Simin Behbahani, whose name at birth was Siminbar Khalili , was the daughter of Abbas Khalili, a poet, diplomat, newspaper publisher, and editor of the Aghdam newspaper, and Fahr-Ozma Arghun , poet and teacher of the French language. Abbās Khalili wrote poetry in both Persian and Arabic and he translated some 1100 verses of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh into Arabic. Fahr-Ozma Arghun was one of the progressive women of her time and a member of Kānun-e Nesvān-e Vatan’khāh (Association of Patriotic Women) between 1925 and 1929. In addition to her membership of Hezb-e Democrāt (Democratic Party) and Kānun-e Zanān (Women’s Association), she was for a time (1932) Editor of the Āyandeh-ye Iran (Future of Iran) newspaper. She taught French at the secondary schools Nāmus, Dār ol-Mo’allemāt and No’bāvegān in Tehran.
