Shams Ol-Moluk Mosahab
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Shams ol-Moluk Mosahab (, 1913–1997) was an Iranian educator and politician. In 1963 she was one of the first two women appointed to the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. She served as Deputy Minister of Education.


Biography

Mosahab was born 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. ...
in 1913, the third child of the politician Mohammed Ali Mosahab.Iranian Women You Should Know: Shams ol-Moluk Mosahab
Iran Wire, 12 May 2020
Her brother Gholamhossein later became a mathematician. She attended Namus primary school and then the Higher Teacher Training College. She then became one of the first group of women to be admitted to the
University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...
, after its inauguration in 1936, becoming the first woman to complete a
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in Persian Literature in 1945. She subsequently attended
Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxe ...
in Canada and the
University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
and
University of Indiana Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IU Indianapolis. The flagship campus of In ...
in the United States, studying for a second doctorate. After returning to Iran, she began lecturing at the University of Tehran, later becoming a headteacher at the Parvin, Shahdokht, and Nurbaksh girls high schools, as well as serving as director of the Higher Education and Teacher Training department in the Ministry of Education. She worked for the Ministry of Culture, for the ministry's Office for Rural Culture, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education, focusing on literacy. Mosahab was an advocate for women's rights and became member of the
Women's Organization of Iran The Women's Organization of Iran (WOI; ) was a non-profit organization created in 1966, mostly run by volunteers, with local branches and centers for women all over the country, determined to enhance the rights of women in Iran. The WOI had commit ...
in the 1950s, campaigning women's suffrage and opposing veiling. She supported the
Kashf-e hijab On 8 January 1936, Reza Shah of Iran (Persia) issued a decree known as ''Kashf-e hijab'' (also Romanized as and , ) banning all Islamic veils (including hijab and chador), an edict that was swiftly and forcefully implemented. Hoodfar, Homa (fall ...
(introduced by
Reza Shah Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...
in 1936) and wrote that many of the problems between men and women where caused by the gender segregation, which had resulted in men and women not actually knowing each other or anything about each others lives: She was convinced that the key to solving gender discrimination was for men and women to get to know each other and each others' lives and thus be able to feel understanding and compassion for each other. She campaigned for
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
from within the Women's Organization, giving public lectures and writing on the subject. Women were granted the right to vote in 1963, and following the
parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
that year, Mosahab was one of two women appointed to the Senate.Lois Beck & Guity Nashat (2004
''Women in Iran from 1800 to the Islamic Republic''
p161
She remained in the Senate until 1980. She oversaw the cultural department of the Shah’s charitable Pahlavi Foundation. Mosahab was active as a writer. In 1960, she and co-author Abbas Yamini Sharif wrote a children's book, which saw use in schools. She composed a five thousand verses, including "Mother's Gift," "Broken Harp" and "Loving Beloved". She was also active as a translator, notably translating Jane Austin's ''Pride and Prejudice'' to Persian. She died in 1997.Iranian Women’s Equality Calendar
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosahab, Shams ol-Moluk 1913 births University of Tehran alumni Université Laval alumni University of Florida alumni Indiana University alumni Academic staff of the University of Tehran Iranian educators Iranian civil servants Iranian women educators Iranian women civil servants Suffragists 20th-century Iranian women politicians 20th-century Iranian politicians Members of the Senate of Iran 1997 deaths Women's suffrage in Iran