Mahtob Mahmoody
{{short description|American author (born 1979)}}
{{Infobox person
|native_name = مهتاب محمودى
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|9|4}}
|birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S.
|occupation = Author
|parents = Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody (father)
Betty Lover (mother)
|Siblings = Joseph and John
|known = Her memoir, My Name is Mahtob
}}
Mahtob Maryam Mahmoody ({{langx|fa|مهتاب محمودى}}; born September 4, 1979){{cite web|work=Chasing the Frog|url=http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/notwithoutmydaughter.php|title=Not Without My Daughter}} is an American author who wrote the autobiographical memoir My Name is Mahtob,{{cite web|last=Pohl|first=Scott|title=Revisiting 'Not Without My Daughter' with Mahtob Mahmoody|date=8 February 2016|publisher=WKAR-FM|url=http://wkar.org/post/revisiting-not-without-my-daughter-mahtob-mahmoody#stream/0|accessdate=23 October 2017}}{{cite web|last=Martin|first=Rachel|title='Not Without My Daughter' Subject Grows Up, Tells Her Own Story|date=29 November 2015|publisher=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/11/29/457756753/-not-without-my-daughter-subject-grows-up-tells-her-own-story|accessdate=11 May 2016}} which depicts her perspective of her family's story when she and her mother, Betty Mahmoody, were held captive by her father, Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody, in his country of birth, Iran, for a period of 18 months during the mid 1980s.{{cite news|last=O'Callaghan|first=Billy|title=Book review: My Name Is Mahtob|date=16 April 2016|newspaper=Irish Examiner|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsfilmtv/books/book-reviewmy-name-is-mahtob-393085.html|accessdate=11 May 2016}} Her mother wrote her version of their story in her 1987 biography Not Without My Daughter, which was adapted into a 1991 feature film of the same name in which Mahtob was portrayed by Sheila Rosenthal and her parents were portrayed by Sally Field and Alfred Molina.
Biography
{{externalvideo|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycMAc8IWUUs Swedish News Interview with Mahtob and Betty Mahmoody]}}
Mahtob was born to parents Betty Lover and Sayyed Bozorg "Moody" Mahmoody in Houston on September 4, 1979.{{cite magazine|last=Nesselson|first=Lisa|title=Review: 'Without My Daughter'|date=10 April 2003|magazine=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2003/film/reviews/without-my-daughter-2-1200542319/|accessdate=11 May 2016}} Her first name means "Moonlight" in Persian.{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=Jean Sprain|title=Celebrity In Hiding: Going Public With Her Story Creates A Private Dilemma|date=8 November 1987|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/11/08/celebrity-in-hiding/|access-date=11 May 2016}} It was her father who named her that after he was inspired by a full moon. Mahtob has two half brothers through Betty's first marriage, Joe and John, who are 13 and 9 years older than her respectively.{{cite book |last1=Mahmoody |first1=Mahtob |title=My Name is Mahtob |date=December 1, 2015 |publisher=Nelson Books |location=Nashville, Tennessee |isbn=978-0-7180-9172-9 |page=22 }} Mahtob and her parents lived in Texas before moving to Michigan.{{cite news|last=Potempa|first=Phillip|title=OFFBEAT: Here's your chance to catch up with Betty Mahmoody|date=19 February 2011|newspaper=The Times of Northwest Indiana|url=http://www.nwitimes.com/entertainment/columnists/offbeat/offbeat-here-s-your-chance-to-catch-up-with-betty/article_aadb2b1c-6cd2-5c62-b041-cf1d1085eb69.html|accessdate=11 May 2016}} She grew up in Alpena, Michigan.{{cite news|last=Montemurri|first=Patricia|title='Not Without My Daughter' all grown up in Michigan|date=21 March 2016|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|url=http://www.freep.com/story/life/2016/03/19/not-without-my-daughter-michigan-mahtob-mahmoody/77563602/|accessdate=9 July 2016}}
On August 4, 1984, Mahtob and her parents arrived in Tehran to meet with Moody's relatives. Their stay was originally meant to have lasted only two weeks, but Mahtob and Betty were held captive by Moody for eighteen months. According to Mahtob, Betty suspected that Moody would keep them in Iran when he suggested that they visit, but she was afraid that if she said no, he would abduct Mahtob.{{cite web|last=Hall|first=Eleanor|title='Forgiveness is a tricky thing': Mahtob Mahmoody's story of surviving her father|date=16 December 2015|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-16/mahtob-mahmoody-interview/7033294|accessdate=11 May 2016}} Mahtob stated in an interview with NPR:
