List of Iranian Kurds
Encyclopedia
Iranian Kurds — an Iranic-speaking ethnic group. Iranian Kurds are both Shia and Sunni Muslims. Traditionally, the Iranian Kurds live in Kordestan province, Kermanshah province
, Ilam province
and parts of West Azerbaijan province.The majority of the Kermanshah and Ilam provinces as well as eastern Kordestan province are Shia Muslim Kurds.
Below are lists of prominent Kurds from Iran. In the list, they are indicated only by place of birth. List also includes people who have at least one parent of Iranian Kurdish origin.
Kermanshah Province
Kermanshah Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. The province was known from 1969 to 1986 as Kermanshahan and from 1986 to 1995 as Bakhtaran.-Counties:...
, Ilam province
Ilam Province
Ilam Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the south-west of the country, bordering Iraq. Its provincial center is the city of Ilam. Covering an area of 19,086 square kilometers, the cities of the province are Ilam, Mehran, Dehloran, Dareh Shahr, Sarable, Eyvan, Abdanan and Arkwaz...
and parts of West Azerbaijan province.The majority of the Kermanshah and Ilam provinces as well as eastern Kordestan province are Shia Muslim Kurds.
Below are lists of prominent Kurds from Iran. In the list, they are indicated only by place of birth. List also includes people who have at least one parent of Iranian Kurdish origin.
Filmmakers
- Ghotbeddin SadeghiGhotbeddin SadeghiGhotbeddin Sadeghi is an Kurdish-Iranian theatre director, playwright, stage and film actor.-Education:He got his B.A from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran in 1975. Later, he did his Masters in Dramatic Arts at Sorbonne University and completed it in 1979...
— Iranian director. - Behrouz GharibpourBehrouz GharibpourBehrouz Gharibpour is a renowned Iranian theatre director and pioneer of traditional Persian puppet theatre.He studied theatre at Tehran University and at Dramatic Arts Academy in Rome . He founded Tehran and Esfahan puppet theatre centres and changed the Tehran’s slaughterhouse into the greatest...
— Iranian director. - Bahman GhobadiBahman GhobadiBahman Ghobadi is an Iranian film director of Kurdish ethnicity. He was born on February 1, 1969 in Baneh, Kurdistan Province. Ghobadi belongs to the so called "new wave" of Iranian cinema.-Biography:...
— Iranian director. - Jamil RostamiJamil RostamiJamil Rostami born 1971 in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, Iran) is an Iranian film director of Kurdish origin.In 2002 he made his first short film titled The Trouble of Being a Boy in Kurdish, which was screened in 24 domestic and international Festivals and was awarded several prizes.He made his...
— Iranian director.
Music
- Shahram NazeriShahram NazeriShahram Nazeri is a contemporary Iranian tenor of Kurdish ancestry who sings classical Persian music from Kermanshah. He is one of Iran's most respected vocalists...
— Iranian vocalist and musician. - Susan (singer)Susan (singer)Susan Susan (or Sousan) Susan (or Sousan) (April or May 1942 Qasr-e Shirin, Kermanshah, Iran - May 3, 2004 Los Angeles, California, U.S.(Persian: سوسن) was a very popular Iranian singer of particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. Susan was also known for her philanthropic acts and was commonly...
— Iranian singer. - Kamkars — Iranian music family
- Saeed FarajpouriSaeed FarajpouriSaeed Farajpouri is an Iranian kamancheh player of Kurdish descent. He is also a prolific Persian music composer and a lecturer at School of Music, Tehran University....
, Iranian kamancheh player - Jamshid (singer), Iranian singer
- Rojan (musician)Rojan (musician)Rojan is an Kurdish classical vocalist who performs Persian and Kurdish music.Rojan was born in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province of Iran and grew up in Kermanshah where she discovered mystical Persian music...
