Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian political refugee who lived for more than 18 years at the Parisian Charles de Gaulle airport and inspired director Steven Spielberg for his movie ‘The Terminal’passed away this Saturday in the same place where he had spent nearly two decades of his life.
Nasseri, 76, died of natural causes in Terminal 2F. After spending all the money he raised on the film, he had been back living at the airport for a few weeks.
Mehran was born in Masjed Soleiman, in the Iranian province of Kuzistan, and under the nickname Sir Alfred had chosen the main French airport as his home in November 1988, after wandering around looking for his mother.
He looked for her in London, Berlin and Amsterdam. Each time he had been expelled by the authorities of those countries because he lacked regular documents. In 1999 he obtained refugee status in France and a residence permit.
In Charles de Gaulle he had become a familiar character to the airport staff and an emblematic figure, protagonist of reports for television and radio from all over the world
In 2004, Tom Hanks played his role in the inspired story “The Terminal”. The fictitious name chosen to tell Mehran’s story was Viktor Navorski.
After the film, Nasseri moved into a hostel in Paris.
With information from agencies
db
Source: Clarin
