Very little is documented about her own early years (birth date, upbringing, education) in the public sources that are considered reliable. No substantial record has been found so far of her childhood or precise place of birth. Her son, Amir-Abbas, had a very close attachment to her, especially after his parents separated physically (through diplomatic postings, etc.). His memories of childhood, nostalgia, etc., are often mediated through her stories. In The Persian Sphinx, for example, Hoveyda notes that some of his own memory is interwoven with his mother’s recounting.
Because his father was frequently away in diplomatic roles, Afsar-al-Moluk took on much of the responsibility for raising their two sons, Amir-Abbas and Fereydoun. When the family lived in Beirut, she had to manage the household and its finances after Habibollah’s death; this included renting out rooms to students to make ends meet. She taught him Persian and presumably transmitted the cultural identity of their aristocratic family, though Amir-Abbas later spent much of his childhood abroad, in French schools etc., which also shaped him.
