Mariam Behnam | |
|---|---|
مریم بهنام | |
 1965 upon receipt of the Nishane Taj medal | |
| Born | 25 February 1921 Bandar Lengeh, Hormozgan Province, Iran |
| Died | 4 December 2014 (aged 93) Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Nationality | Iranian, Emirati |
| Other names | Maryam Behnam |
| Occupation(s) | writer, women's rights activist, diplomat |
| Years active | 1946–2009 |
| Children | 5 (2 step-children, 3 children) |
Mariam Behnam (Persian: مریم بهنام, 25 February 1921 – 4 December 2014) was an Iranian-born Emirati writer, diplomat and women's rights activist. After graduating from high school and beginning her career as a teacher in Pakistan, she returned to Iran and began to work on social improvement projects first in Teheran and later in Bandar Abbas. In the 1960s, she returned to Pakistan and served for eight years as a cultural attaché establishing cultural centers, libraries and promoting Iranian culture. She was honored with the Iranian Order of the Crown and a Pakistani badge of courage for remaining in the country and continuing her work during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, when other diplomats fled the country. Returning to Iran in 1972, she worked with the Ministry of Arts and Culture in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province and later the Hormozgan Province developing programs to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the areas.
In 1978, Behnam fled Iran during the Iranian revolution and settled in Dubai. She worked as a newspaper writer and then co-founded the cultural magazine Al Juma to promote the arts. She joined women's organizations and advocated for improved rights for women and helped instigate training programs to preserve traditional crafts. Beginning in the 1990s, she published several novels and an autobiography, as well as poetry. In 2010, Behnam was honored as the Emirates Woman of the Year.