Iranian singer - Ghader Abdollahzadeh - Kurdish flute player
- Azad (rapper)Azad (rapper)Azad Azadpour is a German rapper of Kurdish descent based in Frankfurt am Main.-Career:After having arrived in Germany from Iran as young as 10, he was into hip hop, rap, beatboxing and graffiti. In 1988 he joined D-Flame , A-Bomb, and Combad in Cold-N-Locco...
, German rapper - Mohammad MamleMamleMuhammad Mamle was an Iranian Kurdish musician and singer. He renewed hundreds of Kurdish folkloric songs.Since Mamle was a Kurdish political activist, he was arrested several times by the Iranian government. He died on the 13 January 1999 at the age of 74 in the Kurdish city of Mahabad, and was...
, Kurdish singer. - Hassan Zirak — Kurdish singer.
- Ali Akbar MoradiAli Akbar MoradiAli Akbar Moradi,, born 1957 is a well known Iranian Kurdish musician and composer. He was born in the Iranian city of Kermanshah...
- Iranian musician - Sohrab PournazeriSohrab PournazeriSohrab Pournazeri is an Iranian musician, virtuoso and composer born in 1982 in Kermanshah. He plays Kamancheh and tanbour.-Life:...
- Iranian musician - Roknoddin Mokhtari — Iranian violin player
- Kayhan KalhorKayhan KalhorKayhan Kalhor , born 24 November 1963, is an Iranian kamancheh player, composer and master of classical Kurdish and Persian music.-Youth and studies:...
— Iranian kamancheh player.
Authors, poets, journalists and scholars
- Mastoura Ardalan, Kurdish poet and historiographer.
- Alaaddin SajadiAlaaddin SajadiAlaaddin Sajjadi was a Kurdish writer, poet and academic. He was born in Iran Kurdistan. He finished his religious studies and became a cleric in 1938. He began working in the field of journalism in 1939, and became the Editor-in-Chief of the Kurdish journal Gelawêj in 1941. In 1948, he published...
- Kurdish writer - Abdol-Hamid Heyrat SajjadiAbdol-Hamid Heyrat SajjadiAbdol-Hamid Heyrat Sajjadi is a notable Iranian scholar, researcher, literary figure and historian.He studied Persian literature and history and got a PhD degree in theology from Tehran University. He is known for his works on Iranian culture...
- Iranian writer - Bakhtiar SajjadiBakhtiar SajjadiBakhtiar Sadjadi is a Kurdish academician, writer and translator.He got his BA degree in English Language and Literature from Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran in 1998 and his MA in the same field from Tehran University in 2000...
- Iranian writer - Mohammad GhaziMohammad GhaziMohammad Ghazi was a prolific Iranian translator and writer who translated numerous book mainly from French into Persian.He studied literature at Darolfonoun...
— Iranian translator. - Ahmad GhaziAhmad GhaziAhmad Ghazi is a famous Kurdish writer and translator. He was born in 1936 in Mahabad. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English in Tehran Higher Institute of Languages in 1958. He played an active role in Iranian Kurdistan struggles for political sovereignty in the 1970s, because of which...
— Kurdish translator. - Karim HisamiKarim HisamiKarim Hisami or Kerîmî Hisamî, was an Iranian-Kurdish writer. He was born in the village of Beyrem near Mahabad. His real name was Karimi Mirza Hamed. Karim Hisami was his pen-name. At early age, he became involved in politics, and was registered as the 18th member of Komeley Jiyanewey Kurd party...
— Kurdish author . - Hossein Khalighi — Kurdish author
- Hamid HassaniHamid HassaniHamid Hasani is an Iranian scholar and researcher, concentrated on Persian lexicography, dictionary-making, and Persian corpus linguistics, also an expert on Persian, Arabic, and Kurdish...
— Iranian author - Savareh Ilkhanizadeh — Kurdish poet.
- Misbaholdiwan Adab — Kurdish poet
- Sharafkhan Bidlisi - Historian, author of Sharafnama in Persian.
- WafaeiWafaeiWafaei or Wefayî, , was a Kurdish poet. His real name was Abdorrahim. He was born in Mahabad in present-day north-western Iran. He finished religious studies in Mahabad and became a cleric, and a teacher in the local school. He moved to Sulaimaniya in 1900 and stayed there for a while. He travelled...
, Kurdish poet. - Hemin MukriyaniHemin MukriyaniHemin Mukriyani was the pen name for Seyed Mohammad Amin Shaikholislami Mukri, Kurdish poet, journalist, translator, and literary critic.He was born in the village of Lachin, near Mahabad in 1945...
— Kurdish poet. - HejarHejarAbdurrahman Sharafkandi or Hazhar or Hajar, , was a renowned Kurdish writer, poet, linguist, and translator, from Iran.He was also the brother of the late Kurdish politician Dr. Sadeq Sharafkandi . Dr...
— Kurdish poet. - Amir HassanpourAmir HassanpourAmir Hassanpour, , is a prominent Iranian Kurdish scholar and researcher. He was born in Mahabad, in north-western Iran. He received Bachelor of Arts degree in English language in 1964 from University of Tehran. He taught in the secondary schools of Mahabad in the period of 1965-66.In 1968, he...
- Kurdish scholar and researcher - Abbas ValiAbbas ValiProfessor Abbas Vali is a distinguished Kurdish political and social theorist specialising in modern and contemporary political thought and modern Middle Eastern Politics.-Biography:...
- political scientist. - Hashim AhmadzadehHashim AhmadzadehHashem Ahmadzadeh is a well-known Iranian and Kurdish scholar, presently a lecturer in the Kurdish Studies Centre of the University of Exeter.- Biography :...
- Kurdish writer and translator - Mozaffar PartowmahMozaffar PartowmahMozaffar Partowmah was a well-known scholar of Islam and Nuclear physics. Partowmah was born in the Sanandaj area of Kurdistan, Iran)....
, Iranian Kurdish author and scholar of Islam and Nuclear physics. - Erfan Ghaneifard — Iranian author.
- Ata NahaiAta NahaiAta Nahai is a well-known Kurdish Iranian novelist and short story writer. He was born in Baneh in 1960. He was graduated from high school in 1978, receiving a diploma of literature. As to the revolutionary atmosphere of Iran in 1979 and the universities being closed for the coming four years he...
— Kurdish author - Parviz Jahani - Kurdish author
- Mustafa BesaraniMustafa BesaraniMustafa Besarani , was an Iranian-Kurdish poet who wrote in Hewrami dialect.He was from the village Bêseran in western Iran.-External links:* *...
— Kurdish poet - Khana QubadiKhana QubadiKhana Qubadi or , , was a Kurdish poet. He wrote his poems in the Hawrami dialect. He belonged to the Hawrami school of poetry in the Ardalan principality.-Works:...
, Kurdish poet
Sports
- Mohammad OrazMohammad OrazMohammad Oraz , , born 1969 in Naghadeh, Iran – died September 6, 2003, Islamabad, Pakistan) was an Iranian mountain climber. He was the second Iranian climber to conquer Mount Everest on 1998. The first Iranian is Iranian-American climber Hooman Aprin who stood on top of Everest oct.5,...
— Iranian mountain climber. - Aram KhaliliAram KhaliliAram Khalili is a Iranian-Norwegian football striker who currently plays for Bodø/Glimt.-Early life:He was born in Bukan, Iran, but came to Kristiansand, Norway in 1997.-Club:...
— Norwegian second league football player. - Ziaeddin NiknafsZiaeddin NiknafsZiaeddin Niknafs , is an Iranian football defender who currently plays for Sanat Naft in Iran Pro League. He is a young left footed defender who can play as both a left back and central defender.-Club career:...
— Iranian football player - Bijan ZolfagharnasabBijan ZolfagharnasabBijan Zolfagharnasab is a retired Iranian football player and currently a football manager.He started his professional career with Pas Tehran, before changing to Persepolis F.C. in 1974. There he could win the Iranian championship in 1976 and reach runner-up position in 1975, in 1977 and in 1978...
