Betty Mahmoody


Тhe woman who made the impossible possible.

"Not without my daughter"

"According to the book,she and her husband, Sayyed Bozorg “Moody” Mahmoody, and their daughter, Mahtob Mahmoody, traveled to Iran in August 1984 for what her husband said would be a two-week visit with his family in Tehran. Once the two weeks were over, however, he refused to allow his wife and child to leave. When she protested, Moody struck Betty. It was the first time Mahtob had seen her father hit her mother. After Moody broke the news to Betty, she got extremely sick with dysentery. Mahtob sat at her side day after day, watching her fade in and out of consciousness. Betty asked Mahtob to make sure Moody, a medical doctor, didn't give her an injection as she feared it may have been lethal. Mahtob sat there and made sure her mother was safe. Betty was trapped in a nation hostile to Americans, with in-laws who were hostile to her, and an abusive husband. According to the book, her husband separated her from her daughter for weeks on end. He also assaulted her and threatened to kill her if she tried to leave. She eventually escaped with her daughter. The book details her 500 mi (800 km) escape over the snowy Zagros Mountains into Turkey, and the help she received from many Iranians. After returning to the USA in 1986, she filed for divorce."

About Betty Mahmoody

Betty Mahmoody (née Lover; born June 9, 1945) is an American author and public speaker best known for her book, Not Without My Daughter, which was subsequently made into a film of the same name. She is the President and co-founder of One World: For Children, an organization that promotes understanding between cultures and strives to offer security and protection to children of bi-cultural marriages.

For those who are interested more, they can watch the her story by watching her movie named after book in the link below:

"Not without my daughter