Iranian Influential Women: Moluk Zargarian (1921-2005)

Moluk Zargarian (Asheghian), the Iranian Jewish writer, translator and social activist, was born in 1929 in the city of Hamedan, the biblical Ecbatana. She was one of the first members of the board of directors of the Jewish Ladies Organization of Iran, an organization dedicated to social, philanthropic and cultural activities that was founded in Tehran in 1947.

Moluk Zargarian finished her studies at Alliance School, a Jewish school founded in Hamedan in 1900 by the Alliance Israélite Universelle, and an American school named Iran Dokht (“Daughter of Iran”). Besides Persian, she also learned English, French, Turkish and Hebrew.

Her mother was Ada and her father was Rabiollah, who was a member of the Hamedan Jewish Committee, or Hebra (“Committee” in Hebrew). In 1940, after moving to Tehran, she married Abdollah Zargarian and they had three daughters – Sorya, Shahla and Mahnaz – and one son named Ramin. All their children became active in social causes, especially Shahla Zargarian (Javedan), who was the president of the Jewish Iranian Federation twice and has been the president of the Iranian Jewish Women’s Organization since 2014.

She was one of the philanthropic women of Iran’s Jewish community, a lover of art and literature who, from a very young age, strived for the improvement of women's education. She worked to protect women’s rights and help their education, and she was also active in the fight against illiteracy – a dedication, which earned her the nickname "Mother of All."

Moluk Zargarian remained a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Ladies Organization of Iran for 25 years and, in 1961, the High Council of Women's Organizations of Iran chose her to be a supervisor of classes run by this council to fight illiteracy among children and older women. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture appointed her as an inspector for the Campaign to Fight Illiteracy.

“The Ministry of Culture had sent a directive to school and philanthropy organizations about the Campaign to Fight Illiteracy which was under the supervision of Princess Ashraf (Shah’s sister) and the late Farrokhru Parsa (the minister of culture),” said Moluk Zargarian. “I was convinced that the Jewish Ladies Organization of Iran should be the standard-bearer of this campaign. At the time, [the girls’] Bakhtar School was near our home. I paid a visit to the school’s principal and asked the classrooms to be made available to us so that we could use them to carry out the projects of the Campaign to Fight Illiteracy.”

In 1996, she translated Amelia Marsden’s book Jewish Women Praying from French. The translation has been reprinted several times and is still being read by thousands of Iranian Jewish women across the world.

In 1980, following the Islamic Revolution, Moluk Zargarian and her husband, like many other Iranian Jewish figures, were forced into exile and moved to the United States. After a short while, she was accepted as a member of the Iranian Jewish Women’s Organization in Los Angeles and resumed her philanthropic activities with her old friends.

She also used her time to study the role of women in religion, history and the culture of Judaism. During this time, she wrote The Relation between Shema Yisrael and the Ten Commandments. The book has been published in Persian, Hebrew and English. She also translated The Gates to Tefilla by Yona Zilberman.

In 1989, Moluk Zargarian received a certificate of appreciation from the Iranian Jewish Women’s Organization in Southern California in appreciation of her philanthropic services. The certificate was presented to her by Tom Bradley, the then-mayor of Los Angeles. She also received the Distinguished Humanitarian Award from Hadassah, a Jewish women’s organization.

Moluk Zargarian died in 2005, at the age of 85.