948 – 5 June 2020), better known by her stage name Marjan (), was an Iranian actress and singer. The
Islamic Revolution of 1979 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 ...
stopped her career and for 27 years she was unable to continue her career.Kamran Talattof ''Modernity, Sexuality, and Ideology in Iran: The Life and Legacy of a Popular ...'' p.128Profile "زندگينامه مرجان: مرجان از خواننده‌های ایرانی دوره پیش از انقلاب ۱۳۵۷ است. مرجان پس از ۲۶ سال بعد از انقلاب برای نخستین بار با اجرای برنامه هنری در اجتماع بزرگ کنگره ایرانیان در واشنگتن حضور پیدا کرد. مرجان خواننده سرشناس، آهنگى بنام «رهائى» درباره خيزش هاى مردمى در ايران، خوانده كه ملودى آن را خود ساخته، پرويز رحمان پناه آن را تنظيم كرده و فريدون ژورك ترانه اش را سروده است."


Early life

Shahla Safia Zamir was born in 1948 in
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
. Her father, Ali Safi Zamir, was a local director in the
Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
, and her mother, Kobra Bahmani Tabari, was a primary school teacher. Marjan completed her primary education at Alvand High School. At the age of 12, she was a teenage reporter for "Etelaat Koodkan", a weekly published magazine for teenagers. At the same time she was a narrator for the magazine's weekly TV program. After graduating from high school, she married Mehdi Ali-Mohammadi, (a radio and
dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...
narrator). This brought her a daughter, Poopak.


Professional life

Shahla Safia Zamir appeared in cinema at the age of 21, for the first time, in the film The World of Hope, directed by Ahmad Shirazi. At that time, another actress, Shahla Riahi, was known as Shahla, so she chose the stage name of Marjan for herself. Her marriage came to a divorce and later she married Fereydoun Jourak. Marjan started her career with cinema and took different roles in many movies. Her husband encouraged her to become a singer as he discovered that she had a soft and strong voice. The song "Kavir Del" which she adopted from a Turkish singer made her famous. She performed many other songs after that and participated in popular TV shows. She then quit acting and continued with her career of being a singer.


After the Islamic Revolution

The
Islamic 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 Im ...
in 1979 effectively halted her career. In 1980, two years after Iranian Revolution, Marjan was arrested and imprisoned for performing a song. Again in July 1982 she was arrested charged with supporting the People's Mojahedin of Iran. This time she was detained in
Evin Prison Evin Prison () is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for detaining Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "E ...
until 1990. She, then, left Iran to live the rest of her life in the United States. In 2006 she settled in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. In an interview with Simaye Azadi TV, Marjan said that she and her Husband, Fereydoun Jurak, had been arrested, at their home, on 7 July 1982; and had been detained until early 1990. She also said, In the same interview that despite she was released from jail but, she had been banned from leaving the country for 17 years. She fled Iran for
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
in 2001 and eventually moved on to the United States, where she lived in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
until her death due to complications from surgery on 5 June 2020. After leaving Iran, Marjan became an activist against the Iranian government and offered her support for of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. "I decided to fight because I have a right to live freely in my own country," She said in an interview on 3 June 2015. It was after performing a song "Rooyesh Nagozir" at the Organization of Iranian American Communities in Washington, DC, that Marjan started working with other artists in Mojahedin Khalq 's musical group and performed dozens of other songs including: Rooyesh Nagozir, Prohibition, Time to over thrown, what to Say, Evin Says, Let's Build a Homeland, The Martyrs of the City, The Flag, The Silent Scream, Eyes Walking and Unaware, and "we can and we must". Some of these works were made by the Iranian composer Mohammad Shams.


Death

On 6 June 2020, following an operation, Marjan died due to a cardiac arrest. She spent the last years of her life in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. *
Maryam Rajavi Maryam Rajavi (, , ; born 4 December 1953) is an Iranian dissident politician and the leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), an organization advocating the overthrow of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranian government ...
, leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, expressed her condolences. She described Marjan as an example of female artists, "who rose up and fought the regime, are genuine representatives of the suffering of Iranian women and their passionate desire for liberation.” In a statement announcing her death, PMOI (Mojahedin Khalq) declared that She "remained committed to the cause of freedom until the last moment of her life." *Reza Moeini, the head of the Iran-Afghanistan Office of
Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...
, wrote about (Shahla Safee Zamir) Marjan's death: An Artist, political prisoners in 1990 died, "Her memory and her voice and her steadfastness against the system of ruin remain with us".


Professional career


Discography

Her professional career as an Iranian pop singer began with famous poets and composers like Parviz Maghsadi,
Fariborz Lachini Fariborz Lachini (; born August 25, 1949) is an Iranian film score composer. Career He started his career in Iran writing music for children, creating "Avaz Faslha va Rangha" at the age of 18 which caught the attention of the royal family of the ...
, Ardalan Sarfaraz, Manoochehr Cheshm Azar, Arash Sezavar, Touraj Shabankhani, Eric Account, Reza Ashari and
Mohammad Shams Mohammad Shams (, born 1954 in Tehran) is an Iranian composer and conductor. Born in a family of musicians, he has composed more than 650 pieces of traditional, classical and modern music. Despite the troubles an artist in exile must face, Shams ...
. Her song, "Kavir-e Del", has been reissued in compilations such as ''Pomegranates - Persian Pop, Funk, Folk and Psych of the 60s And 70s'' by Finders Keepers Records (2009) and ''Khana Khana - Funk, Psychedelia And Pop from the Iranian Pre-Revolution Generation'' by Pharaway Sounds (2012). * Kavir-e Del * Golchin2 * Konsert-e Marjan * Shabha-ye khatkhati * Khatereha (Re-recordings of the old songs) * Seke-ye mah


Filmography


References


External links

* *
Marjan
on
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marjan (singer) 1948 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Iranian artists Singers from Tehran Actresses from Tehran Iranian women singers Iranian film actresses Persian-language singers of Iran Iranian women pop singers Iranian singer-songwriters Iranian women singer-songwriters 20th-century Iranian actresses Iranian prisoners and detainees 20th-century Iranian women singers Iranian emigrants to the United States Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in the United States