Mahvash
مهوش
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| 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 |
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]
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]
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.
