You can take the woman out of Iran......
Every one has dreams. They might change as we get older but the truth is, we all have them. Our international correspondent, Melanie Doran recently caught up with one woman who battled through adversity to chase her dream and proved that if you want something enough, the only thing that’s stopping you from getting it is you.
Marjan Ossanlou Anthony is a remarkable lady. At only 37 years of age she has already experienced more things than most of us could expect to sample in a life time.
A mother of two children aged 7 and 4, she is the daughter of an Iranian princess – Parvin Dolatshahi Ossanlou, from the Qajjar dynasty – and descended from a line that ruled over Persia before the father of the late Shah over-threw them.
Her father, a renowned surgeon, was on a death list when revolution overtook her native Iran in 1979 and the family fled the country.
“He was the first plastic surgeon in Iran and the president of the Queen's hospital, during the Shah's era. This earned him a place among a list of 40 or 50 leading Iranians which the revolutionaries wanted to execute.”
With the Shah ousted, Marjan's family headed for the safety of Paris. Later she returned quietly with her mother to the family home only to be confronted by gun wielding revolutionaries, who moved in and seized everything the family owned. The two women returned to France empty handed but safe and they settled in the South of France.
Eventually, however, at the height of the Iran-Iraq war, with the country desperate for doctors, Iran's new ruling regime offered amnesty to those who had been forced to flee, among them Marjan's father, who returned to his native land with his family for a while.
“My father passed away 2 ½ years ago. He was 96 years old and a truly remarkable man. Throughout his life, no matter what he was forced to endure, he remained positive and never once complained about the misfortunes that he had suffered. In my mind that made him a great man.
“My mother is still alive and well, living here in America with my brother.”
Marjan's formative years took her from Iran to France and back to Iran and then from Iran to Washington DC. It was here that she graduated from university before working as an officer in an American bank. This was not the creative career that she craved though and as she was now a mother herself, she became intent on pursuing her real passion - creating beautiful jewellery.
“I started making jewellery for myself simply because everything I saw seemed to be over priced and not to my taste. After looking around without success I decided that since I knew what I wanted, I’d create my own designs.”
She started making a few pieces but soon her hobby escalated into a business as inspiration and aspiration took hold. Marjan focuses on stones, on colour and the designs come to her. Her Iranian background has had a significant influence and she has named her company "La Caspienne," after the Caspian Sea where she spent her summers growing up.
Turquoise and coral feature prominently in her pieces and she completes all of her necklaces with a discreet “evil eye”. It lies right at the back of the necklace, not as a focal point of each piece and endows it with protection.
Marjan's jewellery is beautiful and very bold and she prefers wiring to beading, with chains made of brass and the vermeils dipped in 24c gold. She uses the best quality semi-precious stones and beads and will make her chains in pure gold if a buyer commissions it.
Mostly, however, the distinctive aspects of her work are that the designer dress jewellery is produced for a price within most customers' reach. It takes her about 5 hours to make a single piece and each one is unique.
Now that her life is settled and her ambitions are clear, Marjan is taking everything in her stride. There is no need to run and no need to hide, just a love of her children and a passion for her work. Whether her pieces find their way to a department store or onto a film set or theatre stage, all that Marjan hopes is that the inspiration continues and people enjoy wearing her impressive creations.
I concluded by asking her what other ambitions she might still have in her life, now that she has reached such a settled plateau and she smiled briefly, contemplative, before answering.
“I dream to return to my country of birth one day and I strongly believe that it will happen. I haven't been back to Iran since the revolution in 1979 but my dream is to go back with my children and my husband, Brett Anthony, who has been such a loyal supporter of my work.”
As a lady who has already achieved so much, I for one wouldn’t bet against her making this dream come true at some point in her future.
If you would like further information on Marjan and her products, check out her website at www.lacaspienne.com
Melanie Doran
Posted Sat, 05/10/2008 - 11:20 by marjan ossanlou