Background
He was the younger son of the former Shah of Iran and his third wife Farah Pahlavi. Prince Alireza Pahlavi was born on 28 April 1966.
He was the younger son of the former Shah of Iran and his third wife Farah Pahlavi. Prince Alireza Pahlavi was born on 28 April 1966.
He attended the Niavaran Palace primary school in Iran but left Iran alongside his family after the Iranian revolution. He moved to the United States. where he attended Saint David"s School in New York City and Mountain Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Pahlavi received a Bachelor degree from Princeton University, a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University, and was studying at Harvard University as a Doctor of Philosophy student in ancient Iranian studies and philology at the time of his death.
He was second in order of succession to the Iranian throne before the Iranian Revolution. He was engaged in 2001 to Sarah Tabatabai, but it seems that the relationship ended some time afterwards. He was once voted as one of the "world"s most eligible princes."
On January 4, 2011, news outlets reported that Alireza Pahlavi had committed suicide in his South End Boston apartment after a long period of depression.
Boston police said that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The family learned of the death Tuesday at 2:30 a.m., said spokesman Ahmad Oveyssi. Mahnaz Afkhami, the former Iranian Minister of Women"s Affair, told the British Broadcasting Corporation World Service that Pahlavi and his family being forced into exile in 1979 was very "traumatic" for him and that he had experienced a "loss of identity" in exile.
Alireza"s sister, Princess Leila Pahlavi also committed suicide in June 2001. Aftermath
The news of his death spread quickly on social-networking sites and sparked different reactions.
Memorials
On January 23, 2011, an official memorial was held in The Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland.
The memorial was attended by the Iranian Royal family and thousands of Iranians. On August 5, 2011 a statement from the official website of Prince Alireza"s brother, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, read:
The Prince"s only child, Iryana Leila, was born out of wedlock and nearly seven months after his death. Iryana Leila (born July 26, 2011).
Empress Farah Pahlavi confirmed that Iryana Leila is a full member of the Imperial house and a Princess of Iran.