Khadijeh Saqafi

Birth Year 1913

Birthplace Tehran, Sublime State of Persia

DEATH DATE 2009, Tehran, Iran (96 years old)

Nationality Iran

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1916

Saqafi was born in 1916 (age 93) in Tehran, the daughter of Hajj Mirza Mohammad Thaqafi-e Tehrani, a respected cleric and merchant.

1929

Saqafi married Ruhollah Khomeini in 1929 or 1931.

They had seven children together, although only five survived childhood.

1964

The family resided in Qom until Khomeini's exile in 1964.

1977

Their son Mostafa died in Iraq in 1977 while in exile, while their second son Ahmad died of cardiac arrest in 1995.

Throughout their marriage, Saqafi largely stayed out of the public eye, although she was described as being a strong supporter of her husband's opposition to Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former President of Iran, referred to Saqafi as the "closest and most patient" supporter of her husband.

2009

Khadijeh Saqafi (1916 (age 93) – 21 March 2009) was an Iranian revolutionary and the wife of Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran and figurehead of the Iranian Revolution.

In Iran, she was known as "the mother of the Islamic revolution".

Saqafi died in Tehran on 21 March 2009 at the age of 93, following a long illness.

Thousands attended her funeral at the University of Tehran, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Saqafi was buried next to her husband and son at his mausoleum in Behesht-e Zahra.

She was survived by her three daughters Zahra, Sadiqeh and Farideh.