Mehran Karimi Nasseri

Mehran Karimi Nasseri was born in Masjed Soleyman, Iran, to an Iranian doctor and a Scottish nurse. After participating in student protests in Britain in the 1970s against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, he was expelled from Iran. Granted refugee status in Belgium, he traveled to Europe in search of his maternal roots.

In 1988, while transiting through Paris to London, his bag containing his refugee credentials was allegedly stolen. British authorities returned him to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, where French border police could neither admit him into France nor deport him. Stranded in legal limbo, Nasseri took up residence on a red bench in the underground transit lounge of Terminal 1. Calling himself "Sir Alfred Mehran," he lived there peacefully for 18 years, washing in airport restrooms, reading books, journaling, and chatting with airport staff and passengers. DreamWorks bought the rights to his life story for over $250,000, inspiring Steven Spielberg's 2004 movie The Terminal. After living in Parisian shelters for years, he returned to the airport in his final weeks, dying naturally in Terminal 2F.