Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: unknown, In Memoriam, Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1978, bahai-library.com.
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THE B A H A ' ~W O R L D
AN INTERNATIONAL RECORD

Prepared under the supervision of
The Universal House of Justice

VOLUME XVI

130,131,132 and 133
OF THE B A H A ' ~E R A
1973-1976

B A H A ' ~W O R L D C E N T R E
HAIFA
1978
CONTENTS ix
VI. T H E N O N - P O L I T I C A L C H A R A C T E R O F T H E BAHA'I F A I T H Page
1. The Non-Political Character of the BahB'i Faith-Excerpts from the Writings
of Shoghi Effendi . 490

VII. R E L A T I O N S H I P T O G O V E R N M E N T
1. Loyalty to Government-Statement Prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Baha'is of the United States of America .
2. The Bahi'i View of Pacifism .
3. The Bahi'i Position on Military Service .
4. Summary of the Guardian's Instructions on the Obligation of Bahi'is in Con-
nection with Military Service ,

VIII. BAHA'I C A L E N D A R , FESTIVALS A N D DATES O F H I S T O R I C A L
SIGNIFICANCE
1. Foreword, by Dr. J. E. Esslemont .
2. Baha'i Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fasting . .
3. Baha'i Holy Days on Which Work Should be Suspended .
4. Additional material gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (vol. 11), regarding the
Bahi'i Calendar .
5. Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (vol. 11), regarding Bahi'u'llah
6. Dates of Historical Significance in the Rise of the Baha'i Faith .

PART FIVE
IN MEMORIAM
Page Page
Ahmadpur, 'Inayatu'llih . . 529 Krishnan, G. S. Santhanam . 563
ArbBb, Ruhi . . 547 Kuhlase, Christopher V. . 546
Ashen, Elizabeth Ann (Anna) . 553 Kunz, Anna . 520
~ z a m i b a hQudratu'llhh
, . . 519 Loft, Alfred James . 514
Baghdadi, 'Abbas Ihsin . . 543 Malkin, Seymour . 542
~ a & t i ~ i rIsfandiyar
i, . . 554 Marangella, Philip A. . 525
Bare, Karen . . 524 McKinley, Violet . 512
Becker, Matilda (Betty) . . 538 Mejia, Blanca Victoria 550
Beeton, James Henry Isaac . . 551 Mills, Mary Olga Katherine . 53 1
Bode, Edward L. . . 566 Mujahid, Siyyid Amir-@ah . 552
Dhabih, Ihraqiyyih .
- . . 517 Na'imi, Mahbubih . 540
Dreyfus-Barney, Laura Clifford . 535 Patterson, Robert Henry . 549
Elston, Mary Ashley . . . 530 Toeg, Daoud . 527
Eziukwu, Isaac . . . 522 'Ubbadi, Ghulim-'Ali . 561
Facey, James Vassal . . 556 Vakil, Munir . 565
Ferraby, John . . . 511 Venturini, Verena . 560
George, Prudence . . 534 zaynu'l-Abidin, Fawzi . 544
Graham, Fred . . 558

Errata
Estrada, Salom6n Pacora . . 568 Vieira, Eduardo Duarte
IN MEMORIAM

JOHN FERRABY
19141973
John Ferraby was born in Southsea, England,
on 9 January 1914 and grew up there. He was
educated at Malvern and at King's College,
Cambridge, to which he won a major scholar-
ship.
It was in 1941that he was told about the Faith
by a non-BahB'i. Wanting to know more, he
found Dr. Esslemont's book in a public library.
He was by then living in London, so he started
to look for the BahB'is there, but he had
difficulty in finding them because during the
blitz the Bahi'i Centre was empty most of the
time. However, finally he found someone and
after a couple of visits he wanted to be accepted
as a member of the community. Almost im-
mediately he began to work for the Faith,
becoming in less than a year a member of the
London Spiritual Asseinbly and of the National
Spiritual Assembly. In 1943 he married a fellow
member of the National Assembly, Dorothy
Cansdale. .7ohn Ferraby
In 1946 he became secretary of the National
Spiritual Assembly, working at first in his spare Guardian, which deepened his already great
time and from 1950 as full-time secretary. This devotion to Shoghi Effendi. This of course made
work he continued, living in the National a tremendous impression on him and it was in
Haqiratu'l-Quds in London from December consequence of advice from Shoghi Effendi to
1954, until he went to serve in the Holy Land at write for the Faith that he produced his book A11
the end of 1959. During a good deal of the time Things Made New. He seemed to have received
he was also manager of the British BahB'i some special stimulation and wrote at fever heat
Publishing Trust, as well as being an active in every moment of his spare time until it was
teacher and committee member. From 1951 to completed, as if he had been inspired and could
1956 he was busily involved in the work of the not stop. The book has been widely used,
Africa Committee and during the opening of the running to one edition in the British Isles and
various territories in Africa, at that time mostly three in the United States.
colonies or protectorates, he attended to most In 1957, in the last group of Hands of the
of the government relationship, acting in his Cause appointed by the Guardian, John Fer-
capacity of national secretary. He attended the raby was included, and consequently he carried
first Intercontinental Conference, held in Kam- a big share of the work and responsibility for the
pala, Uganda, in 1953, as well as the successive arrangements when Shoghi Effendi died and
Intercontinental Conferences which were held was buried in London. After that he took part in
in Europe. the first sorrowful gathering of the Hands of the
In January 1955, he made the pilgrimage to Cause in Haifa and stayed on there for over
the Holy Land and was in the presence of the three months to help. In December 1959, John
T H E B A H A.'f W O R L D

