Rosie Malek-Yonan - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Born in Tehran, Iran, Malek-Yonan is a descendant of one of the oldest and most prominent Assyrian families, tracing her Assyrian roots back nearly 11 centuries. The Malek family or tribe came from the Assyrian village of Geogtapah, Urmi (also known as Urmia), a region in northwestern Iran. Geogtapa was the largest Assyrian Christian village in the region and much of it belonged to the Malek-Yonan family with the oldest plot in the family graveyard dating back to 1,100 AD.

Malek-Yonan's father, George Malek-Yonan (born 1924), an international attorney in Iran, was personally responsible for negotiating and procuring a seat for the Assyrians as a recognized Christian minority in the Iranian Parliament, a huge accomplishment for a people who had been without a formal country since the fall of the Assyrian Empire.

Malek-Yonan's mother, Lida Malek-Yonan(1928–2002) regarded as an activist and humanitarian, was equally influential in demanding recognition for Assyrian women in Iran by launching and presiding over the Assyrian Women's Organization which was the only officially recognized charter member of the Iranian Women's Association up until the end of the Pahlavi Dynasty.

During the Assyrian Genocide of 1914–1918, Malek-Yonan's grandparents left their ancestral homeland in Urmi, Iran, during the Great Exodus from Urmi. The Malek-Yonan family fled to Mesopotamia where her father was born in Baghdad, while Malek-Yonan's maternal grandmother fled to Russia where her mother was born in Rostov. Years later, both families returned to Tehran where her parents met and were married. Malek-Yonan has a younger sister, Monica, who works very closely with her on most of her projects.

Malek-Yonan is trilingual and speaks Assyrian, Persian and English fluently.