{{Blockquote|So it was the night before we were to leave to return to America. Mom was packing. And there had been talk about our passports and our papers weren't in order and, you know, there were issues. But everything was going to work out. It was going to be all right. And then the night before we were to leave, we were in the bedroom. Mom was packing. And my dad came in and said that's it. We weren't leaving. We were in Iran until we died. And we were in his country. We had to abide by his rules. And from then on, he was a completely different person. To me, that's when my daddy died. You know, he was, from that moment on, completely changed.|Mahtob Mahmoody, November 29, 2015}}
Since Sayyed was Iranian by birth, Iranian law gave him complete custody of Mahtob. Betty was worried that Mahtob would learn anti-American sentiment at school.{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=Jean Sprain|title=Celebrity In Hiding (part 2 of 2)|date=8 November 1987|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/11/08/celebrity-in-hiding/|access-date=11 May 2016}} Mahtob also alleged that her father would beat her and her mother. After eighteen months, Mahtob and her mother managed to escape Iran by crossing the mountains of Turkey. They successfully made it back to the United States. Mahtob never saw her father again, and Betty would file for divorce.{{cite news|last=Potempa|first=Phillip|title='Daughter' author recounts Iran ordeal aftermath|date=6 March 2011|newspaper=The Times of Northwest Indiana|url=http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/merrillville/daughter-author-recounts-iran-ordeal-aftermath/article_47217842-2cde-5c02-a3ea-7093f378d044.html|accessdate=11 May 2016}} Six years after Moody's death in 2009, Mahtob has confirmed that she has forgiven her father for his actions.{{cite web|last=Pohl|first=Scott|title=Forgiving her father: Mahtob Mahmoody's life since escape from Iran|date=8 February 2016|publisher=WKAR-FM|url=http://wkar.org/post/forgiving-her-father-mahtob-mahmoody-s-life-escape-iran#stream/0|accessdate=23 October 2017}}
When Mahtob was 13, she was diagnosed with lupus.{{cite news|last=Briggs|first=Bill|title=Iran ordeal hero faces new crisis|date=23 April 1999|newspaper=The Denver Post|url=http://extras.denverpost.com/scene/betty0423.htm|accessdate=11 May 2016}}{{cite web|last=Currier|first=Rosalie|title=Hundreds turn out to hear from 'One Book One County' author|date=30 September 2016|publisher=Sturgis Journal|url=http://www.sturgisjournal.com/news/20160930/hundreds-turn-out-to-hear-from-one-book-one-county-author|accessdate=23 October 2017}} She managed to survive the disease because of experimental treatment. She resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan.{{cite web|last=Dewey|first=Charlsie|title=Daughter in 'Not Without My Daughter' writes her story|date=11 December 2015|publisher=Grand Rapids Business Journal|url=http://www.grbj.com/articles/84036-daughter-in-not-without-my-daughter-writes-her-story|accessdate=23 October 2017}} Mahtob is a devout member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.{{cite news|last=Montemurri|first=Patricia|title=Girl in 'Not Without My Daughter' case writes book reflecting on case|date=15 April 2016|newspaper=The Columbus Dispatch|url=http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2016/04/16/1-girl-in-not-without-my-daughter-case-writes-book-reflecting-on-case.html|accessdate=24 October 2017}}
{{anchor|book}}In 2015, Mahtob's memoir My Name is Mahtob was published. Though it depicts Mahtob's version of her family's story, My Name is Mahtob has been considered a sequel to her mother's book, Not Without My Daughter.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.facebook.com/mynameismahtob/ Facebook page]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahmoody, Mahtob}}
Category:People from Alpena, Michigan
Category:Writers from Michigan
Category:American people of Iranian descent
Category:Writers from Grand Rapids, Michigan
Category:Lutherans from Michigan