| Ali Reza Pahlavi | |
|---|---|
 Ali Reza in 1976 | |
| Born | (1966-04-28)28 April 1966 Tehran,Imperial State of Iran |
| Died | 4 January 2011(2011-01-04) (aged 44) Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Issue | Iryana Leila Pahlavi |
| House | Pahlavi |
| Father | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi |
| Mother | Farah Pahlavi |
Ali Reza Pahlavi (Persian:علی رضا پهلوی; 28 April 1966 – 4 January 2011) was a member of thePahlavi imperial family of Iran. He was the younger son ofMohammad Reza Pahlavi, the former Shah of Iran[1] and his third wifeFarah Diba.[2] He was second inorder of succession to the Iranian throne before theIranian Revolution. On 4 January 2011, he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after battling with depression.[3][4]
Ali Reza Pahlavi was born on 28 April 1966.[5][6] He attended theNiavaran Palace primary school in Iran[7] but left Iran alongside his family shortly before the Iranian revolution. He moved to theU.S. where he attendedSaint David's School in New York City andMount Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown, Massachusetts.[8] Pahlavi received aBA degree fromPrinceton University, anMA degree fromColumbia University,[9] and was studying atHarvard University as aPhD student in ancient Iranian studies andphilology at the time of his death.[6][10]
He was engaged in 2001 to SarahTabatabai, but it seems that the relationship ended some time afterwards.[11] He made a rare public appearance in 2005 at the funeral ofPrince Rainier of Monaco inMonte Carlo, alongside his motherFarah Diba.[12] From 2007 to 2011 he was in a relationship with Raha Didevar, to whom he became engaged in 2010.[13] Their daughter, Iryana Leila Pahlavi was born 26 July 2011, in Boston. He was once voted one of the "world's most eligible princes."[14]
After a long period of depression, on 4 January 2011 Pahlavi died in his apartment in theSouth End, Boston (141 West Newton Street)[15] from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.[16]
Mahnaz Afkhami, the former Iranian Minister of Women's Affairs of the Shah's government, told theBBC World Service that Pahlavi and his family being forced into exile in 1979 was very "traumatic" for him and that he had experienced a "loss of identity" in exile.[17] Ali Reza's sister,Leila Pahlavi, also had died by suicide, in June 2001.[14] Close family friends say that Ali Reza became very depressed after the death of his sister to whom he was very close.[18] He was survived by his mother, Farah Pahlavi, his older brotherReza, his sisterFarahnaz, half-sisterShahnaz,[19] daughter and partner.[20]
His brother Reza Pahlavi said that his wish was to be cremated and for his ashes to be scattered in theCaspian Sea.[21]
On 23 January 2011, an official memorial was held in The Music Center atStrathmore inBethesda, Maryland.[22] The memorial was attended by the former Iranian imperial family and thousands of Iranians.[23]
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