went to live in Haifa as one of the Hands of the beliefs of the world, coming into contact with
Cause resident in the Holy Land and remained the Theosophical Society which commended
there until Ridvan 1963.1Afterthat he returned itself to her as being rather broadminded
to England and lived in Cambridge for the last with regard to doctrine. It was while going to
ten years of his life, working for the first few meetings at the Theosophical Lodge in Exeter,
years as one of the Hands of the Cause in the where she was living after the war, that she met
continent of Europe, dealing with their secre- Dr. McKinley, an Irish surgeon, who had aban-
tariat and travelling a good deal. Later it doned operative medicine for osteopathy and
became no longer possible for him to serve in dietetics. Like her, he was dissatisfied with
this way. orthodoxy, yet sure that there must be some
John's whole life as a Baha'i was one of master theme of life to put right the tortured
activity and intense devotion. From the world that had succeeded the armistice. They
moment of his declaration the Faith came were married in 1922,and went to live in Oxford
absolutely first with him and nothing else mat- where their cl.iild, Hugh, was born two years
tered, and this was true until the end of his life, later.
whatever his circumstances and condition. At a meeting of Theosophists in that city,
DOROTHY FERRABY soon after their arrival, they heard a Mr. H.
Wooller give a talk on the Baha'i Faith. They
were deeply impressed and he lent them Dr.
Esslemont's book Baha'u'llah and the New Era.
They read this through together and on coming
VIOLET McKINLEY to the end they looked at each other and
simultaneously said, 'This is it! This is what
1882-1959
we've been looking for.' Although Baha'is were
Knight of BahB'u'llah
not formally registered in those days a number
Born on 25 May 1882 at Enfield, north of of people left the Theosophical Lodge at the
London, into the prosperous trading environ- same time as the McKinleys and thought of
ment of the late Victorian epoch, Violet Jessie themselves as believing in the 'BahSl'i Move-
McKinley (nbe Watson) was blessed with two ment'. (Subsequent enquiry has ascertained that
great spiritual advantages: an extremely del- Mr. Wooller himself did not become a declared
icate constitution, which kept the thought of believer in later years, though he spoke at
the other world very close, and a persistently Oxford as 'a member'.)
enquiring mind-she always wanted to know Almost immediately after hearing of and
'Why?' This condition was stimulated by an wholeheartedly accepting the Faith of
orthodox but solid education at home. Too frail BahSl'u'llih, Dr. McKinley was taken seriously
to go to school, she had a Continental governess ill. The family moved to Cornwall for his health
for eight years, with hard study of the nine- but he passed away there in 1927, leaving Violet
teenth century romantics: Schiller, Goethe, with a very young child to bring up and with
Victor Hugo, Heine, Lamartine, etc. Her study extremely restricted means; naturally she had
was conducted all in German one week, all in no commercial qualifications. She lived very
French the other, and this, coupled with a deep quietly in that part of the world until 1932 when
religious sense that had been instilled in her by a she and Hugh went for a holiday to London.
very narrow but thoroughly sincere and right- While there she found out the address of the
minded nurse during her early childhood, de- London BahB'i Centre and wrote asking for an
veloped a viewpoint totally unsympathetic to appointment to talk of the Faith with some of
the shallow and materialistic background of her the friends. This was a wonderful meeting and
class and daily life. she went back to Cornwall radiant and inspired,
Just before the first World War she left her but still deprived of any but written contact with
family and went to live with friends where she the believers. Lifelong friendships with Mrs.
could have freedom to act as she thought right. Isobel Slade, Miss Evelyn Baxter (who was to
Always interested in ideas and intolerant of the become the Knight of BahSl'u'llah for the Chan-
narrow dogmatism offered to her as 'religion', nel Islands) and Mrs. Routh date from that
she now studied what she could find of the other meeting.
the believers, at the onset of the Ten Year
Crusade, to arise for the purpose of establishing
the Cause of BahB'u'llah throughout the world
they cabled the National Spiritual Assembly of
the British Isles offering to go anywhere. A
project was worked out in consultation, and
confirmed at the subsequent intercontinental
conference held in Stockholm, routing them to
Cyprus, Hugh departing first, and Violet fol-
lowing in November 1953. Cyprus has a unique
reputation in Baha'i history as the place of exile
of Mirza Yahya, the treacherous half-brother of
Bahi'u'llah, stigmatized by Shoghi Effendi in
God Passes By as 'Arch-breaker of the Cov-
enant of the Bab . . .' Tests and difficulties fell
thick and fast for the pioneers who were labour-
ing under conditions already made arduous
because of a heated and militant political
situation. They were sustained by their recol-
lection of their pilgrimage to the Holy Land and
the assurances given them on that occasion by
Shoghi Effendi that whatever pool of negative
force might have been left by Mirza Yahya, and
Violet McKinley however great the tests that would assuredly
confront those who arose to offset this baleful
influence, the ultimate victory would be, in
proportion, overwhelming.
Three years later Violet moved to Devonshire An influx of pioneers from America, the
for Hugh's education. In 1936 she met Mark Netherlands and fran, as well as the con-
Tobey at Dartington Hall, Bernard Leach, Ar- firmation of local believers, resulted in the
nold van Ogtrop and also Charles and Helen formation of a Local Spiritual Assembly in the
Bishop who were then visiting Torquay from capital, Nicosia, in 1956. Two years later the
the Baha'i International Bureau in Geneva. McKinleys were encouraged to move to Fam-
When the first Local Spiritual Assembly was agusta, the very place where Mirzk Yahya had
established in Torquay, a little later on, she was lived and died.
one of the members, although living several By this time Violet's health was entirely
miles out in the country; civic limits were not broken; too weak to stand, she could only lie in
applied in those days. bed, occasionally getting up in her room.
On leaving school Hugh went to work on the Amidst rabid communal strife and terrorism no
land, and from the beginning of the second organized teaching work could be initiated, but
World War was 'frozen' in this occupation until individually two or three people were attracted
1946 when a providential road accident enabled and their interest aroused. During the ten-day
him to be classified as a disabled person for the period of her final illness, books were placed in
purposes of the Act. Forthwith Violet and he the library of the Army Educational Centre
moved into Torquay town to assist in the work serving Eastern Cyprus.
of the Cause there. The next year, after con- Violet McKinley passed away shortly after
sultation, they made a pioneer move to Cardiff, dawn on 16 August 1959. Inforined of her
and assisted in the formation of the first Local passing, the Hands of the Cause residing in the
Spiritual Assembly there. Further pioneer Holy Land, who were then serving as the cus-
moves to London and to Brighton took place in todians of the Faith in the interregnum before .
1950 and 1952. the election of the Universal House of Justice,
As soon as Violet and Hugh read the com- cabled in terms that can only constitute'her
munication from Shoghi Effendi calling upon crowning epitaph:
514 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

