Zinat Pirzadeh among most successful immigrants and most popular comedians in Sweden
Among the four names on Sweden's Official page of successful immigrants, two Iranian women are listed: Minoo Akhtarzand — former Director General of the Swedish National Rail Administration, and now Governor of Jönköping county (story link here); and Zinat Pirzadeh, writer, actress and comedian named in 2012 as Sweden's best female Comedian.
Zinat Pirzadeh, 44, left Iran for Sweden almost 20 years ago with her three-year-old son and almost no money. Today, she's a celebrity in her adopted country, with a dream of using her somewhat unconventional success to make changes in society.
It was not until Zinat Pirzadeh took a public speaking course to improve her Swedish that she discovered how she could use her words to make an impact. The class teacher, a stand-up comedian, found Zinat's speech witty and humorous, and introduced her to Anna-Lena Brundin, one of Sweden's well known female comedians.
Over time, Zinat had to quit her day job as a career counselor to have time to tour for her popular comedy brand. Today, she is one of the most popular comedians in Sweden. She was voted "Female Comedian of the Year" in 2010.
With time, Zinat's stand-up routine has become more and more frank and somewhat controversial. Despite getting death threats - both from skinheads and from conservative Muslims - or being forced to take police escorts to and from her shows - she is not afraid of talking about racism, women's rights and religious fundamentalism.
Zinat is not wasting time. While touring with three comedy clubs, being involved in various acting projects and raising five children, she is working on her new monologue, Hungover Under the Burqa.
"It's actually about Swedish women," Zinat explains. "They talk a lot about equality between men and women here in Sweden. But when it comes to in-depth life issues, there's not really that much difference between the lives of women in the West or women in Iran. I use my comedy to talk about these issues."
"I really hope to one day perform stand-up in Iran," notes Zinat.
Related:
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- Iranian-born woman among top administrators in Sweden
- Iranian Women Ninjas
- Iranian girl shares details of "intimate" encounter with Enrique Iglesias
- Partying Iranian women clash with security forces in stadium
- British Iranians Sogand Shaker and Ida Morassaei run for Youth Parliament
- Talented Leila Hatami fluent in four languages
- Leila Hatami breaks into tears about treatment of women in Iranian cinema
- Canada's defense minister marries Iranian-born Nazanin Afshin-Jam
- Tough candid questions about women's rights on Iranian TV
- Women's hijab fashion show in Iran
- Role of American and Iranian women in Occupy Wall Street
- Controversies and scandals in Voice of America's Persian News Network
- Embarrassing scene by Iranian girl on Enrique Iglesias' concert stage (Video)
- Man sings sad songs in women's graduation party in Iran
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