Florence Breed Khan (1875 – June 24, 1950) was an American political hostess and
Bahá'i convert from Boston, wife of Mirza Ali Kuli Khan, a
Persian translator and diplomat.
Early life
Florence M. Breed was born in
Lynn, Massachusetts, the daughter of Francis W. Breed and
Alice Ives Breed.[1] Her father was a shoe manufacturer. Her mother, an active clubwoman, was also a Bahá'i convert, introduced to the faith by suffragist
Mary Hanford Ford.
Career
Breed, who acted as a young woman and studied Eastern religions and texts,[2] married a Persian diplomat, Mirza Ali Kuli Khan, in 1904.[3][4] They met when he was lecturing at
Harvard University.[5] Following his diplomatic career, they lived in Washington, D.C.,[6] San Francisco,[7] Paris, Tehran, Istanbul, and Tbilisi.[8]
Khan was a society hostess in Washington while her husband was the Persian
chargé d'affaires there.[9][10] "I find that few Americans, even traveled and cultured ones, know Persian as it deserves to be appreciated," she told an interviewer in 1910.[11] The Khan family greeted Bahá'i leader
‘Abdu’l-Bahá on his arrival in Washington in 1912,[12] and hosted a luncheon for him, with guests including
Louis Gregory.[13] She contributed Persian recipes to The Economy Administration Cookbook (1913).[14] In 1915, she and her husband attended the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, representing Persia.[15] She was an occasional lecturer on Persia to community groups.[16]
Personal life
Florence Breed and Ali Kuli Khan had three children, Rahim (born 1905), Marzieh (1908–1993),[17] and Hamideh (1910–1989).[11] Florence Breed Khan died in 1950, in
Teaneck, New Jersey, in her seventies.[18] Their daughter
Marzieh Gail published a series of family memoirs, Other People, Other Places (1982), Summon up Remembrance (1987), and Arches of the Years (1991).[19][20][21]
^
ab"Boston Woman Chatelaine". The Boston Globe. 1910-10-30. p. 67. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
^Menon, Jonathan; April 20, 2012 (20 April 2012).
"'Abdu'l-Bahá Comes to Washington". 239 Days in America. Retrieved 2020-08-06.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)