Abdolhossein Teymourtash - Family

Family

After Teymourtash's death, his extensive landholdings and other properties and possessions were confiscated by the Iranian government, while his immediate family was kept under house arrest on one of its farflung family estates for an extended period of time. While it was not uncommon for Reza Shah to imprison or kill his previous associates and prominent politicians, most notably Firouz Mirza Nosrat-ed-Dowleh Farman Farmaian III and Sardar Asad Bakhtiar, the decision to impose severe collective punishment on Teymourtash's family was unprecedented. Immediate members of the Teymourtash family forced to endure seven years of house arrest and exile would consist of his mother and younger sister Badri Teymourtash, his first wife Sorour ol-Saltaneh and her four children, Manouchehr, Iran, Amirhoushang and Mehrpour. His second wife, Tatiana and her two young daughters, Parichehr and Noushi were spared house arrest.

Having either just returned to Iran on account of their father's arrest, and informed by relatives to suspend their studies to Iran from Europe, the children would have to suffer the alleged sins of their father. Teymourtash's younger sister, Badri, had recently completed her studies in Belgium and upon her return to Iran in the early 1930s was likely the first female dentist in the country. Manouchehr, Teymourtash's eldest son was attending the world-renowned and foremost French military academy at École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in France before his return, Iran was attending preparatory college in England, Amirhoushang was enrolled at the exclusive Harrow School in England, while Mehrpour was attending the venerated Le Rosey boarding school in Switzerland along with the then Crown Prince, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The Teymourtash family remained in the seclusion of exile and was forbidden from receiving visitors until 1941 when Reza Shah was forced to abdicate after allied forces entered Iran during the early years of World War II. As part of the General Amnesty that followed Mohammad Reza Shah's accession to the throne that year, members of the Teymourtash family were released from exile and some of their confiscated properties were returned. Much like other extensive landholders in Iran, the tracts of land returned to the Teymourtash family would subsequently be subjected to the land reform and re-distribution schemes as part of the White Revolution introduced in the 1960s. Nonetheless, the Teymourtash family regained much of its wealth and was considered among the most affluent Iranian families before the Iranian Revolution of 1979. One noteworthy business transaction involved the sale of large tracts from the Teymourtash estates in Khorasan to industrialist Mahmoud Khayami to allow him develop an industrial complex several years before the Revolution.

Mehrpour Teymourtash, who had been Mohammad Reza Shah's closest friend and classmate both during the period in which the two attended grade school in Tehran and subsequently at Le Rosey, was killed in a car accident shortly after the Teymourtash family was released from house arrest and exile in 1941.

Manouchehr Teymourtash followed in his father's footsteps and was elected a member of the Majles of Iran for several terms from Khorasan province. His marriage to Mahin Banoo Afshar led to the birth of Manijeh, and his second marriage to Touran Mansour, the daughter of former Iranian Prime Minister Ali Mansour ("Mansour ol Molk") resulted in the birth of Karimdad. After the revolution Manouchehr resided in California with his third wife, Akhtar Masoud the grand daughter of Prince Mass'oud Mirza Zell-e Soltan. Manouchehr's sole grandchild is Nargues (Nicky) Adle.

Amirhoushang Teymourtash, on the other hand, resisted the temptation to pursue a political career and for the most part pursued entrepreneurial interests. Ervand Abrahamian describes Amirhoushang Teymourtash as an "enterprising aristocrat", and despite initially experiencing the vicissitudes of economic fluctuations, he proved particularly successful in his subsequent endeavours. In Princess Ashraf Pahlavi's candid memoirs, entitled Faces in a Mirror, and released after the Revolution, the Shah's sister reveals, "I was attracted to Houshang's tall good looks, his flamboyant charm, the sophistication he had acquired during his years at school in England. I knew that in this fun-loving, life-loving man I had found my first love". Although, Amirhoushang and 's young twin sister developed an affinity shortly after the former was released from house arrest in 1941, in an effort to cope with the death of Mehrpour, a long-term relationship was not pursued. Houshang's marriage to Forough Moshiri resulted in three children, Elaheh ("Lolo") Teymourtash-Ehsassi, Kamran, and Tanaz ("Nana"). Houshang's grandchildren consist of Marjan Ehsassi-Horst, Ali Ehsassi, Roxane Teymourtash-Owensby, Abteen Teymourtash and Amita Teymourtash. Houshang's great grandchildren consist of Sophie and Cyrus Horst, Leia and Kian Owensby, and Dylan Teymourtash.

Iran Teymourtash earned a Ph. d in literature while residing in France, and pursued a career in journalism. As with her father, she was awarded France's highest civilian honour, the Legion d'honneur. Apart from her brief engagement to Hossein Ali Qaragozlu, the grandson of Regent Naser ol Molk, from 1931 to 1932, Iran opted to remain single for the remainder of her life. Ironically, the posthumous release in 1991 of the Confidential Diary of Asadollah Alam, the Shah's closest confidant, revealed that Mohammad Reza Pahlavi intimated to Alam that during his late teenage years he "was head over heels in love with Iran Teymourtash". More recently, a book chronicling the lives of Iran Teymourtash, Ashraf Pahlavi and Mariam Firouz, entitled These Three Women ("Een Se Zan") and authored by Masoud Behnoud was published to wide acclaim in Iran. It is believed to be one of the best selling books to have been published in Iran in recent memory.

Paritchehr and Noushie, Teymourtash's youngest children from his second wife Tatiana, were fortunate to not be compelled to endure the hardship of house arrest after their father's removal from office. Nonetheless after having been raised in Iran, they moved to New York along with their mother in the early 1940s. Paritchehr has pursued a distinguished career in classical dance, while Noushie was employed at the United Nations for several decades. After a brief engagement with future Prime Minister Hassan Ali Mansour, Noushie wedded Vincenzo Berlingeri which resulted in the birth of Andre and Alexei. Paritchehr is the sole surviving child of Abdolhossein Teymourtash, and is considered the custodian of her father's legacy to Iranian history.