Bon Vivant, Gstaad habitué, Polyglot, Polymath, Host Extraordinaire 

This week, Piguet's auction in Geneva offers a fleeting glimpse into the bygone world of well-born and well-bred statesmen of the twentieth century.

Bon Vivant, Gstaad habitué, and Montreux resident Ardeshir Zahedi (1928-2021) was at the forefront of international diplomacy for decades of the twentieth century. His rich as well as extensive collection, detailed and illustrated in the online auction catalogue below, formerly housed at his residence in Montreux, is a voyage in time across cultures of both Orient and Occident: comprised of paintings, furniture, carpets, porcelain, silver, precious objects, and gifts from heads of state and government. He knew eight American presidents, from Harry Truman (1884–1972) to George Bush, Senior (1924-2018).

At his Villa Les Roses in Montreux, this polyglot and polymath hosted crowned heads, princes, presidents, and heads of state amongst others: including Gstaad habitué and Ancien Roséen, King Fouad II, Egypt’s last monarch; Gstaad habitué Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (1933–2003), former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Former US President Richard Nixon (1913-1994), Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan; a former President of the Swiss Confederation; the late founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival.

ARDESHIR ZAHEDI
served the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980) a Gstaad habitué and Ancien Roséen, as ambassador in London and twice in Washington, as well as foreign minister; his second term in Washington spanned the last six years of the Shah’s reign, from the oil price surge of 1973-74 to the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Zahedi and his wife Princess Shahnaz (Gstaad habituée and Chalet Marie-José pupil) introduced her father the Shah, single after two divorces, to his third wife, Farah Diba.

Princess Shahnaz is the Shah’s first child with his first wife, Princess Fawzia of Egypt (1921-2013)—eldest daughter of King Fuad I of Egypt (1868-1936), first king of Egypt following its independence from Great Britain. They had a daughter Mahnaz, and were divorced in 1964; his daughter survives him.

A graduate of Utah State University, Zahedi forged strong ties to Nixon as ambassador to Washington, and in 1962 was moved as head of mission to London. Thereafter in 1955, the Shah appointed him Iran’s minister of foreign affairs. During his second mission in Washington, he proved a gregarious and generous host at his endless caviar-and-champagne parties.

Invitations to the Iranian embassy under Zahedi were highly sought after. Statesmen and politicians rubbed shoulders with film stars, entertainers, and socialites: with guests like Henry Kissinger, Andy Warhol, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra. Zahedi was also seen out on the town with Jacqueline Onassis, Liza Minnelli or Barbara Walters. In between husbands, he and Gstaad habituée Elizabeth Taylor were an item.

After he had left Washington for good, envoys of Iran’s new Islamic regime poured the contents of the embassy cellar, more than 4,000 bottles, down the drain.

Zahedi settled in Montreux, where his father had Villa Les Roses since the 1950s. His home for more than 50 years, pictured in the online catalogue, was the meeting point of countless personalities from all over the world. Stanford University's Hoover Institution is the repository of his archive.

ALAN NAZAR IPEKIAN
 

AUCTION CATALOGUE ONLINE

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Wednesday 4 & Thursday 5 December
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Friday 6, Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 December
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