Dr. Maryam Palizban, born 1981 in Iran, is a theater scholar, author, actress and director. She received her PhD in 2014 from the FU and the Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung (ZfL) on “Figurationen des Märtyrers” (Figurations of the Martyr)" She was a research assistant at the ZfL in the project " Figurationen des Märtyrers in nahöstlicher und europäischer Literatur" (Figurations of the Martyr in Middle Eastern and European Literature, 2012-2015): with two projects " Märtyrer auf der Bühne. Aufführung des Märtyrertums in Ta’ziya als ein schiitisches Theater-Ritual" (Martyrs on Stage. Performing Martyrdom in Ta'ziya as a Shi'a Theatre Ritual" and "Märtyrer des Ersten Weltkrieges 1914–1921" (Martyrs of the First World War 1914–1921). She was a fellow at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg at the Ruhr University in Bochum and publishes regularly in German, English and Farsi on cultural and art theory, philosophy and religious studies. In Iran, she has become known as a film actress through films such as "Deep Breath" (Cannes 2003) and "LANTOURI" (Berlinale 2016), and as a poet. She has received various awards, including Best Lead Actress nomination for "Deep Breath" by Iranian Film Academy and Fajr Film Festival. Her dissertation, "Performativität des Mordes“ (Performativity of Murder) was published by Kadmos Verlag in 2017. She has lived in Berlin since 2005 and works as a scholar and artist in Berlin and Tehran. Since April 1, 2021, she has been a fellow at the Center for Islamic Theology at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.