Mehran Karimi Nasseri (1945–2022) was an Iranian refugee and activist who began living in Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport on 26 August 1988 Underground shopping mall, where he lived until he was hospitalized in July 2006. From 1977 to 1977, he remained stateless. 2022. In 2004, he published his autobiography “Terminal Man,” which was the basis for the 2004 film “Terminal.” He died of a heart attack on November 12, 2022.
Wiki/Biography
Mehran Karimi Nasseri (Mehran Karimi Nasseri) was born in 1945 at the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in Suleymaniye Mosque, Iran (he died aged 76). In 1976, he received a BA in Yugoslav Studies from the University of Bradford, UK. Mehran Karimi Nasseri’s father moved his family to Tehran, Iran, from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company at Suleiman Mosque. Mehran’s father died of cancer in 1967. Mehran was twenty when his father died. After his father’s death, his mother expelled Mehran from the family and stressed that she was not his biological mother. In a media chat, Mehran had revealed that his mother told him that his biological mother was Scottish. Mehran recalled,
In fact, he was the illegitimate son of his father and a Scottish woman, possibly from Glasgow, who worked as a nurse for the Anglo-Iranian oil company. To protect her husband, who was sentenced to death for adultery, she pretended that Nasseri was hers. “
In 1977, Mehran Karimi Nasseri told a media reporter that shortly after his mother kicked him out of the family, he threatened to sue her in court, demanding that Violation of his father’s property rights. Later, they both agreed on the condition that he would get money from his mother and move to England to further his studies. In 1973 he moved to the UK where he earned a BA from the University of Bradford. During his higher education, he used to receive a monthly stipend, but it was suddenly stopped by the British government after some time. He tried to contact the family in Tehran but received no reply. He later traveled to Tehran to deal with the matter, but was detained. The Iranian government claims he was photographed by some Iranian agents in the UK for protesting against the Shah during the Iranian revolution. In order to free him, his mother contacted and bribed many higher authorities. He was later released with an immigration passport on the condition that he would leave Iran permanently and never return. He left Iran under the same instructions. He began looking for another country willing to accept him as a refugee. Eventually, he decided to search for his biological mother and planned to travel to Glasgow.
appearance
Hair color: salt and pepper (semi-bald)
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
His father’s name is Abdul Karim, an Iranian doctor. His mother’s name was Simon, a nurse from Scotland. He has four brothers and two sisters. One of his brothers, Cyrus, is a businessman in Tehran. All of his siblings reportedly live in Tehran, Iran. However, one of his sisters lives in Luxembourg, Europe, and is a dentist. One of his siblings works in a bank, another is a chemist, and another works in national television and radio.
wife and children
Mehran Karimi Naseri is not married.
refugee status
Mehran Karimi Nasseri fought a lengthy legal battle to gain refugee status and asylum in at least seven countries, including England and Belgium. In 1981, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Belgium granted him refugee status. Soon after receiving this status, he was allowed to live in other European countries; however, the permit was suspended some time later as some investigations into his case revealed that he was never deported from Iran during the Iranian Revolution. Soon after receiving refugee status, he started living in Brussels and started working in a library, where he studied books and received social assistance. In 1986, he planned to use his savings to move to England to find his biological mother. However, in 1988, it was reported that he lost all his documents when his briefcase was stolen while traveling to the UK. He then returned to France after failing to show his passport to British immigration officials at London airport. Subsequently, multiple media outlets claimed that he had sent the documents to Brussels and falsely claimed that the documents had been stolen.
Charles de Gaulle Airport as accommodation
He was detained by French authorities shortly after arriving in France. After verification, the French court mentioned in the judgment that he had no country of origin and could enter the French airport; however, the court refused him entry into France. Eventually, he made Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France his home. In 1992, he and French human rights lawyer Christian Bourget submitted a petition to the French court demanding Nasseri’s entry into France. In its judgment, the court ruled that his entry into France was legal and therefore he could not be expelled from the airport; however, the court did not allow him to enter France. Therefore, Mehran Karimi Nasseri worked to obtain his documents from Belgium, which wanted Nasseri to appear in person in order to continue the legal process. Three years after his application in Belgium, in 1995, the Belgian authorities allowed him to visit Belgium on the condition that he would live there under the supervision of a social worker. Nasseri rejected this condition and revealed his desire to settle in Britain. Later, he obtained residency in Belgium and France. After being granted residence permits in Belgium and France, he was listed as Iranian by those countries rather than Britain, and his name was not given in official documents as Sir Alfred Mehran. Therefore, he refused to sign the documents. His lawyer, Bourget, said in a media chat that he was frustrated when Nasseri refused to sign the documents.
