Family

Samira Samii comes from a highly respected Persian family. Her mother’s family belonged to the nobility and was the royal family in Persia. For generations they ruled alone in Persia. Professor Dr. med. Hossein Samii, Samira´s father, is a worldwide well-known eye surgeon. The Samiee (Samii) family is a noble family as well and a prestigious international & old medical dynasty, which by Professor Dr. Dr. hc Madjid Samii even got awarded a Nobel medal and the Federal Cross of Merit.

Qajar dynasty- Pahlavi dynasty

The Qajar dynasty, is an Iranian royal family who ruled Persia (Iran) alone from 1785 to 1925. The Qajar family took full control of Iran in 1794, deposing Lotf ‘Ali Khan, the last of the Zand dynasty, and re-asserted Persian sovereignty over parts of the Caucasus. In 1796 Mohammad Khan Qajar was formally crowned as Shah. The Qajar rulers were members of the Karagoz of the Qajars. The great number of them also settled in Astarabad near the south-eastern corner of the Caspian Sea and it would be this branch of Qajars that would rise to power.

In 1779 following the death of Karim Khan of the Zand dynasty, Mohammad Khan Qajar, the leader of the Qajars, set out to reunify Iran. Agha Mohammad established his capital at Tehran, a village near the ruins of the ancient city of Rayy. In 1796 he was formally crowned as Shah.

In February 1921, Reza Khan, commander of the Persian Cossack Brigade, staged a coup d’état, becoming the effective ruler of Iran. In 1923, Ahmad Shah went into exile in Europe. Reza Khan induced the Majles to depose Ahmad Shah in October 1925, and to exclude the Qajar dynasty permanently. Reza Khan was subsequently proclaimed Shah as Reza Shah Pahlavi, reigning from 1925 to 1941.

Samii dynasty

The Samii family is the largest and one of the oldest & most famous noble families of Iran. The Samii family has been an active and integral part of Iranian history from the time of the decline of the Mongol Empire up through and beyond the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Sami’ Clan, were powerful regional warlords, who had been given land for their support of the Safavid Dynasty in its battle against the Mongol Empire. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Sami’ Clan grew to become a powerful merchants as well as military and political leaders of Iran.

Nader Shah, in the 1730’s, founded the Afsharid Dynasty. During this period of time, the North-Eastern city of Mashhad, in Greater Khorasan which encompassed today’s Khorasan Province, served as the capital of Persia. One of the descendants of the Sami’ Clan, known as Hajj Sami’, was a powerful leader in Mashhad. Nader Shah was famous for his military victories over the Afghans, and his successful war against India with the magnificent jewels which he brought back to Persia and which are the centerpieces of the Crown Jewels, including the Peacock Throne. Nader Shah also had the notorious habit of blinding his enemies and those he felt posed danger to his rule.

Hajj Sami’ was an influential member of the court of Nader Shah. As such, he was quite powerful. Some members of the court felt that Hajj Sami’ was too powerful and accusations of affairs with ladies of Nader Shah‘s court began to spread. Nader Shah was lead to believe that Hajj Sami’ was a rival of dangerous proportions and had been having affairs with his court. Although Hajj Sami’ protested his innocence of these charges, Nader Shah blinded him.

Having thus been inflicted by Nader Shah‘s temper, Hajj Sami’ left Mashhad. Hajj Sami’ decided to return to his ancestral home town. On route to his home town, he stayed at Qazvin, just south of Rasht. There, he met and fell in love with a lady from the Zarrabi family. He married her, and rather than returning to Tabriz, moved to Rasht. Rasht, which had been under Russian rule for some time, had recently been returned to Persia via the Treaty of Rasht, which was signed in Rasht on January 21, 1732 between the Russian Empire and Persia.

The family’s history is over 450 years old  & has a very well known dynasty of Medical-Doctors, which by Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h. c. mult. Madjid Samii even got awarded a Nobel medal and the Federal Cross of Merit. The Samii Family held many high ranking positions during the Shah era.

Mehdi Samii, who died in Los Angeles, California, a week after his 92nd birthday on July 30, 2010, was Iran’s most prominent banker of the twentieth century.  His career in Iran spanned the period between the second World War and the Islamic Revolution.  He was an influential banker and a leading figure among a small group of dedicated Iranian technocrats who helped build the foundations of a modern economy in Iran, one that produced the miracle growth period of the decade before the oil boom of 1973.

On the introduction of neurosurgery to Iran, Professor. Dr. Ibrahim Samii was the first pioneer who established and developed this field in Iran.

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