Rosie Malek-Yonan (born July 4, 1965) is an Assyrian-American actress, author, director, public figure, and activist. Malek-Yonan became a well-known pianist at a young age. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, she moved to the United States, where she worked in music and dramatic arts. As an actress, she appeared in more than 30 films and television series, including Up Close & Personal (1996) and Rendition (2007), as well as Generations, Dynasty, CSI: Miami, JAG, ER, and Babylon 5.
She also wrote The Crimson Field, a historical novel about the Assyrian genocide during World War I. The book is one of the most popular pieces of writing among modern Assyrians.
Early life and education
Malek-Yonan was born in Tehran, Iran. His father, George Malek-Yonan, was a lawyer who worked in many countries. His mother, Lida Malek-Yonan, was an activist who started and led the Assyrian Women's Organization. This group was the only one officially approved as a member of the Iranian Women's Association until the Pahlavi dynasty ended.
Career
Rosie Malek-Yonan is a trained pianist, composer, actress, director, writer, filmmaker, and activist. She began learning piano at age four and won many national piano competitions in Iran during her teenage years. She attended the Tehran Conservatory of Music. In 1972, after winning a competition, she was invited by Queen Farah Pahlavi to perform at a special event.
After earning a degree in English from the University of Cambridge, she studied classical piano with Saul Joseph at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and acting with Ray Reinhardt at the American Conservatory Theater. She graduated from San Francisco State University with two music degrees. She was invited to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Pasadena Playhouse. Her plays have been performed on stage. In 2008, her one-woman play, An Assyrian Exodus, was shown in Hartford, Connecticut. The play is based on true family diaries from the 1918 Great Exodus from Urmia, Iran. Janey Golani of The Assyrian Star wrote, "The performance of An Assyrian Exodus was emotional and impactful, based on Rosie’s family diaries."
Martin Hernandez of LA Weekly said, "The acting and directing were excellent. Rosie Malek-Yonan made the play perfect, even in song choices." Bruce Feld wrote, "Rosie Malek-Yonan directed the play well. She turned difficult material into meaningful stories."
Malek-Yonan first appeared on television in 1983 on Dynasty and in a national commercial for AT&T, where she spoke in Assyrian. She has acted in many TV shows, films, and plays, including Days of Our Lives, Chicago Hope, Beverly Hills, 90210, The Young and the Restless, and General Hospital. She played the role of Tekoa on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and guest-starred on shows like Seinfeld, Life, and JAG. She acted alongside Reese Witherspoon in the film Rendition, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In 2015, she joined the executive board of the Beverly Hills Film Festival as a consultant.
Malek-Yonan speaks out about issues affecting Assyrians, especially the Assyrian genocide and the challenges Assyrians face in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War. She has criticized the U.S. for not protecting Christians in Iraq after the war. In an interview with The New York Times, she said, "When Western countries go to war in the Middle East, it becomes a religious war." She also said Kurdish leaders in Iraq contributed to the unsafe conditions for Christians, leading to many leaving the country.
On June 30, 2006, Malek-Yonan testified before a U.S. Congressional Committee about the persecution of Assyrians in Iraq. She compared the Assyrian genocide of 1914–1918 to the current situation in Iraq. Her testimony led Congressman Chris Smith to visit Iraq and report to U.S. officials. A year later, a Congressional committee approved $10 million to help Assyrians in Iraq. A full record of her testimony is available on the U.S. House of Representatives website.
Monica Malek-Yonan made a documentary film, My Assyrian Nation on the Edge, based on Rosie’s testimony. The film was released in 2006 and shown in Australia in 2008.
In 2008, Malek-Yonan spoke about the Assyrian genocide at the British House of Lords and House of Commons. She also addressed a rally in Los Angeles to oppose changes to Iraq’s election law, saying, "Democracy in Iraq will fail if it does not treat all people equally."
Malek-Yonan often speaks about the Assyrian genocide. In 2007, she gave a keynote speech in California about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. She has lectured at universities like the University of California, Berkeley, and Woodbury University.
In 2010, she spoke at a press conference organized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance about attacks on Assyrians in Iraq. She said, "Going to church in Iraq is like playing Russian Roulette for Assyrian Christians." This was after a deadly attack on a church in Baghdad in 2010.
In 2006, she was named "Woman of the Year" by the Assyrian American National Federation. In 2008, she was honored for Excellence in Arts and Entertainment by the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC). At the Assyrian Universal Alliance’s 26th World Conference in Sydney, Australia, she was named "2009 Assyrian Woman of the Year" for her work to raise awareness about the Assyrian genocide.
Books
The Crimson Field is a historical and literary novel set in Urmia, Iran, Russia, and San Francisco, California. It is based on real events and true stories from a family's history, set during the Assyrian genocide from 1914 to 1918. This event occurred in the background of World War I, when 750,000 Assyrians were killed by the Ottoman Turks and Kurdish tribes in Ottoman Turkey and in the Assyrian region of Urmi (Urmia) in northwestern Iran. The book was chosen as The Assyrian Event of the Year 2005 by Zinda magazine on April 22, 2006. It was featured in the fourth issue of MAKE magazine's Winter 2007 edition. The book was also selected as required reading by Professor Ellene Phufas for a World Literature class at SUNY (State University of New York) to represent a work about the Christian Genocides in Asia Minor.