Farah Pahlavi

Born into a prosperous Iranian family on 14 October 1938, Farah Diba's fortunes dimmed after her father's early death. While studying architecture in Paris, she met Mohammad Reza Pahlavi at the Iranian embassy; they married in December 1959. The Shah's first two marriages had produced no male heir, so the birth of Crown Prince Reza in October 1960 set off celebrations. As empress, she founded charities, established Shiraz University — Iran's first American-style institution — and pushed to bring Iranian antiquities home from foreign museums. By 1978, widening inequality ignited unrest that tip…