Leyly Matine-Daftary

Leyly Matine-Daftary (; 1937–2007) was an Iranian modernist artist and art educator. She was based in both Tehran and Paris.

Biography Marzieh Leyly Matine-Daftary was born on 19 January 1937 in Tehran, Imperial State of Iran (now known as Iran). The only daughter of Ahmad Matin-Daftari and Mansoureh Mossadegh, her mother was the daughter of the Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh and Zia al-Saltaneh.

Matine-Daftarys paternal grandparents were Showkat ad-Dowleh and Mirza Mahmud-Khan Ain ul-Mamalek. Because Showkat ad-Dowleh was the half-sister of Mossadegh, Matine-Daftarys parents were first cousins. Matine-Daftarys father was thrown in prison after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran by the Allies in 1941 because of his German connections.

In 1953, Matine-Daftarys grandfather, Mossadegh, was deposed in a coup d'état.

Matine-Daftary was a close friend of Empress Farah Diba. There was a family connection because the third marriage of great-grand grandmother Najm al-Saltaneh of Matine-Daftary had been to a Diba.

Education After completing her elementary education in Tehran, Matine-Daftary was at the age of ten sent to England where she attended Cheltenham Ladies' College. She obtained a Fine Arts degree from the Slade School of Fine Art Matine-Daftary was involved in the early Tehran Biennial and in the Shiraz Arts Festival, for which she created iconic identifying materials.

Marriage In 1961, Matine-Daftary married her first cousin twice removed, Kaveh Farmanfarmaian, (son of Abdol-Hossein Farman Farma). Farmanfarmaian was a business man and the founder of a number of corporations, such as Bank of Industry and Mining.

The couple had two children,

Exhibitions

2016, "20th Century Art/Middle East", part of Middle East Art Week, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai 2013 – 2014, "Iran Modern", Asia Society, New York City 1974 – 1975, "Exhibition of the Contemporary Iranian Art collection of Farah Pahlavi" - (traveling) Tehran, Islamabad, Delhi, Istanbul, Ankara, Belgrade, Moscow, London and Paris 1973, Salon d’Automne, Paris Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, Belgium 1968, "International Festival of Arts", Shiraz Modern Iranian Art and Columbia University, New York City, New York 1967, ”25 Years of Modern Iranian Art”, Tehran Museum, Tehran, Iran 1966, Tehran Biennale, Iranian Pavilion, Official Selection, Tehran, Iran 1962, Tehran Biennale, Iranian Pavilion, Official Selection, Tehran, Iran