Simin Behbahani

Simin Beh'bahāni^[1] (Persian: سیمین بهبهانی) (June 20, 1927 - August 19, 2014) was an Iranian writer and poet. She was Iran's national poet and an icon to Iranian literature. She was called the lioness of Iran.^[2] She was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and "received many literary awards around the world."^[3]

Simin Behbahani سیمین بهبهانی
Simin Behbahani
Born	Simin Khalili سیمین خلیلی (1927-06-20)20 June 1927 Tehran, Iran
Died	19 August 2014(2014-08-19) (aged 87) Tehran, Iran
Nationality	Iranian
Occupation(s)	Poet, writer
Spouse(s)	Hassan Behbahani (1946–1970, divorced) Manouchehr Koshyar (1971–2002, his death)
Children	Ali (b. 1948)
Parent(s)	Abbas Khalili (Father) Fakhr-e Ozma Arghun (Mother)

Behbahani was hospitalized in Tehran on 6 August 2014. She was in a state of coma until her death thirteen days later on 19 August 2014, aged 87.

Works

• The Broken Lute [Seh-tar-e Shekasteh, 1951]
• Footprint [Ja-ye Pa, 1954]
• Chandelier [Chelcheragh, 1955]
• Marble [Marmar 1961]
• Resurrection [Rastakhiz, 1971]
• A Line of Speed and Fire [Khatti ze Sor'at va Atash, 1980]
• Arzhan Plain [Dasht-e Arzhan, 1983]
• Paper Dress [Kaghazin Jameh, 1992]
• A Window of freedom [Yek Daricheh Azadi, 1995]
• Collected Poems [Tehran 2003]
• Maybe It's the Messiah [Shayad ke Masihast, Tehran 2003] Selected Poems, translated by Ismail Salami
• A Cup of Sin, Selected poems, translated by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa

Awards

• 1998 Human Rights Watch Hellman-Hammet Grant
• 1999 Carl von Ossietzky Medal
• 2006 Norwegian Authors' Union Freedom of Expression Prize
• 2009 mtvU Poet Laureate^[4]
• 2013 Janus Pannonius Poetry Prize^[5]