Marjan
مرجان
Born
Shahla Safi Zamir

(1948-07-14)14 July 1948
Tehran, Iran
Died5 June 2020(2020-06-05) (aged 71)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
NationalityIranian
American
CitizenshipUnited States
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Years active1969–2012
SpouseFereydoun Jourak
Musical career
GenresPop
Instrument(s)Vocals
LabelsTaraneh Records

Shahla Safi Zamir (Persian: شهلا صافی ضمیر; born 14 July 1948 – 5 June 2020), better known by her stage name Marjan (Persian: مرجان), was an Iranian actress and singer.[1] The Islamic Revolution of 1979 stopped her career and for 27 years she was unable to continue her career.[2][3]

Early life

Shahla Safia Zamir was born in 1948 in Tehran.[4] Her father, Ali Safi Zamir, was a local director in the Ministry of Transport, and her mother, Kobra Bahmani Tabari, was a primary school teacher.[5] 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.[6] After graduating from high school, she married Mehdi Ali-Mohammadi, (a radio and dubbing 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.[6] 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.[7] Marjan started her career with cinema and took different roles in many movies.[8]

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 quilted acting and continued with her career of being a singer.[9]

After the Islamic Revolution

The Islamic Revolution in 1979 effectively halted her career. In 1980, two years after Iranian Revolution, Marjan was arrested and imprisoned for performing a song.[10] Again in July 1982 she was arrested charged with supporting the People's Mojahedin of Iran. This time she was detained in Evin Prison until 1990. She, then, left Iran to live the rest of her life in the United States.[11] In 2006 she settled in California. 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.[12]

She fled Iran for Dubai in 2001 and eventually moved on to the United States, where she lived in Los Angeles, California until her death due to complications from surgery on 5 June 2020.[2][3]

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.[13]

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.[13][14]

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.[10][13][15]

  • Maryam Rajavi, 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.”[16][17] 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."[18]
  • Reza Moeini, the head of the Iran-Afghanistan Office of Reporters Without Borders, 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".[6][10]

Professional career

Discography

Her professional career as an Iranian pop singer began with famous poets and composers like Parviz Maghsadi, Fariborz Lachini, Ardalan Sarfaraz, Manoochehr Cheshm Azar, Arash Sezavar, Touraj Shabankhani, Eric Account, Reza Ashari and Mohammad 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[19]
  • Golchin2
  • Konsert-e Marjan
  • Shabha-ye khatkhati
  • Khatereha (Re-recordings of the old songs)
  • Seke-ye mah

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Director Notes
1969 Donya-ye poromid transl. A World Full of Hope
1970 Sekke-ye shans Iraj Ghaderi
1970 Az yad rafteh
1971 Yek mard, yek shahr Zhaleh
1971 Gholam zhandarm Aman Manteghi
1971 Dalghak-ha
1972 Morgh-e tokhm-tala
1972 Mardi dar toofan Khosrow Parvizi transl. A Man in the Storm, with Saeed Rad
1972 Mard-e ejarei
1972 Mardan-e khalij Nezam Fatemi
1972 Khanevade-ye sarkar Ghazanfar Reza Mirlohi
1972 Hamisheh Ghahreman Azizollah Bahadori
1972 Ghadir Aghdas
1973 Sarab Goli Mirage
1973 Keyfar
1973 Ghorboone Harchi Khoshgele Nezam Fatemi
1974 Salome Salome Fereydoun Jourak with Saeed Rad
1974 Salam Bar Eshgh Azizollah Bahadori
1974 Harjayee Morteza Aghili transl. Harlot
1974 Agha Mehdi vared mishavad Parvin Fereydoun Jourak
1975 Hemmat
1975 Ham-ghasam
1976 Madar joonam aashegh shode Mehri transl. My mom has fallen in love
1979 Takye bar baad Maryam Fereydoun Jourak

References

  1. ↑ Hamid Naficy: A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 3: The Islamicate Period. 0822348772 - 2012 "The film producer Feraidun Zhurak and the actress and singer Marjan, according to the producer Ali Mortazavi, were imprisoned for two years on charges of associating with PMOI (Naficy 1984a)."
  2. 1 2 Kamran Talattof Modernity, Sexuality, and Ideology in Iran: The Life and Legacy of a Popular ... p.128
  3. 1 2 Profile "Marjan | WhatsUpIran دایرکتوری فیلم و هنرمندان". Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) "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."
  4. ↑ "Marjan". myheritage.com. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "سفر مرجان بر بال ترانه‌ها". mojahedin.org (in Persian). Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "مرجان؛ صدای معترضی که خاموش شد". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 6 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  7. ↑ "نگاهی به فعالیت مرجان در عرصه موسیقی". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 7 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  8. ↑ "Marjan". Gender Desk. 6 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "Sami Beigi's 'Kavir Del' - Discover the Original Song". WhoSampled. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 "مرجان، هنرمند مهاجر و زندانی سیاسی سابق درگذشت | صدای آمریکا فارسی". ir.voanews.com (in Persian). Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "درگذشت ناگهانی «مرجان» هنرمند و خواننده محبوب مردم ایران". جوانه ها (in Persian). 6 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  12. ↑ ".::ای شکسته...........................................مرجان::". 14 April 2013. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 نت, العربية (6 June 2020). "مرجان خواننده و بازیگر ایرانی قبل از انقلاب درگذشت". العربية نت (in Persian). Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  14. ↑ "العربیه «دورانی در جهنم» ـ خاطرات خانم مرجان". YouTube.
  15. ↑ "درگذشت خانم مرجان هنرمند گرانمایه و زندانی سیاسی در زندان های خمینی". YouTube.
  16. ↑ ملي, همبستگي. "درگذشت ناگهانی خانم مرجان هنرمند گرانقدر مردم و مقاومت ایران- پیام تسلیت خانم مریم رجوی". hambastegimeli.com (in Persian). Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  17. ↑ "مرجان رستگار و جاودانه شد". 6 June 2020.
  18. ↑ فردا, رادیو. "مرجان، خواننده و بازیگر سینمای قبل انقلاب ایران درگذشت". رادیو فردا (in Persian). Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  19. ↑ "Marjan - Kavire del". YouTube.
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