Helen Jeffreys Bakhtiar
Helen Jeffreys Bakhtiar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Helen Woodsen Jeffreys December 24, 1905 Weiser, Idaho, U.S. |
| Died | January 30, 1978 (aged 72) Tehran, Iran |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles Columbia University |
| Occupation | Nurse |
| Spouse | Abol Ghassem Bakhtiar (m. 1927–c. 1940; div.) |
| Children | 7, including Jim Bakhtiar, and Laleh Bakhtiar |
| Relatives | Fred McNair (grandson) Lailee McNair (granddaughter) |
Helen Jeffreys Bakhtiar (née Helen Woodsen Jeffreys; December 24, 1905 – January 30, 1978) was an American nurse and military personnel, who had worked in the 1950s in rural communities in Iran.[1] She has a mountain named after her, Mount Helen, in the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province of Iran.[1] She was one of the earliest American to marry an Iranian in 1927;[2] and the first community health nurse in Iran.[3]
Early life, family
Helen Woodsen Jeffreys was born on December 24, 1905, in Weiser, Idaho, to parents Nellie (née McRoberts) and James Woodson Jeffreys.[4][5] She studied nursing at the University of California.[3]
After graduation she moved to New York City and worked at a hospital in Harlem.[3] She married Iranian physician, Abol Ghassem Bakhtiar on October 21, 1927, in New York City.[4] She may have been the first American to marry an Iranian.[2] She learned to speak Persian fluently,[6] but with an accent.
Career
In 1931, the Bakhtiar family moved to Iran, and her husband opened a private hospital.[7] She travelled with her husband to rural areas of the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province where they educated and medically treated underprivileged people.[3][6][7]
She returned to the United States from 1939 until 1945.[6] During this time period she returned to her studies, and attended the University of California, Los Angeles and received a degree in public health nursing.[6] She also obtained a degree in midwifery from Columbia University in New York in the 1950s.[4]
She was military personnel as part of the Point Four Program, a U.S. foreign aid program established in 1949 by President Harry S. Truman.[4] She was only one of ten nurse officers assigned to Iran.[4]
Bakhtiar returned to Iran in 1951, to lead public health nursing in a national community health initiative.[6] Bakhtiar was the first community health nurse in Iran.[3] She joined a mobile team that included a doctor, and sanitary engineer to visit the rural areas of Iran.[6] Part of their public health team's goal was the reduction of malaria cases, which had dropped some 85% in 1951.[6] She retired from government service in 1959, due to her declining health.[4]
Death and legacy
Bakhtiar died on January 30, 1978, in Tehran.[4]
She has a mountain named after her, Mount Helen, in the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province of Iran.[1][8][9] She also has a book published about her life, Helen of Tus: Her Odyssey from Idaho to Iran (2002) by Laleh Bakhtiar and Bakhtiari Rose.[10][11]
See also
- Florence Breed Khan, American Bahá'í, also early American to marry an Iranian
References
- 1 2 3 Ardalan, Davar (June 7, 2008). "A Monument to an American's Selflessness in Iran". NPR. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- 1 2 Bakhtiar, Laleh (March 13, 2019). "An exploration into the life of American-Iranian who fell in love with Islam". Tehran Times. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "هلن ايران" [Helen Iran]. BultanNews.com (in Persian). Retrieved June 13, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Weiser Native Dies In Iran, Her Home". The Weiser Signal-American (obituary). December 26, 1974. p. 24. Retrieved June 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Obituary for James Woodson Jeffreys". The Los Angeles Times. November 15, 1956. p. 88. Retrieved June 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Shumaker, Ruth (August 27, 1953). "Helen Bakhtiar Proves Faith in Middle East By Public Health Work". Times Herald. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 "ابوالقاسم بختیار ، پزشک شهیر بختیاری" [Abolghasem Bakhtiari, a famous Bakhtiari physician]. Shehni.ir (in Persian). Archived from the original on July 13, 2014.
- ↑ "Helen's Mountain". Iranian.com. December 4, 2010.
- ↑ "Kooh e Helen". The Iranian. June 11, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
- ↑ Bahmani, Behrouz (May 30, 2002). "Helen of Tus, Behrouz Bahmani". iranian.com (book review). Retrieved June 14, 2026.
- ↑ Downey, Sarah (May 15, 2003). "Helen of Iran". Chicago Reader. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
Further reading
- Bakhtiar, Laleh; Rose, Bakhtiari (2002). Helen of Tus: Her Odyssey from Idaho to Iran. Kazi Publications Inc. ISBN 978-1930637184.