Mahtob Mahmoody

Mahtob Maryam Mahmoody (Persian: مهتاب محمودى; born September 4, 1979)[1] is an American author who wrote the autobiographical memoir My Name is Mahtob,[2][3] 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.[4] 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.[1]

Mahtob Mahmoody
مهتاب محمودى
Born (1979-09-04) September 4, 1979
Houston, Texas, U.S.
OccupationAuthor
Known forHer memoir, My Name is Mahtob
Parent(s)Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody (father)
Betty Lover (mother)

Biography
External video
video icon Swedish News Interview with Mahtob and Betty Mahmoody

Mahtob was born to parents Betty and Sayyed Bozorg "Moody" Mahmoody in Houston on September 4, 1979.[1][5] Her first name means "Moonlight" in Persian.[6] It was her father who named her that after he was inspired by a full moon.[5] Mahtob has two half-brothers through Betty's first marriage, Joe and John, who are 13 and nine years older than her respectively.[7] Mahtob and her parents lived in Texas before moving to Michigan.[8] She grew up in Alpena, Michigan.[9]

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.[5][6] 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.[10] Mahtob stated in an interview with NPR:

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.[3]

— Mahtob Mahmoody, November 29, 2015

Since Sayyed was Iranian by birth, he legally had complete custody of Mahtob. Betty was worried that Mahtob would learn anti-American sentiment at school.[11] Mahtob also alleged that her father would beat her and her mother.[3] After eighteen months, Mahtob and her mother managed to escape Iran by crossing the mountains of Turkey.[5][10] They successfully made it back to the United States and Mahtob never saw her father again.[10][12] Six years after Moody's death in 2009, Mahtob has confirmed that she has forgiven her father for his actions.[3][10][13]

When Mahtob was 13, she was diagnosed with lupus.[10][14][15] She managed to survive the disease because of experimental treatment.[10] She resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[16] Mahtob is a devout member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.[17]

In 2015, Mahtob's memoir My Name is Mahtob was published.[3][10] 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.[4]

References
  1. "Not Without My Daughter". Chasing the Frog.
  2. Pohl, Scott (8 February 2016). "Revisiting 'Not Without My Daughter' with Mahtob Mahmoody". WKAR-FM. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  3. Martin, Rachel (29 November 2015). "'Not Without My Daughter' Subject Grows Up, Tells Her Own Story". NPR. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  4. O'Callaghan, Billy (16 April 2016). "Book review: My Name Is Mahtob". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  5. Nesselson, Lisa (10 April 2003). "Review: 'Without My Daughter'". Variety. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  6. Wilson, Jean Sprain (8 November 1987). "Celebrity In Hiding: Going Public With Her Story Creates A Private Dilemma". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  7. Mahmoody, Mahtob (December 1, 2015). My Name is Mahtob. Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson Books. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-7180-9172-9.
  8. Potempa, Phillip (19 February 2011). "OFFBEAT: Here's your chance to catch up with Betty Mahmoody". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  9. Montemurri, Patricia (21 March 2016). "'Not Without My Daughter' all grown up in Michigan". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  10. Hall, Eleanor (16 December 2015). "'Forgiveness is a tricky thing': Mahtob Mahmoody's story of surviving her father". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  11. Wilson, Jean Sprain (8 November 1987). "Celebrity In Hiding (part 2 of 2)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  12. Potempa, Phillip (6 March 2011). "'Daughter' author recounts Iran ordeal aftermath". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  13. Pohl, Scott (8 February 2016). "Forgiving her father: Mahtob Mahmoody's life since escape from Iran". WKAR-FM. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  14. Briggs, Bill (23 April 1999). "Iran ordeal hero faces new crisis". The Denver Post. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  15. Currier, Rosalie (30 September 2016). "Hundreds turn out to hear from 'One Book One County' author". Sturgis Journal. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  16. Dewey, Charlsie (11 December 2015). "Daughter in 'Not Without My Daughter' writes her story". Grand Rapids Business Journal. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  17. Montemurri, Patricia (15 April 2016). "Girl in 'Not Without My Daughter' case writes book reflecting on case". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
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