GRIEVED PASSING DEVOTED SELFSACRIFICING gan where their daughter, Evelyn Irene, was
KNIGHT BAHAULLAH VIOLET MCKINLEY born in 1938. It was at this time that Melba, who
HIGHLY ESTEEMED BY BELOVED GUARDIAN was seeking explanations to the mysteries of life
EXAMPLE PERSEVERANCE UNFORGETTABLE through religion, encountered and accepted the
PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS SOUL Baha'i Faith. Although there were a few Ameri-
REALMS BEYOND STOP FEEL IMPELLED BUILD can Indian believers in the Southern United
HER GRAVE TRIBUTE HISTORIC SERVICES. States by that date, Melba was the first Cana-
Violet's grave in the English Cemetery at dian Indian believer.
Famagusta, is marked by a plain slab of Carrara Jim was active in community life. He was a
marble bearing the nine-pointed star and a foreman at Chrysler Corporation. He acquired
quotation from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, a comfortable home and became the first Indian
secured from Italy and put into place during the in Michigan to be accepted into the Masonic
early 1960s. It has been visited by some of the Lodge. He enjoyed having a good time and
Hands of the Cause and other distinguished appeared to have succeeded in putting to rest
BahB'is. the spiritual questions which had troubled him
HUGHMCKINLEY in his youth. Melba quietly began a life of active
Baha'i service and Jim went his own way con-
tent in the knowledge that he provided well for
his family and feeling that to live a good life was
sufficient. He was not to become a BahB'i for ten
years. Eventually he grew curious about his
wife's commitment to Baha'i activities and
ALFRED JAMES LOFT began to call for her at meetings. He was
13 July 1908-22 May 1973 impressed by the friendliness and sincerity of the
Baha'is and in May 1948 he declared his belief in
James (Jim) Loft, a Mohawk Indian, was born BahB'u'llah at the home of Mrs. Kettle in
in Hiawatha, Ontario and spent his early years Marysville.
in Belleville and Oshawa. His parents were poor
and at the age of twelve or thirteen Jim went to
work. He did not like school because he felt
discriminated against
- and, as a result, achieved
little formal education; but he had a keen mind
and was quick to learn and he read avidly.
Although it did not show on the surface, he
sought, from early childhood, for something
that would enable him to feel equal to the rest of
humanity. He was puzzled by, but took comfort
in, his very earliest recollection: Jim was sitting
on a fence as a small boy watchinga train crossing
the landscape. A man clothed in flowing white
robes was on the train smiling and waving at the
child who, in confusion and delight, toppled
backwards. This childhood memory lingered
vividly. When he found the Faith of Baha'u'llah,
Jimrecognized the figure on the train as 'Abdu'l-
Bahi.
In 1930 Jim married Melba Whetung, a
beautiful Chippewa Indian from Curve Lake,
near Peterborough, Ontario. They established a
home in Detroit, Michigan where their two sons
were born, James Gordon in 1933 and Arthur
Edwin in 1934. Jim worked for Chrysler Corpo- . . .
ration and was transferred to Marysville, Michi- A b e d James Loft
IN MEMORIAM 515
'I was overjoyed that Jim had accepted the added-their fellow Indians did not accept
Faith and that we could now work together as a them. They were treated with suspicion and
Baha'i family', wrote Melba. 'But I knew that hostility and it was made clear to them that only
my life of ease and comfort was over, for I church members could be buried in the con-
realized that Jim would not rest until he had secrated ground of the reservation. It was an
found some way to serve the Faith that would inauspicious beginning. The nearest BahB'is
bring happiness to the beloved Guardian for lived 120 miles distant and there was no one on
whom he had already conceived an overwhelm- whom they could call for help. The Lofts settled
ing love.' in to teach the Faith and continue the education
In September 1948 he wrote to Shoghi Effendi of their children. The first fireside meetings held
asking what service he could best render the in their new home were conducted against the
Cause. The reply dated 14 October 1948 written background of the sound of water dripping
on behalf of the Guardian by his secretary through the holes in the roof into pails on the
stated, in part: 'He would greatly welcome your floor.
returning to your own tribe, and giving them Jim found work as a mechanic in Belleville, a
this great message you and your dear wife have few miles from the reservation, and in De-
accepted.' The acceptance of the Faith by the cember 1949 one of his fellow workers, Bert
Indians of North America, the letter continued, Curtis, became a Baha'i, together with his wife,
represents the fulfillment of the hopes Elizabeth. It was the beginning of a lifelong
'Abdu'l-Baha held for them and 'marks an friendship. Not long after, Mr. and Mrs. Russell
important step forward not only in the evolu- Hill and their seven children found themselves
tion of our Faith itself, but also in the history homeless. Jim offered them the use of some of
of the Indian peoples, for, through the universal his land on the reservation for the construction
teachings of our Faith, they will come to not of a small dwelling. In September 1950 the
only be loved as brothers by their compatriots of Russell Hill family became Bahi'is. They were
European origin, but also develop the poten- the first Indian believers. Slowly the teaching
tialities God has endowed them with, and thus work developed. Jim and Melba frequently
contribute their share to world progress and drove long distances to Toronto, Ottawa and
world unity.' The Lofts, in consultation with the Kingston to support the teaching efforts and
National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, took their humble home was a centre of activity, filled
immediate steps to return to their home reser- with laughter. Jim had a marvellous sense of
vation in Canada, Tyendinaga, in Ontario. It humour and his love for all was felt. 'I feel that
is perhaps significant that Tyendinaga is the they inspired many of the pioneers who fol-
birthplace of Deganawidah, the fifteenth cen- lowed them', one friend writes. 'Some of their
tury figure whom tradition regards as the found- firesides were almost electrifying in intensity.
er of the Iroquois Confederacy. Regarded as a One summer weekend there were approximately
prophet by the Indian people, Deganawidah, 25 believers at their home; some slept on the
who was Huron by birth and Mohawk by floor, and some outside under the stars. Simple
adoption, united various tribes under one law but nourishing meals were provided and coffee
and devoted his life to establishing peace, right- was made in an open pan; everyone claimed
eousness and civil law. that Melba's coffee was the best they ever tasted.
Leaving their beautiful home the Loft family Looking back, I realize that they were conduct-
came to Canada in January 1949 in sub-zero ing a BahB'i institute, long before the concept
temperature. The only accommodation avail- became generally accepted in BahB'i com-
able to them on the reservation was a small' munities.'
three-room house without doors, windows or 'The Lofts were partly instrumental in my
plumbing. A small cookstove provided meagre becoming a Baha'i,' Roger White, the first
heat and required to be refueled throughout the believer of Belleville contributes, 'and I attend-
night. For some period they slept huddled in ed my first Nineteen Day Feast in their home. I
sleeping bags, the parents waking frequently to remember the bus ride to Tyendinaga, the long
check on the children. Drinking water was hike from the highway across the unlighted
carried from a school. To the physical and reservation, the warm welcome, the meal of
economic difficulties another burden was potato gruel, the laughter, Melba moving with
T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

Gravestone of A p e d Jnnzes Loft

the dignity of a queen in the rude surroundings, Although arrangements had been made for
and the great reverence with which the de- his burial off the reserve in order not to offend
votions were recited. I was a new Bahi'i and the people of Tyendinaga, the clergy and Indian
although enchanted with the prayers, I had not Band Council requested that .he be buried in a
yet discovered the writings of Shoghi Effendi. church cemetery on the reservation. His funeral
Jim read aloud, and we discussed a recent was attended by hundreds of Indians and non-
communication from the Guardian. The love Indians from all walks of life. Baha'i friends
the Lofts felt for the Guardian was like a attended from as far away as Marysville, Michi-
palpable force in the room and I suddenly gan. The clergy from the churches of Tyen-
yearned, too, to become his servant. Their love dinaga reservation came and paid their respect
for him had the quality of that usually seen in and church bells tolled the passing of this
those who had met Shoghi Effendi, though they servant of the Lord. His grave marker-within
never did.' the shadow of the monument erected to the
Tragedy touched the Lofts when, in 1954, revered Deganawidah-bears the simple
their eldest son was killed in a motor accident legend 'Alfred (Jim) Loft-BahB'i Pioneer' and
leaving a young widow and three small daugh- is engraved with the Indian thunderbird symbol
ters. Due to family circumstances which arose and a nine-pointed star.
after the young man's death and his wife's On 13 June 1973 the Universal House of
remarriage, Jim and Melba adopted one of the Justice wrote to Mrs. Loft: 'Through a fellow
children and raised, loved and educated her. BahB'i we have learned of the passing to the
Indeed, throughout the years many homeless Abhi Kingdom of your dear husband James
children were brought into their home and who, with you and your children, has pioneered
became part of the Loft family. Jim and Melba these long years in the Mohawk Indian Reserve.
loved children and many of those whom they The work among the spiritually gifted in-
helped to raise and educate became Baha'is, and digenous groups of the American continent was
all show great respect for the BahB'i Faith. As dear to the heart of the beloved Guardian,
the years passed the Lofts won increasing love whose summons to pioneering you both heeded
and respect from the residents of Tyendinaga. more than a quarter of a century ago. We shall
On 21 May 1973 after attending a happy offer prayers at the Holy Shrines of our Faith
gathering of friends and relatives held at the that your husband's immortal soul will progress
home of their daughter in Cobourg, the Lofts in the worlds of God, and that you may be
returned to Tyendinaga. Shortly after midnight enabled with high heart and unflagging de-
Jim suffered a heart attack and passed into the votion to continue your services in the vital
Abha kingdom. His wife was by his side. teaching of the Indian peoples.'
'Promise me,' he asked as the end drew near,
'to remain in Tyendinaga. That is what the
Guardian wanted.'
IN MEMORIAM 517

GRIEVED PASSING DEVOTED MAIDSERVANT
ISHRAQIYYIH DHABIH STOP HER LONG SUS-
TAINED SERVICES CAUSE GOD FIELDS TEACHING
PIONEERING EDUCATION DISTINGUISHED HER
AMONG WOMEN BAHAI COMMUNITY PERSIA
STOP SUPPLICATING DIVINE THRESHOLD
PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.
Universal House of Justice
This remarkable tribute from the Universal
House of Justice is a striking testimony to the
indomitable spirit that animated the soul of
IAraqiyyih Dhabih whose passing plunged the
entire BahB'i community of Iran into profound
sorrow and deprived it of an outstanding
worker and faithful exemplar of the teachings
of Bahi'u'llah. Her life was a reflection to an
eminent degree of His exhortation that knowl-
edge and action must be wedded to each other.
The admiration expressed for her conduct by
both 'Abdu'l-Bahk and Shoghi Effendi attests
this truth.
I&raqiyyih a a n u m ' s radiant countenance
and charming smile will long remain in the
memory of those who knew her and her count- the constant coming and going of Bahi'is
less services and selfless care for her fellow- through its portals. The sacred remains of the
beings will not be soon forgotten. Throughout Bab had rested in that house and this invested it
her long life she was mindful never to cause grief witha halo of sanctityandendearedit to the hearts
or lay a burden on any soul. Her life was of the friends. The m a b i h s were not immune
devoted to teaching the Cause and educating from the persecution to which Baha'is at that
children in the capital and other towns and time were subject at the hands of their enemies.
villages in fran. The members of the family were the objects of
Miss Dhabih was born in 1891 in Tihrkn. Her vile remarks and molestation on the streets and
grandfather, Hiji Mirza Isma'il m a b i h , sur- on retiring at night were never sure whether
named Anis (Companion) by BahB'u'llah, had they would live to see the morning. Even their
the priceless privilege of acting as host to the moving to another sector of the city with a large
Bab when He visited Kahan. Her father, proportion of BahL'i residents did not secure for
aulam-'Ali, was a devoted believer who twice them the immunity desired and in their new
attained his cherished desire of entering the quarters they were often the target of attacks by
presence of BahB'u'llBh. Ihraqiyyih was only rough characters. On one occasion a group of
an infant when her father died. Her mother, ruffians broke down their door and entered
Nargis Khatcn, a member of a distinguished threatening to kill I&riqiyyih's brother, Mirza
BahB'i family, was left destitute with three Jalal. Her interposition saved his life but the
children to raise, a son and two daughters. violence of this incident profoundly affected the
IArhqiyyih was the youngest child. She received family. In Ihraqiyyih it produced a strange
her elementary education at home from her reaction and revealed the beauty of her charac-
mother and subsequently attended the Ameri- ter which the early period of her life, replete with
can missionary school. afflictions, had forged. As a result of a com-
The family lived in a home situated in the plaint lodged by her brother, backed by the
southern sector of Tihrhn, a home known in the support of a Baha'i in high position, against the
neighbourhood as 'the Bhbi house' because of recent assailants, their ringleader was arrested
518 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

and sentenced to be flogged but Iaraqiyyih's ten classes in a non-Baha'i school until the death
intervention procured his release. Such was the of her mother who had been in her care left her
generosity of her nature; such the kindness of free to devote all her time to teaching the Cause.
her soul. At the outset, she undertook the su~ervision
American missionaries at this time estab- and organization of the newly established
lished a high school in Tihran where I&raqiyyih 'Abbis-Abad Baha'i School situated near Tih-
studied until her graduation in 1913. Not only ran. She would travel on a donkey or even on
did she resist attempts to convert her to the foot to the surrounding villages to teach the
Christian faith but continued regularly attend- children as well as their illiterate mothers. Con-
ing BahA'i teacher training courses. She qual- currently she established fireside meetings too
ified as a teacher of BahB'i classes and was fired but after a couple of years hostility by non-
with new zeal and conviction. BahB'is put a stop to these.
At the American school prize-giving cere- Iaraqiyyih returned to Tihrkn and sub-
mony in her last year she was expected to sequently went on teaching and training trips to
appear unveiled. She asked 'Abdu'l-Bahi what Arak, K a a a n , ~ajaf- bad, Sarvistkn, s i r a z
she should do. His Tablet written in reply did and Isfahan. In some places, the enemies of the
not touch upon the subject at all! Instead He Faith inflicted upon her shameful indignities of
wrote that she should be thankful for having the kind suffered by the early believers. Once,
gained her objective, for having remained firm during disturbances directed against the friends
and steadfast in the Covenant and bade her 'rise in Sarvistkn, she was taken into custody and
then, now, to serve and teach the Cause.' With a conveyed to =raz in a shameful and cruel
heart brimming over with happiness she showed manner. The humiliations heaped upon her did
the friends this Tablet. She possessed two certifi- not crush her spirit nor curtail her activities in
cates now, she affirmed. One attested her Shiraz, Isfahiin and the adjacent areas.
-
secular knowledge (a creditable enough achieve- She subsequently applied for a visa to India
ment for a woman of her circumstances in those where she hoped to pioneer, but was unsuccess-
days) and the other, the Tablet, much more ful, whereupon she donated to the Baha'i Fund
highly prized, testifying to her faith and stead- the entire sum she had reserved for this purpose.
fastness. Then, at the direction of the Spiritual Assembly,
Not for a moment after this did she seek rest. she went to Babul. Here, and in a a h i and
She obeyed the Master's behest. From her surrounding areas, she rendered noteworthy
spiritual guide, Dr. Susan I. Moody,l she services, greatly appreciated by the National
learned the way to contact and teach people Spiritual Assembly. After some years she re-
and spread the Faith. The illustrious Dr. turned to Tihrin to tend her sick nephew,
Moody showed her how to go about this with a 'Izzatu'llah Dhabih.z After his death, she lived
smile on her lips and love in her heart. with another nephew for the last decade of her
I&raqiyyih gave private tuition at home and life in comparative seclusion due to her increas-
took classes in the Tarbiyat Girls' School and all ing weakness.
the while was mindful of imparting the Baha'i Even to the last her greatest joy lay in the
principles in an indirect manner to all her visits of the friends. She died in June 1973 at the
students. On Fridays, the weekly holiday, she age of eighty-two. The large number of friends
conducted character training classes for Baha'i at her burial in the Tihran Baha'i Cemetery was
youth. At the suggestion of the friends she was a tangible indication of the esteem in which she
appointed headmistress of the Ta'yid Baha'i was held.
School at Hamadan when she was only twenty- It is appropriate to close this memorial with a
seven. Three years later she returned to the reference to a letter written on behalf of Shoghi
capital and was put in charge of the kindergar- Effendi in which, in effect, the Guardian assured
ten section of the Tarbiyat School, newly in- Iaraqiyyih m a b i h that her steadfastness and
troduced on Dr. Moody's recommendation. faithfulness were remembered and that he
She supervised it until the school was closed by would pray that she might attain the good of
the Government. She later organized kindergar- this world and of the next.

See 'In Memoriam', The Baha'i World, vol. VI, p. 483 See 'In Memoriam', The Bahb'i World, vol. XIV, p. 390.
IN MEMORIAM 519
there arose an urgent need for BahB'i pioneers in
Chad. Abandoning the financial security he had
just been offered he moved to Chad but unfor-
Qudratu'llah Azamiuah was born.in 1911 in tunately he was unable to secure a residence visa
'IAqabad where his father spent his last years in and in October 1961 he went to the neighbour-
service at the Ma&riqu'l-Aakar. When ing Central African Republic, where he sup-
Qudratu'llah was sixteen his mother and her ported himself by repairing primus stoves and
children settled in Persia where Qudratu'llah engaged in the great task of teaching and
actively participated in Baha'i community life consolidating the Faith in that newly-opened
and quickly distinguished himself as a result of country. He saw his efforts rewarded in the
his steadfast and devoted service. following year by the formation of the first
In 1952 he pioneered to a number of difficult Spiritual Assembly of Bangui. The National
areas in Saudi Arabia where he assisted in the Spiritual Assembly of the Central African Re-
establishment of the first Local Spiritual As- public has paid tribute in these words: 'Al-
sembly of Medina and the first Baha'i group in though there had been a few Baha'is in Bangui
Mecca, the chief spiritual centre of Islam. He since 1956, Mr. Azami&Ah was a catalyst to
was imprisoned for his beliefs and expelled from this young community. He actively taught the
Saudi Arabia. The hardships he endured in so Faith and held evening meetings in his home. He
many difficult pioneering posts only increased quickly became known and respected for his
his ardour and he constantly sought new areas knowledge of the Bible and the Qur'an. Al-
of service. He was a member of the first Spiritual though he was compelled to leave Bangui in
Assembly of Khartoum and when this com- May 1962, thanks to his efforts the first believers
munity was securely established he pioneered to in the Central African Republic were well deep-
Port Sudan to build a Spiritual Assembly there. ened in their knowledge of the Faith. He can
He was unable to find employment during the really be called the instigator of the teaching
year and one-half he spent in the Sudan but work in the Central African Republic. His
he cheerfully accepted every vicissitude which consecration, sacrifices and dynamism have
befell him. Just as he found employment that been and will always be an inspiration graven
would enable him to maintain himself in Sudan upon our spirits.'
Unable to remain in Bangui, Qudratu'llah
chose Brazzaville, in the Congo, as his next post.
Here he gathered together the first few early
believers and began teaching the Cause. Due in
part to his efforts the first Local Spiritual As-
sembly of Brazzaville was formed at Ridvan
1964. Again he supported himself by repairing
petroleum lamps, by which means he was
brought into contact with many people. Soon
the northern part of this country was also opened
to the Faith.
During the eleven years he spent in the
Congo, Mr. Azamiuah's home was a meeting
place for the BahB'is and their friends. Despite
his limited means he was generous to everyone
and was able to provide for the education of a
few African youth. He had no desire in the
world but to further the Faith of BahB'u'llah. It
may be said that to a great extent the establish-
ment of the National Spiritual Assembly of
Congo (Brazzaville) and Gabon in 1971 (the
following year to become the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Congo Republic) was the fruit
Qudratu'lldh ~zarni@dlz of his tireless services.
520 T H E BAHA'I W O R L D

