Moshir Humayoun Habibollah Shahrdar
He was the first known Iranian pianist. This became a passion of his which lasted his lifetime.He recorded many discs with Darvish Kahn, Zelli, Farah Angiz, Taher Zadeh and… His Discs:W029, GPX8, WXGPX6, GFX7, G.C.7-12250, G.C.7-19272. His father, Nasrollah Khan Sepahsalari Kompani Shirazi, was a merchant who spent 6 months out of the year in France and 6 months in Tehran. He was instrumental in the organization of the first Iranian census whereby all citizens of Iran had to be registered and a surname had to be recorded for all families.
His last name was then given to all his brothers and sisters. Therefore he was not present at his wedding.
At the time, he was a Mayor in Shiraz, and therefore, he adopted the name of Shahrdar, which means holder or possessor of the city. Then a caraven was arranged where both families travelled to Shiraz for the wedding party and at which time Habibollah Shahrdar met his wife Farough.
Eventually hostilities subsided and he returned to Tehran. He married at an early age. This was a company established by German engineers. Politically, he was opposed to religious ruling and to dictatorships.
When he brought the piano, young Habibollah was 4 years of age, and his father would bring him to the entertainment building in the evening and force him to play the piano. Shiraz is a southern city and was occupied by the British and the Americans.
Nasrollah Khan had 11 children. His teachers were Agha Bozorg , Mirza Hussein Gholi Farahani, Hussein Esmaeil Zadeh, and Mohammad Sadegh Khan Sorourol Molk.
When he lived in Shiraz, he had the opportunity to be friend with a noble by the name of Emamgholi Afkham-Ebrahimi that he was the son of Soltan Ali Khan VAZIR AFKHAM a prime minister in Qajar dynasty. At the time, being a wealthy merchant, Nasrollah Sepah Salar Kompani had an estate in Tehran whereby there was a large home towards the aft of the property where his wife and children lived, and near to the entrance of the property, there was a separate building used to entertain guests and finalize business transactions.
He played and composed Persian Music for piano. Habibollah Shahrdar Moshir Homayoun (1886-1969) was an Iranian pianist. He was born in Tehran in 1886.
He gave one of the pianos to the Royal Court under Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar. His father was Nasrollah Khan Sepah Salar.
Habibollah khan was able to obtain the picture from him and then he sent a message to his sister in Tehran to propose to young Farough Afkhami. Young Habibollah was able to apply the sounds from these instruments to the piano and produce beautiful music.
For this, in the early 1900s he was shortly imprisoned. His 5th child was Habibollah.
Her family and her accepted and in Tehran, Habibollah Shahrdar s sister acted as proxy for civil marriage to her. The second piano, he took to his home.
He also was a chief of police in Tehran prior to being appointed mayor of Shiraz. He had no formal training in piano playing however, he was accustomed to hearing the traditional Persian instruments such as the Tar, Santoor,and Kamanche.
His wife died from illness and he did not remarry until age 39. Marriage to Farough Afkham Afkhami. In August 25, 1941 the Allied Forces invaded Iran with Russia invading from the North and the British from the South.
They had 5 children: Cyrus, Farideh, Shahrdokht, Cambize, and Pirooz. He developed Parkinsons disease and in 1969, he died from complications of the disease. He is remembered for his contributions to Persian music and his civil service. . He went to London with Darvish Khan to record Gramophone Discs.
Apparently, the piano was placed in the business building of the property and no one knew how to play the piano. In the late 1930’s with the help of German companies and Reza Shah, the Iranian Steel Corporation was formed.
One day, Emamgholi showed a picture of one of his daughters to Habibollah Shahrdar. Shahrdar feared the Russians would retaliate for his involvement with the Iranian Steel Corporation so he took his family and fled to Shiraz.
In 1890, Nasrollah Sepahsalari Kompani returned to Iran with 2 pianos and chandeliers. He was soon released with no consequence. During World War II Nazi Germany requested Iranian assistance in building a railroad track from Iran to Europe.
Reza Shah appointed Shahrdar in charge of overseeing the development of the corporation. Even though Iran was a neutral country during World War II, Reza Shah seemed to favor Nazi Germany, which alarmed the Allied Forces.
He would take Persian rugs and artworks to Paris and trade them for french articles. He also was CEO of national iranian steel company.
He was often heard on Iranian National Radio playing his piano in the 1950s and was referred to as Goldfingers. He became a civil servant and worked with Reza Shah in the modernization of Iran.
