Mehran Karimi Nasseri (1945 – 2022) was an Iranian refugee and activist who began living in the basement shopping mall of Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport on 26 August 1988 and survived until he was hospitalized in July 2006. He was stateless since 1977. 2022. In 2004, he published his autobiography ‘The Terminal Man’, which was the basis for the 2004 film ‘The Terminal’. He died of a heart attack on 12 November 2022.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Mehran Karimi Nasseri was born in 1945 (age 76 years; at death) to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in Masjid Soleyman, Iran. In 1976, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Yugoslavian studies from the University of Bradford, UK. Mehran Karimi Nasseri’s father moved his family to Tehran, Iran from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in Masjid Soleyman. Mehran’s father was suffering from cancer and died in 1967. When his father died, Mehran was twenty years old. His mother banished Mehran from the family after his father’s death and insisted that she was not his real mother. Once while talking to the media, Mehran had revealed that his mother had told him that his real mother was Scottish. Mehran recalled,
In fact, he was the bastard son of an affair between his father and a Scottish woman, probably from Glasgow, who worked as a nurse for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. In order to save her husband, who was to be sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, she pretended that Naseri was hers.”
In 1977, speaking to a media reporter, Mehran Karimi Nasseri said that as soon as his mother expelled him from his family, he threatened to sue his mother in court for the right to inherit his father’s property. Later, they mutually agreed on the condition that he would receive money from his mother to go to England for his higher education. He then moved to the UK in 1973 to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Bradford. During higher education, he used to get monthly stipend, which was suddenly stopped by the British government after some time. He tried to contact his family members in Tehran but received no response. Subsequently, he went to Tehran to look into the issue but was detained. The government of Iran claimed that he was photographed by some Iranian agents in Britain in order to protest against the Shah during the Iranian Revolution. His mother approached and bribed several high officials for his release. Later, he was released with his immigration passport on the condition that he leave Iran forever and never return. He followed the same instructions and left Iran. They started looking for another country that could accept them as refugees. Eventually, they decided to search for their birth mother and planned to go to Glasgow.
Physical Appearance
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper (semi-bald)
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
His father’s name is Abdelkarim and he was an Iranian physician. His mother’s name is Simon and she was a nurse from Scotland. He had four brothers and two sisters. One of his brothers, Cyrus, is a businessman in Tehran. Reportedly, all his siblings lived in Tehran, Iran. However, one of his sisters lives in Luxembourg, Europe and works as a dentist. One of his siblings worked in a bank, another worked as a chemist, and another worked for state television and radio.
wife and children
Mehran Karimi Naseri was not married.
refugee status
Mehran Karimi Nasseri fought a lengthy legal battle to obtain refugee status and asylum in at least seven countries, including England and Belgium. He was granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Belgium in 1981. Once they got this status, they got permission to live in other European countries; However, the permission was stopped after some time when some investigations into his case revealed that he had never been deported by Iran during the Iranian Revolution. Soon after receiving refugee status he began living in Brussels and working in a library where he read books and received social assistance. In 1986, he planned to use his saved money to go to the United Kingdom and search for his real mother. However, reportedly, he lost all his documents in 1988 when someone stole his briefcase while traveling to Britain. Subsequently, he failed to show his passport to British immigration officials at London airport and was returned to France. Later, it was claimed by several media houses that he had already sent his documents to Brussels and lied that his documents were being stolen by someone.
Charles de Gaulle Airport as a residence
As soon as he reached France, he was taken into custody by the French authorities. Upon verification, a French court noted in its decision that he had no country of origin, and that he could enter France airports; However, the court refused his entry into France. Eventually, he made Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France his residence. In 1992, he filed a petition in a French court with Christian Bourget, a French human rights lawyer, for Nasseri’s entry into France. The court stated in its decision that his entry into France was legal, so he could not be deported from the airport; However, the court did not allow him to enter France. As a result, Mehran Karimi Naseri tried hard to get his documents from Belgium, which wanted Naseri to appear in person to continue the legal process. Three years after his application to Belgium, in 1995, he was given permission by the Belgian authorities to visit Belgium on the condition that he would live in Belgium under the supervision of a social worker. Naseri rejected this condition and expressed his desire to settle in Britain. Later, he was granted residence permits in both Belgium and France. After obtaining residency permits from Belgium and France, he was listed as Iranian by these countries rather than British, and his name was not written as Sir Alfred Mehran in official documents. Therefore he refused to sign the documents. His lawyer Bourget told the media that when Naseri refused to sign the documents, Bourget was disappointed.
