Rosie Malek-Yonan

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✥ BIOGRAPHY ✥

Born on July 4th, in Tehran, Iran, Rosie Malek-Yonan is a descendant of one of the oldest and most prominent Assyrian families, tracing her Assyrian roots back nearly eleven centuries. She is a classically trained pianist, composer, actress, director, writer, producer, documentary filmmaker, public speaker, commentator and human rights activist.

She began studying piano at the age of four and while still in her teens, competed in and won many national piano competitions in Iran and was invited by Queen Farah Pahlavi to play at a Command Performance. She studied music at the Tehran Conservatory of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and San Francisco State University where she earned two degrees in music. She received her L.C. degree in English from the University of Cambridge. She studied acting with Ray Reinhardt at the American Conservatory Theatre and won an invitation to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the historic Pasadena Playhouse. Her plays have been produced and performed on stage in Los Angeles.

She made her television debut on the series, Dynasty, and a national commercial for AT&T where she spoke in Assyrian! She has since appeared in numerous notable television shows, films and plays, acting in a wide range of roles opposite many of Hollywood's leading actors. Recently, she played the role of "Nuru Il-Ebrahimi," in New Line Cinema's Rendition, directed by Oscar winning director Gavin Hood. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2008, she joined the cast of ABC's General Hospital as "Farah Mir."

✥ AUTHOR ✥

Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field, is an historical and literary epic novel, based on real events and true family chronicles set to the backdrop of the Assyrian Genocide of 1914-1918 where in the shadows of WWI, 750,000 Assyrians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks, Kurds and Persians in Ottoman Turkey and in the Assyrian inhabited region of Urmia in northwestern Iran. The book was named The Assyrian Event of the Year by Zinda Magazine and was featured in MAKE, a Chicago Literary Magazine.

The Crimson Field is available at the book's Official Website at TheCrimsonField.com and at Amazon.

Seyfo: Genocide, Denial and the Right of Recognition, is a compilation of articles and speeches presented at conferences held in the European Parliament on the Assyrian Genocide. Contributors include Rosie Malek-Yonan (author of The Crimson Field and Director of Seyfo Center USA), MP Stephen Pound (House of Commons of the United Kingdom), Prof. Ove Bring (Swedish Parliament), Sabri Atman (Director of Seyfo Center, Europe), Mechtild Rothe (Vice President of the European Parliament), Prof. David Guant (Södertöms University Colledge, Sweden), Markus Ferber (EVP-ED, Member of the European Parliament) and Willy Foeutre (Human Rights Without Frontiers).

✥ A HUMAN-RIGHTS ACTIVIST ✥

She is an outspoken advocate of issues concerning her nation, in particular bringing attention to the Assyrian Genocide as well as the plight of today's Assyrians in the Middle-East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its Coalition Forces. A commentator, she is frequently interviewed on television and radio programs worldwide including Australia’s ABC National Radio and publications such as the New York Times, giving her assessment of the current situation of the Assyrians in the Middle-East as well as discussing the topic of the Assyrian Genocide. Most recently she was interviewed by "Il Corriere Della Sera," the leading Italian daily newspaper, founded in 1876. Her articles are published globally and translated into many languages. A public speaker, she is often invited to lecture about the Assyrian Genocide at various venues including University of Berkeley, University of California at Merced and Woodbury University.

✥ U.S. CONGRESS ✥

In 2006, she was invited to testify on Capitol Hill before a Congressional Committee of the 109th Congress on religious freedom regarding the genocide, massacres and persecution of Assyrians in Iraq since the beginning of the 2003 Iraq War.

Reading from her book, she compared the Assyrian Genocide of 1914-1918, as depicted in The Crimson Field, to the current plight of the indigenous Assyrians in Iraq. Her 30 minute passionate testimony and plea to the United States government, ultimately prompted Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ) to travel to war-torn Iraq to witness matters for himself. One year later, a Congressional appropriations subcommittee voted to send $10 million to aid the Assyrians in Iraq. The documentary film, My Assyrian Nation on the Edge, based on her Congressional testimony was screened at the Australian Parliament of New South Wales in Sydney and numerous universities around the globe.

In 2008 she was invited to address the topics of genocide, world peace and in particular the Assyrian Genocide in statements presented at the British House of Lords and at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

She serves on the Board of Advisers at Seyfo Center in Europe and is the director of Seyfo Center in the U.S. The center deals primarily with issues concerning the Assyrian Genocide.

She is a founding member of The Assyrian Cultural and Arts Society that has provided three annual scholarships since 2005 to students at Woodbury University's Design School through the Assyrian Design Competition.

✥ HONORS & AWARDS ✥

2005: Rosie Malek-Yonan’s The Crimson Field named The Assyrian Event of the Year by Zinda Magazine, Washington, D.C.

2006: Woman of the Year Award by the Assyrian American National Federation, Inc.

2007: Rosie Malek-Yonan’s The Crimson Field featured in MAKE, a Chicago Literary Magazine.

2008: Excellence in Arts and Entertainment Award by the Iranian American Political Action Committee for numerous contributions as an actress, artist, director, author and activist.

2009: Assyrian Woman of the Year Award by the Assyrian Universal Alliance 26th World Conference, in recognition of her substantial contribution to advance the Assyrian national cause by promoting international recognition of the Assyrian Genocide, her extensive efforts in conveying the needs of the Assyrians to the United States government, and achievements in providing individual service to the Assyrian community worldwide.

✥ QUOTES BY ROSIE MALEK-YONAN ✥

"I may not have a country with boundaries, but my country is in me. My country is in my soul and in my heart. I am ASSYRIA." (The Crimson Field)

"Iraq's liberation has become the oppression of Assyrians." (U.S. Congress)

"I am an Assyrian. That is not negotiable." (The Crimson Field)

"Anytime the Western countries go to war in the Middle East, it becomes a religious war." (The New York Times)

"The recognition and acceptance of a genocide, and mass murder of nations is not to merely point a finger at a tyrant guilty of those crimes. It is acceptance of facts and truths with the ultimate goal to mend bridges between the races. It is not to merely condemn but to create the first step towards world peace." (House of Lords, London)

"When we perpetually allow the practice of genocide and holocaust and consent to the denial of such actions to linger for decades as in the case of the Assyrian, Armenian and Pontic Greek Genocides, we are in essence consenting to denial as a compromise. Denial is not compromise." (House of Commons, London)