Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary
Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary
	Soraya in 1953
Queen consort of Iran
Tenure	12 February 1951 – 15 March 1958
Predecessor	Fawzia of Egypt
Successor	Farah Diba
Born	22 June 1932; Isfahan, Imperial State of Persia
Died	25 October 2001 (aged 69); Paris, France
Burial	Westfriedhof, Munich, Germany
Spouse	Mohammad Reza Pahlavi; (m. 1951; div. 1958)
Father	Khalil Esfandiary-Bakhtiary
Mother	Eva Karl
Occupation	Actress (1965)

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary (Persian: ثریا اسفندیاری بختیاری, romanized: Sorayâ Esfandiâri-Baxtiâri; 22 June 1932 – 25 October 2001) was Queen of Iran as the second wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whom she married in 1951. Their marriage suffered many pressures, particularly when it became clear that she was infertile. She rejected the Shah's suggestion that he might take a second wife in order to produce an heir, as he rejected her suggestion that he might abdicate in favor of his half-brother. In March 1958, their divorce was announced. After a brief career as an actress, and a liaison with Italian film director Franco Indovina, Soraya lived alone in Paris until her death.