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Posted 10-19-00
CLEVELAND -- Sattareh Farman Farmaian, an author, social worker and international human rights advocate, will deliver the third annual Herman D. Stein Lectureship in International Social Welfare, a series of events honoring the distinguished career of Herman Stein, the University Professor and former dean of Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
"Where human rights are not observed, can social work make a difference?" will be the topic of her discussions on campus. She will speak at a colloquium and luncheon at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 24 in room 320BC at MSASS. Lunch will be provided. A reception and lecture follow at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 25 in the third-floor atrium at MSASS. Hiram Chodosh, CWRU professor of law, will serve as respondent at the Wednesday lecture. Both events are open to the campus community. Call Peggie Roberts at 368-2136 for reservations.
Her 1992 autobiography, Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey from Her Father's Harem Through the Islamic Republic, describes her life growing up in that culture and her work in advancing social welfare and human rights issues.
"Born in 1921, the 15th of 36 children in (the) family..., (Farman Famaian) was destined for the restricted, harem-like life that her mother and her father's seven other wives were accustomed to," noted a New York Times review of her autobiography. "Her mother was just 12 years old at the time of her wedding to Shazdeh (Farman Farmaian's father), then in his 50s.... When Shazdeh later married another teen-ager, Sattareh's mother was 'overjoyed' that at last she had found a playmate."
The autobiography received favorable reviews in several other major newspapers, including the Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, Los Angeles Times, and Kirkus Reviews, which called it "An exotic, absorbing, rather odd life saga played out against the volatile politics of Iran."
The Los Angeles Times reviewer observed, "Her memories of her girlhood in this feudal paradise are astonishing, a recollection of a recent past so unique as to be scarcely imaginable to Western contemporaries."
Farman Farmaian founded the Tehran School of Social Work in 1958 and served as its director until 1979. She also founded and served as executive director of both the Community Welfare Centers of Iran and the Family Planning Association of Iran. Concurrently, she served on the faculty at Tehran University.
From 1980-92, she worked for the County of Los Angeles Department of Social Services. In 1993, she received a Silver Achievement Award from the Greater Los Angeles YWCA and special commendations from both the County and City of Los Angeles.
In 1962, she received the Alumni Award of Merit from the University of Southern California, where she had earned a B.A. in sociology and master's in social work.
In addition to her autobiography, she is the author of On the Other Side of the China Wall, a 1977 book about her trip to China, and "Prostitution Problems in the City of Tehran," a 1969 research publication.
Stein joined CWRU as MSASS dean in 1964 and later served as provost of social and behavioral sciences, twice as University provost, as University vice president, and, since l972, as University professor, the highest CWRU faculty rank attainable. Throughout his academic career, he has made significant contributions to international social and economic development.