By Kevin Bradford
The Times, 18 October 2010 – HUNDREDS of Iranian mourners have travelled from the borough to France for the funeral of a much loved Persian singer.
Several coach loads of residents headed to Paris over the weekend following the death last Wednesday of Ashraf os-Sadat Morteza’i, popularly known as Marzieh.
The 86-year-old, acclaimed as “the Diva of traditional Persian music”, died after a long battle with cancer, and thousands of people were expected to turn out for her memorial event today.
The singer began her career in the 1940s and performed at some of the biggest venues across the world, including concerts in Los Angeles, California and London’s Royal Albert Hall.
She fled her homeland of Iran in the 1990s for political reasons having been banned from singing and later settled in Paris.
In 2003 she sung in front of thousands of Iranians and international political dignitaries at Wembley.
She also performed for Queen Elizabeth II, France’s General Charles de Gaulle, and US President Richard Nixon.
Her fame amongst Iranians was compared to that of Frank Sinatra’s, who she once dined with.
Laila Jazayeri, director of the Cricklewood based Anglo Iranian Women in the UK, said there had been a massive outpouring of emotion amongst borough’s Iranian community, which is one of the largest in the country.
She said: “She chose life in exile and despite pressures against her and her family by the regime; she joined the Resistance in 1994 and became a sharp voice of political dissent.
“She combined her immense musical talent with her unwavering political passion and became a voice for the millions of voiceless men and women suffering in Iran under the mullahs.”
Ashraf os-Sadat Morteza’i was buried in Auvers-sur-Oise, the same graveyard as Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh.