Najm al-Saltaneh

Najm was the daughter of Firuz Mirza and his second wife, Homa Khanum. She was a sister of Prince Abdol-Hossein Farman Farma (1852–1939), a prominent politician of modern Iran. Najm's sister, Sarvar al-Saltaneh, married Mozaffar ad-Din Shah as his eleventh wife. According to the customs of the time when it came to women who belonged to royalty and the nobility, Najm, her sisters, and her mother, would have lived secluded in the harem and andaruni (private inner quarters). Women of Najm's station received an education with a focus on administering a household and child-rearing, and would have seen that her daughter was educated in religion. Short and with pale skin, Najm was considered a beauty. Najm's great-grandfather was Fath-Ali Shah and through her family connections and marriages she was closely connected and related to the highest echelons of society, which also made her a very eligible match. == First marriage ==

She was married to her first husband Murtaza Quli Khan Vakil al-Mulk Isfandiyari, son of the governor of Kerman, when she was fourteen or sixteen-years old. From this marriage, she had two daughters, Zarrin Taj Hajieh Showkat al-Dowleh and Eshrat al-Dowleh. After the death of her father-in-law, her husband assumed the governorship over Kerman between 1869 and 1879. However, due to riots in the province during his governorship and his own serious financial difficulties, he was recalled to Tehran in 1880 where he died later that same year. == Second marriage ==

Najm married a second time to Mirza Heydatullha Vazir-Daftar, with whom she had Mohammad Mosaddegh and Amina Daftar al-Moluk. Her second husband died from cholera in 1893. == Third marriage ==

Najm remarried a third time to, Mozaffer al-Din´s private secretary, Najm al-Saltaneh loved to write. Much of the correspondence between herself and her brother, Farman Farma, is preserved in Tehran. She was also active in social affairs as her mother built schools and mosques. the daughter of Sayyed Zain al- Abidin; Najm then is said to have told her sister that even if her sister hadn´t given her son the Shah's daughter, he would have the daughter of the Shah of religion. In the 1910s, Najm lived with her eldest son and his family in Neuchâtel, while he was pursuing a law degree at the University of Neuchâtel. == Activism ==

Najm founded Najmieh Hospital in 1926, with the building opening in 1927. == Death ==

She died in 1932 and was buried in Najaf. == Issue ==

• Showkat al-Dowleh, married Sahm-al-Molk. Her son Ezatollah Bayat would later marry his cousin Zia Ashraf the daughter of his maternal uncle Mohammed Mossadegh. • Esrat al-Dowleh, married Mirzā ʿAli Movaṯṯaq-al-Salṭana • Mohammed Mossadegh, married Zahra Khanom • Amena, married her cousin Noṣrat-al-Dowla (killed by Reza Shah) married secondly Azod-al-Salṭana son of Mozaffar al-Din Shah. With issue. • Mozaffar Firouz • Abolhassan Diba ==References==