Nasseri’s residence in Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport
He was hospitalized in late July 2006, and shortly after leaving his sit-in at Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport, it was destroyed by French authorities. He was released from hospital in January 2007 and was cared for by the airport’s French Red Cross branch. After this he stayed in a hotel near the airport for some time. On 6 March 2007, he moved into residence at the Emmaus Charity Reception Center in Paris. Reportedly, he was living in a Paris shelter until his death in November 2022. It was claimed by the Associated Press that Naseri had been living at the airport for a few weeks before his death.
2004 film The Terminal
Steven Spielberg, owner of the DreamWorks production company, paid Mehran Karimi Nasseri US$250,000 in 2003 for the right to use Nasseri’s story for his film. The film was inspired by Nasseri’s life, but Steven Spielberg claimed that he did not use the exact story for his 2004 film ‘The Terminal’.
Poster of the movie The Terminal
Tom Hanks played the role of Mehran Karimi Naseri in the 2004 film ‘The Terminal’. The character of Victor Navorski in the film was inspired by Naseri’s life. Reportedly, it was never mentioned on websites, promotional material, and the film’s DVD that Naseri was the inspiration for the film’s main character. It was confirmed by The New York Times in September 2003 that the rights to use Nasseri’s story had been purchased by Steven Spielberg to make his 2004 film The Terminal. That same year, The Guardian reported in an article that Nasseri received US$250,000 from Steven Spielberg and his company DreamWorks Productions for selling his story. In 2004, Naseri was clicked by The Guardian holding an advertising poster for Spielberg’s film over his suitcase.
Literary works and documentaries
In 2004, Mehran Karimi Nasseri released his autobiography ‘The Terminal Man’ with British author Andrew Donkin. His autobiography was given a glowing review by The Sunday Times. It was cited,
Extremely disturbing and brilliant.”
He was the inspiration for the 1993 French film ‘Tombes du Ciel’ starring Jean Rochefort, a French actor. The film was released internationally as Lost in Transit.
Poster for the 1993 film Lost in Transit
‘Flight’, an English-language opera in three acts, was released in 1998 by the British composer Jonathan Dove. The act was based on the life of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, and premiered at the Glyndebourne Opera House soon after its release. ‘Flight’ earned a Helpmann Award at the Adelaide Festival Theater in March 2006. Later, documentaries such as “The Fifteen-Year Layover”, written by Michael Paternity, and The Best American Non-Required Reading were inspired by his life. In 2000 a documentary film Waiting for Godot at de Gaulle by Alexis Kouros was released. In 2001, Mehran Karimi Nasseri appeared in Glen Luchford and Paul Berczeller’s mockumentary ‘Here to Where’. Later, Hamid Rahmanian and Melissa Hibbard released their documentary ‘Sir Alfred of Charles de Gaulle Airport’ .
Poster of the documentary Sir Alfred of Charles de Gaulle Airport
Death
Mehran Karimi Nasseri died at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France after suffering a heart attack on 12 November 2022.
Facts/General Knowledge
- His other names were Alfred and Sir Alfred Mehran.
- Mehran Karimi Naseri followed a non-vegetarian diet. In a media interview, he once revealed that he likes to eat McDonald’s egg and bacon croissant for breakfast and McDonald’s fish sandwich for dinner every day. In the same discussion, he talked about his smoking habits and his favorite cigarette brand, Thai Cigarettes. In 2003, a major media house had described his daily routine in one of its editions. It mentioned his choice of bathroom at the airport. It was written in it,
There were two nearby bathrooms to his liking; He preferred the smaller and quieter of the two because it was closer to his bench and had shower facilities.
Mehran Karimi Nasseri shaving his beard
- Mehran Karimi Nasseri never got the chance to see the film The Terminal in a theater because he was not allowed to enter France. Reportedly, he was excited about the film and even wanted to watch it.
- His family was once interviewed by the leading international media house The Guardian. During the conversation, his family told that Naseri was living the life of his choice. The Guardian, in one of its articles, defined Naseri’s living area at Terminal 1 airport in France. It was cited,
It was actually two benches put together, about eight feet long altogether and gently curved, almost wide enough to sleep on if he kept his hands hidden under the pillows.”
- After his death several media houses reported that Mehran Karimi Naseri was always seen reading books, writing his diary and studying economics for the eighteen years he lived. Two round red padded benches were their seating area. His luggage was with him, and some staff at the airport would often feed him and give him newspapers. He received many letters of support from well-known journalists, who included his story in their news articles.
Mehran Karimi Nasseri reading a letter at Terminal 1 airport in France
- His older brother Cyrus talked about Naseri’s favorite sports in a media interaction in 2004. Nasseri lived with Cyrus in London during his college days. Cyrus told that Naseri loved playing table tennis in his childhood and was a very good friend of Cyrus. Cyrus remembered,
He was very close to me and we generally had similar friends. We mostly lived together. Our life was good. I liked swimming and Merhan used to play table tennis. He was very good at it.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn