Mahvash

Iranian singer, dancer, movie actress and stage performer in the 1950s and 1960s

Mahvash مهوش

Background information
Birth name	Masumeh Azizi Borujerdi معصومه عزيزى بروجردى
Also known as	Mahvash Akram, Banu Mahvash, Ma'sumeh Azizi Borujerdi, Akram Ābgūshtī
Born	1920 Borujerd, Sublime State of Persia
Died	1961 (aged 40–41) Tehran, Imperial State of Iran
Occupation(s)	Singer, dancer, stage performer
Years active	1950–1961

Musical artist

Mahvash (Persian: مهوش), born Masoumeh Azizi Borujerdi (Persian: معصومه عزيزى بروجردى), was an Iranian singer, dancer, film actress and stage performer.^[1] She came from a poor family and was lauded as a singer (performer) of the people in the 1950s.^[2]

Early life and early career

Mahvash was born Masoumeh Azizi Borujerdi in Borujerd, Iran to a poor family, when Mahvash was a teenager the family came to Tehran. At an early age, Mahvash lost her mother. Later she went on to perform in Tehran's cabarets (Persian: kafe-i motrebi) and cafes in the late 1940s to early 1950s and drew large support from the working people.^[3]

However, there is confusion around her biography, and different accounts of what type of performances were happening at this age and where.^[4] The most common story is that she performed risqué songs in the cabarets, on the radio and in movies.^[5] Another prevalent story is she began in a classical ruhowzi dance troupe as a dancer, pishparde singer, and actress;^[3] and she married a violinist who secured her entertainment engagements.^[3]

Career

She gained the admiration of the masses’ by articulating in her songs the problems, difficulties, and frustrations of the common people, struggles which she knew very well.^[1]^[6] Her most famous songs involved a call and response-style singing with her male audience.^[5]

She published a book in 1957 which she termed an "autobiography" which was entitled Secrets of Sexual Fulfillment (Persian: Raz-e Kamyabi-ye Jensi). This book was more of a sex manual had pictures of her in a bathing suit and was published and widely distributed despite being prosecuted for the book in June 1960.^[5] It seems that Mahvash's ability to speak to the marginalized majority absolved her of her forays into prostitution and other publicly indecent behavior.

When Mahvash died in a car accident in 1961, her public funeral went down in Iran's history as the largest of its day, with thousands of Iranians on the streets to mark her passing.^[2] Iranian religious authorities were unwilling to accept burying her in a Muslim cemetery because as an entertainer she was considered "unclean" and "unchaste",^[5] however when the large amount of mourners celebrated her passing they relented.^[5]

She is buried in the Ibn Babawayh Cemetery in Tehran.

Filmography

Acting

1956 – The Sun Shines [fa] (Persian: خورشید می‌درخشد, romanized: Khorshid Miderakhshad), with director Sardar Saker^[5]
1956 – Layla and Majnun (1956 film) [fa] (Persian: لیلی و مجنون, romanized: Leyli va Majnun), with director Ali-Mohammad Nourbakhsh [fa]^[7]
1957 – Ladder of Progress [fa] (Persian: نردبان ترقی, romanized: Nardebane Taraghi)
1957 – The Happy Naked One [fa] (Persian: برهنه خوشحال, romanized: Berahneh Khoshhal), starring with Mohsen Mahdavi [fa]^[8]
1959 – A Girl from Esfahan [fa] (Persian: دختری از اصفهان, romanized: Dokhtari az Esfahan), with director George Ovadiah
1959 – Two Brides for Three Brothers [fa] (Persian: Do Aroos Baraye se Baradar), with director Mohammad Abdi (film director) [fa]^[7]
1961 – What's the Difference (Persian: Ki Be Kiyeh), with director Reza Karimi^[7]

Singing

1962 – The Lost Flower [fa] (Persian: گل گمشده, romanized: Gole Gomshodeh), featured singing and dancing by Mahvash, with director Abbas Shabaviz^[7]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mahvash.

^ ^a ^b Matthee, Rudolph (Rudi); Baron, Beth (2000). Iran and Beyond: Essays in Middle Eastern History in Honor of Nikki R. Keddie. "Voices Unveiled: Women Singers in Modern Iran,” Chehabi, Houchang E. Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishing. ISBN 1-56859-099-7. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Big Girl, Iran's Mahvash". Six Pillars. April 24, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c Breyley, G. J.; Fatemi, Sasan (November 19, 2015). Iranian Music and Popular Entertainment: From Motrebi to Losanjelesi and Beyond. Routledge. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-1-317-33680-8.
^ Breyley, GJ; Fatemi, Sasan (2015). Iranian Music and Popular Entertainment: From Motrebi to Losanjelesi and Beyond. Routledge. ISBN 978-1317336792.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Naficy, Hamid (September 16, 2011). A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 2: The Industrializing Years, 1941–1978. United States: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0822347743.
^ Talattof, Kamran (June 1, 2011). Modernity, Sexuality, and Ideology in Iran: The Life and Legacy of a Popular Female Artist. Syracuse University Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN 978-0-8156-5139-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Mahvash". Soureh Cinema. SourehCinema.com. 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
^ "Nostalgia". Iranian.com.