11 Facts About Shusha Guppy

Shusha Guppy lived in London from the early 1960s, until her death in 2008.

Shusha Guppy's father, Sayyed Mohammad-Kazem Assar, was a Shia theologian and Professor of Philosophy at University of Tehran.

At age 16 in 1951, Shusha was sent to Paris, where she studied French Literature and philosophy at Sorbonne, and trained as an opera singer.

Shusha Guppy was encouraged by Jacques Prevert to record an album of Persian folk songs.

Shusha Guppy married British writer, explorer, and art collector Nicholas Guppy in 1961.

Shusha Guppy wrote articles for major publications in both Britain and the United States.

Shusha Guppy's first British release, in 1971, was an album of traditional Persian music, complementing her first album released in France fourteen years earlier.

Shusha Guppy gave successful concerts in Britain, America and continental Europe, and appeared on television and radio programmes.

Shusha Guppy gave concerts in the Netherlands and Belgium in 1975 with Lori Lieberman and Dimitri van Toren.

Shusha Guppy promoted Persian culture and history, and was a political commentator on relations between the West and the Islamic world.

Shusha Guppy's last book, The Secret of Laughter, is a collection of Persian fairy tales from Iran's oral tradition.