Aydin Aghdashloo, son of Mohammad-Beik Aghdashloo (Haji Ouf) and Nahid Nakhjevan, was born on October 30, 1940 in the Afakhray neighborhood of Rasht, Iran. His father was a Caucasian-Azerbaijani and a member of the Equality Caucasian Party and his family assumes their surname from the small town of Agdash.After seeing Aydin's talent in painting at school and his hand-made models, Mohammad-Beik took him to Habib Mohammadi, a painter and a teacher from Rasht. Aghdashloo's aunt and her husband were merchants and wealthy ones. While living with them, Aghdashloo passed much time painting alone. After seeing his talent in painting, his aunt enlisted him at painting classes of Monseigneur Basil and it was there he first learned about the oil painting technique.
