Firoza Punthakey Mistree, along with Dr. Pheroza J. Godrej has been appointed by the Trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet to serve as Honarary advisors for the F. D. Alpaiwalla Museum. Their role entailead upgrading and reimagining the museum, a legacy project of the Parsi Irani Zoroastrian community. Mistree’s work has highlighted the importance of preserving the vulnerable heritage, artistry and historical significance of the museum’s artifacts. Her contribution has brought attention to the rich heritage and cultural achievements of the Parsi Irani Zoroastrian Community.
Awards and Recognition:
In 1990, she received the Fezana Award for Humanitarian Services for coordinating a resettlement program for displaced Iranian Zoroastrians stranded in India and Pakistan. She worked closely with UNHCR and the Red Cross to assist displaced Iranians and Vietnamese boat refugees in India. In 2018, she received the ‘Zoroastrian Trust Funds of India’ Award for Cultural Preservation.
She works with Zoroastrian Studies Mumbai, with a primary focus on the vulnerable heritage of the Parsi Irani Zoroastrian community.
Publications and Contribution:
She has co-edited several publications with Pheroza J. Godrej, including:
– A Zoroastrian Tapestry: Art, Religion & Culture (2002)
– Across Oceans & Flowing Silks From Canton to Bombay 18th-20th Centuries, No Parsi Is An Island (2013)
– Painted Encounters, Parsi Merchants and the Community (2016)
– The Framji Dadabhoy Alpaiwalla Museum (inaugural catalogue – 2025) published for the reopening of the Alpaiwalla Museum
She has also contributed to The Everlasting Flame: Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination (2013) and its Supplementary Catalogue (2016), both books, accompanied exhibitions she co-curated.
Recently she co-edited The Selected Scholarly Writings of Dastur Firoze. M. Kotwal, vol. 1 (2018) and vol. 2 (2025)
The articles she has published, include the ‘Laying of the Sopra-e Shah Pariya’, Rudyard Kipling’s connection to the Parsi community. ‘The Lure of China and Parsi Portraiture’, a Biography of Dastur Firoze M. Kotwal.
Her more recent work is on ‘Fire Temple Water Wells and Popular Zoroastrian Practices’ and on ‘Identity and Silk’ – Parsi Textiles of the China Trade.
She also has worked on and has a particular interest in the costumes of the Zoroastrians of Yazd.
