Christiane Amanpour

Amanpour in 2010, pic by Prphotos

Birth Name: Christiane Maria Heideh Amanpour

Place of Birth: Ealing, London, England, U.K.

Date of Birth: 12 January, 1958

Ethnicity:
*Persian (father)
*English (mother)

Christiane Amanpour is a British and Iranian journalist and television host. She is the host of The Amanpour Hour on CNN and Amanpour & Company on PBS.

She was born in Ealing, London, England, the daughter of Patricia Anne (Hill) and Mohammad Taghi Amanpour. Her father was Persian, and was born in Tehran, to a wealthy family. Her mother was born in Paris, France, to English parents. Her father was Muslim and her mother was Catholic. Her parents met when her mother traveled to Iran. Christiane was raised in England and Iran, and is fluent in Persian and English.

Christiane has a son with her husband, American diplomat and journalist James Rubin.

Christiane’s paternal grandfather was named Seyyed Amanollah “Sadr ol-Aman.” Seyyed was born in Shirz, Iran. Seyyed’s brother, Seyyed Ataollah, was killed in the early 1900s at the orders of a prominent landowner. As compensation, Christiane’s grandfather Seyyed received a title, Sadr ol-Aman, given to clerics, from the Royal Court of Tehran.

Christiane’s paternal grandmother was Parvin os-Saltaneh (the daughter of Ali Khan “Gorgi” and Zahra Khanom). Parvin was born in Iran. Ali was likely born in Georgia, in the Caucasus, then in Russia. Zahra was also likely born in Russia, and was the daughter of Mirza Asadollah Naini. Mirza’s grandfather, Christiane’s great-great-great-great-grandfather Mirza Mohammad Taghi, was Governor of the Province of Isfahan in the 1840s.

Christiane’s maternal grandfather was John Sydney Thomas “Jack” Hill (the son of John Eames Hill and Mary Jane Gisby). Jack was born in Ealing, Middlesex, England. He was a decorated WWI veteran. Mary Jane was the daughter of Thomas Gisby and Frances Page Newman.

Christiane’s maternal grandmother was Florence Mary “Molly” Bailey (the daughter of Edward Albert Bailey and Florence Caroline Cotching). Christiane’s grandmother Florence was born in Ealing, Middlesex, England. Edward was the son of Alfred Bailey and Eliza Lane. Christiane’s great-grandmother Florence was the daughter of Thomas Cotching and Elizabeth Ann Billington.