Zahra Rahnavard

Zahra Rahnavard is an Iranian political activist, academic, and sculptor. She holds a PhD in political science from Islamic Azad University and degrees in art and architecture from the University of Tehran.

She served as chancellor of Alzahra University from 1998 to 2006, making her the first woman appointed as a university chancellor in Iran since the 1979 revolution. She also served as political adviser to President Mohammad Khatami and headed the Women's Social and Cultural Council.

Rahnavard is the wife of former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and was active in his 2009 presidential campaign. Following the Green Movement protests, she was placed under house arrest in February 2011, which reportedly lasted until May 2018.

Foreign Policy magazine named her one of the world's most distinguished thinkers in 2009. She is the author of 15 books and a proponent of Islamic feminism.