— Former Iranian football player and current coach.
Political activists
- Abdul Rahman GhassemlouAbdul Rahman GhassemlouAbdul Rahman Ghassemlou was a Kurdish political leader.Ghassemlou was the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran from 1973 to 1989, when he was assassinated by perpetrators thought to be agents of the Islamic...
— former leader of PDKI. - Simko ShikakSimko ShikakSimko Shikak also Ismail Agha Shikak ) was a Kurdish chieftain of the Shakak tribe...
— Kurdish revolutionary. - Ghazi Mohammad — Former leader of PDKI
- Sadegh SharafkandiSadegh SharafkandiSadegh Sharafkandi was a Kurdish political activist and the Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran ....
— Leader of PDKI - Bahaedin Adab - Political activist
- Ahmad Moftizadeh Sunni Islamic Kurdish leader in Iran.
- Foad Mostafa SoltaniFoad Mostafa SoltaniFoad M. Soltani, or Kak Foad Foad Mostafa Soltani was one of the founders of the Revolutionary Organisation of the Toilers of Kurdistan, popularly known as Komala. He is popularly known as “kak Foad”—meaning “brother” Foad...
— Former leader of Komaleh. - Mohammad Seddigh Kaboudvand, Human rights activist
- Sedigh KamangarSedigh KamangarSedigh Kamangar known as Kak Sedigh was a lawyer and one of the founders and leaders of Komalah, a left-wing Kurdish political party...
— Political activist - Farzad KamangarFarzad KamangarFarzad Kamangar was a 32-year-old Iranian Kurdish teacher, poet, journalist, human rights activist and social worker from the city of Kamyaran, Iran who was executed on May 9, 2010. - The Accusations and the Courts :Kamangar was prosecuted on charges of mohareb "enmity towards God"...
— Political activist. - Ebrahim AlizadehEbrahim AlizadehEbrahim Alizadeh is a communist politician. He is official spokesperson of Komalah who is at the same time the first secretary of Komalah.-External links:*...
— Former leader of Komaleh. - Soraya SerajeddiniSoraya SerajeddiniSoraya Serajeddini , was a Kurdish-Iranian human rights activist. She was born in Tehran to a respected family of Naqshbandi Sufis. Her family fled Iran in 1980 and sought refuge in Sulaimaniya and Baghdad for two years, and then moved to the United States in 1982...
, Human rights activist - Roya TolouiRoya TolouiRoya Toloui is a prominent Kurdish-Iranian journalist, human rights activist and feminist, currently residing in US. She was born in Baneh in western Iran...
- Kurdish journalist - Amineh KakabavehAmineh KakabavehAmineh Kakabaveh is a Swedish Left Party politician. She has been a member of the Parliament of Sweden since 2008.-External links:* at the Riksdag website...
, member of the Swedish Parliament.
Religious figures
- Hajj NematollahHajj NematollahHajj Nematollah was born in Jeyhounabad, Persia and is considered one of the greatest leaders and mystics in Kurdish and Ahl-e Haqq history. Two of his most famous works of poetry and history are Furqān al-Akhbar and Ḥaqq al-Ḥaqāyiq yā Shāhnāmah-ʾi Ḥaqīqat...
(1871–1919), mystic and poet. - Nur Ali ElahiNur Ali ElahiNur Ali Elahi was a spiritual thinker, musician, philosopher and jurist who dedicated his life to investigating the metaphysical dimension of human beings....
(1895–1974), Spiritual leader of the Ahl-e HaqqAhl-e HaqqThe Ahl-e Haqq or Yârsân , are members of a religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. The total number of members is estimated at around 1,000,000, primarily found in western Iran and Iraq, mostly ethnic Kurds and Laks, though there are also smaller groups of Luri,...
religion.