The Baha’is & Development of Iran: Zhinous Mahmoudi
December 26, 2024
This Iran International TV series episode highlights Zhinus Mahmoudi, born in Tehran in 1929, as Iran’s first female meteorologist and Director of Meteorology. She pioneered climate research, marine meteorology, and women’s rights. Arrested for her Baha’i faith, she was tragically executed in 1981.
Zhinus Mahmoudi was born in Tehran in 1929. She received her Bachelor of Science in Physics from University of Tehran, and her Masters degree in Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences. Zhinus Mahmoudi was the first female meteorologist in Iran and became the first female Director of the Iranian Department of Meteorology. She directed the research and was responsible for publication of “The Climate Atlas of Iran” and directed the cloud seeding and artificial rain Project in 1963. Zhinus served on the first Committee for the Study & Research of Air Pollution and the National Committee of Oceanography and Represented Iran in the Congress of World Climatology. She established the Meteorological units for the Ports & Maritime Organization and is therefore remembered as the Founder of Marine Meteorology in Iran. Zhinus was an active participant in Women Rights’ movement; she chaired the Ministry of Roads & Meteorology’s Organization of Women Employees. Zhinus was arrested and executed in December of 1981 for being a Baha’i.