Nasseri’s residence at Charles de Gaulle Airport Terminal 1
At the end of July 2006, he was hospitalized and shortly after leaving his seat in Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport, the seat was removed by French authorities. He was discharged from hospital in January 2007 and was cared for by the French Red Cross branch at the airport. After that, he stayed in a hotel near the airport for some time. On March 6, 2007, he began living at the Emmaus charity reception center in Paris. He reportedly lived in a Paris shelter until his death in November 2022. The Associated Press said Nasseri had been living at the airport in the weeks before his death.
2004 movie “Terminal”
DreamWorks Production boss Steven Spielberg paid Mehran Karimi Nasseri $250,000 in 2003 to star in his film rights to use Nasseri’s story in . The film was inspired by Nasseri’s life, but Steven Spielberg claimed he didn’t use the exact story in his 2004 film Terminal.
Poster for the movie “The Terminal”
In 2004, Tom Hanks played Meran Karimi Nasseri in the movie “The Terminal”. The character of Viktor Navorski in the film was inspired by Nasseri’s life. It is understood that the film’s website, promotional materials and DVD did not mention that Nasseri was the inspiration for the film’s protagonist. The New York Times confirmed in September 2003 that Steven Spielberg purchased the rights to Nasseri’s story for his 2004 film “The Terminal.” That same year, The Guardian reported in an article that Nasseri received $250,000 from Steven Spielberg and his company DreamWorks Productions to sell his story. In 2004, Nasseri was photographed by The Guardian covering his suitcase with advertising posters for Spielberg films.
Literary works and documentaries
In 2004, Mehran Karimi Nasseri published his autobiography “Terminal Man” together with British writer Andrew Donkin. The Sunday Times described his autobiography as “brilliant”. It quoted,
Deeply disturbing, yet brilliant. “
He was the inspiration for the 1993 French film Tombés du ciel, starring French actor Jean Rochefort. The film was released internationally as Lost in Transit.
1993 movie “Lost” poster
Flight is an English opera in three acts, released in 1998 by British music composer Jonathan Dove. The play, based on the life of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, premiered at Glyndebourne Opera House shortly after its release. In March 2006, Flight won the Helpmann Award at the Adelaide Festival Theatre. Subsequently, documentaries such as “The Fifteen-Year Turnaround” and “America’s Best Non-Required Reading” created by Michael Paternity were inspired by his life. . In 2000, Alexis Kouros made the documentary Waiting for Godot at Charles de Gaulle. In 2001, Mehran Karimi Nasseri appeared in Glen Luchford and Paul Berczeller’s mockumentary Here to Where. Later, Hamid Rachmanian and Melissa Hibbard released their documentary Sir Alfred at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Poster for the documentary “Sir Alfred at Charles de Gaulle”
die
Mehran Karimi Nasseri died of a heart attack on November 12, 2022 at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France.
Facts/Trivia
- His other names were Alfred and Sir Alfred Melland.
- Mehran Karimi Nasseri follows a non-vegetarian diet. He once revealed in an interview with the media that he likes to eat McDonald’s eggs and bacon croissants for breakfast every day, and he likes to eat McDonald’s fish sandwiches for dinner. In the same discussion, he talked about his smoking habits and his favorite brand of cigarettes, Thai Cigarettes. In 2003, a leading media profiled him in a version of his daily life. Among them was a reference to his choice of bathroom at the airport. It writes,
He had a choice of two nearby bathrooms; he preferred the smaller, quieter of the two because it was closer to his bench and had a shower. “
Mehran Karimi Nasseri shaves his beard
- Because he was not allowed to enter France, Mehran Karimi Nasseri never had the chance to see the film “The Terminal” in a cinema. He is reportedly excited about the film and wants to watch it.
- His family has been interviewed by the leading international media “The Guardian”. In conversations, his family said Nasseri was living a life of his own choosing. The Guardian defined Nasseri’s living quarters in France’s Terminal 1 in an article. It quoted,
It was actually two benches pushed together, about eight feet long in total, slightly curved, and just wide enough for him to sleep on if he tucked his hands under his pillow. “
- Many media reported after his death that they always saw Mehran Karimi Nasseri reading, writing diaries, and studying economics for eighteen years. Two round red-cushioned benches serve as his seats. He carried his luggage with him, and airport staff often fed him meals and delivered newspapers. He earned letters of support from many prominent journalists who covered his story in news articles.
Mehran Karimi Nasseri reads a letter at France Airport Terminal 1
- His brother, Cyrus, spoke to the media in 2004 about Nasseri’s favorite game. Nasseri lived with Cyrus in London while at university. Cyrus revealed that Nasseri liked playing table tennis when he was a child and was Cyrus’s good friend. Cyrus recalled,
He and I are very close and we usually have the same friends. We spend most of our time together. We live a wonderful life. I liked swimming and Melhan used to play table tennis. He’s very good at this. “
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education