Iranian poet and women's rights advocate Simin Behbahani dies

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/19/simin-behbahani-iran-poet-dies
Iranian poet and women's rights advocate Simin Behbahani dies
'Lioness of Iran' who was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in literature dies aged 87 in Tehran hospital
Associated Press in Tehran
theguardian.com, Tuesday 19 August 2014

Famed Iranian poet Simin Behbahani, who wrote of the joys of love, demanded equal rights for women and spoke out about the challenges facing those living in her homeland, died on Thursday aged 87.

Behbahani had been hospitalised and unconscious in Tehran since 6 August and later died of heart failure and breathing problems, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.

Behbahani, born Simin Khalili on 20 July 20 1927, saw her poetry often used by Iranian singers as the basis for love songs. Her poems came in a variety of styles, far from classical and routine forms normally associated with Persian prose.

Behbahani's work also focused on the challenges facing Iran in the wake of its Islamic Revolution in 1979 and women's rights, her strong words earning her the nickname of the "Lioness of Iran". Behbahani, who studied law at Tehran university in the 1950s, was awarded the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women's Freedom in 2009 and was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in literature....