In 1971 he was appointed a member of the showered upon her as a bride in the midwestern
Auxiliary Board. This appointment increased university town of Urbana which became her
his opportunities to travel and teach in neigh- home for thirty-five years. The hospitality,
bouring countries. Despite an ailing heart and openness and magnanimity of the Americans
diabetes his pace was not slowed until the end overwhelmed her. With her conservative, tradi-
came on 25 July 1973. His passing was a deeply- tional Swiss background, she gradually learned
felt loss to the friends in the Congo and many a new life style. Her two daughters, Annamarie
Baha'is and other friends participated in his Kunz Honnold and Margaret Kunz Ruhe, were
funeral service. He is survived by his wife and born and raised in Urbana. Dr. Kunz gained
three children. His unforgettable services were recognition for his invention of the Kunz cell
acknowledged by the Universal House of Jus- and, among other things, collaborated on the
tice in its cable of 26 July 1973: first sound-on-film developments.
DEEPLY GRIEVED SUDDEN PASSING OUTSTAND- Dr. and Mrs. Kunz, active members of the
ING SERVANT FAITH QUDRATULLAH AZAM- Methodist Church, were serious and religious in
IKHAH HIS SERVICES VARIOUS TERRITORIES their bent. Dr. Kunz, who was endowed with a
AFRICA UNFORGETTABLE ASSURE RELATIVES deeply searching mind, was prompted in 1914 or
FRIENDS FERVENT PRAYERS SHRINES PROGRESS 1915 to attend a lecture about the Baha'i Faith,
HIS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM STOP ADVISE HOLD accompanied by his wife and their good friends,
MEMORIAL GATHERINGS BAHAI CENTRES Edwin and Annie Mattoon. They soon found
CONGO. themselves regular students in a class on the
'IZZATU'LLAHTA?D tenets of the Bahi'i Faith given by Unitarian
minister, Albert Vail, an eloquent and inspired
teacher of comparative religions. Mrs. Kunz
almost at once recognized BahB'u'llah as the
Manifestation of God for this day and became
ANNA KUNZ one of the founders of the Urbana Baha'i
1889-1973 community which served as the seed-bed for
many teachers of the Faith.
Anna Kunz, the eldest of ten children of the Despite ill health, timidity, the burdens of
Reverend Adolph Bolliger, a prominent cler- tending small children and the emotional con-
gyman of the Reformed Church, was born in the flicts resulting from life in a new culture, Anna
parsonage in Ober Entfelden, Aargau, Switzer- Kunz quickly showed signs of leadership, ad-
land on 13 July 1889. Soon thereafter the ministrative ability, firmness and steadfastness
Reverend ~ o l l i ~ ewas
r ' named Professor of in the Faith. She studied the BahB'i Writings
Theology at the University of Base1 and in time assiduously and resolved to live her Life accord-
became its president; thus it was in Base1 that ing to those teachings. Beauty of spirit radiated
Anna spent her school years. Under the guid- froin her and was felt by those around her.
ance of her conscientious and serious parents In 1921 Dr. and Mrs. Kunz made their
she received excellent spiritual and moral train- pilgrimage to the Holy Shrines in Haifa and
ing which served as the foundation of her 'Akka and attained the presence of 'Abdu'l-
character throughout her life. After graduation Baha; this was the pinnacle of Mrs. Kunz's life.
from high school, she longed to enter the uni- She adored 'Abdu'l-Baha; He became her
versity, but her father insisted that she study in Exemplar and her Master. In an article pub-
a home economics seminary in Berne, on whose lished in Star of the West, vol. 13, No. 6,
faculty she later became a teacher. September 1922, she wrote about her pilgrim-
At twenty-four years of age she married Dr. age. Of her first meeting with 'Abdu'l-Baha
Jakob Kunz, a distinguished Swiss physicist on 27 March 1921 in a hotel at Tiberias on the
who was a research professor at the University Sea of Galilee where 'Abdu'l-Baha used to go
of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois. Thus she moved for rest and change of air she stated: 'It was a
far away from her homeland, across the Atlantic bright and luminous Easter morning when the
Ocean, to the new world. Instantly she fell in Master called us into His room . . . Though I
love with America and throughout her life she feared to approach Him, after His loving words
loved to relate stories of the great kindness of welcome this fear vanished. Here we sat
IN MEMORIAM 52 1
safely and we met one another on the shore of
this same lake! You will receive great results
from this visit afterwards. You will become the
cause of the illumination of the world of hu-
manity. You will release the hearts of the people
from the intense darkness of different preju-
dices, so that each soul may love all the people
of the world, without distinction. Just like a
shepherd who is affectionate to all his sheep,
without preference or distinction, you should be
affectionate to all. You should not look at their
shortcomings. Consider that they are all created
by God who loves them all.'
Returning to Urbana with renewed zeal, Mrs.
Kunz served for long years on the Local Spiri-
tual Assembly of that city. Much of the time she
served as chairman. She also worked diligently
on many committees, and for years she was
elected delegate to the National Convention. At
the age of fifty she studied typing in order to
increase her ability to serve her beloved Faith.
The Kunz home was a haven of peace, rest,
beauty and hospitality for all who came there.
Anna Kunz Dr. Kunz entertained Rabindranath Tagore
and other philosophers and scientists. Not only
before our Master, in a little room, with only the were BahL'i classes and meetings held in the
most necessary furnishings, on top of the hotel, home but also a steady stream of BahB'i
with a view of that blessed lake. His look seems teachers spent the night there.
to go into one's very heart. Yes, he knows His Mrs. Kunz was thoughtful of people in small
children and their need. As I think of Him now, and large ways; she took time to listen to them
I always love to think, first of His great sim- and was perceptive of their inner needs and
plicity, His marvellous humility which knows of aspirations. She liked to remember others with
no self-existence, and last . . . of His boundless flowers, home-baked cookies, small gifts. At the
love. To us His outward appearance seemed age of forty-three she learned to drive a car, and
similar to that of the old Hebrew prophets; His one of her services was to drive about Urbana
humility, His simplicity and love were like the gathering the Baha'is and their friends for the
Christ. This boundless love conquered the meetings. In the personal and intimate details of
hearts at once. 'Abdu'l-Baha talked to us with a her life she was a complete BahL'i: cleanliness,
ringing, piercing voice which will forever sound neatness, frugality and meticulousness were her
in my ears.' hallmark. Her person was immaculate, and
On Monday, 28 March, 'Abdu'l-Baha looked her house was shiningly clean. Her spirit,
at the picture of their two daughters for a long humble and pure, knew the power of prayer.
while and He said: 'They have bright faces. Her prayer book was always at her side. She
They will be real BahB'is because they will have prayed many times each day and loved to share
a Baha'i education. They will become good the prayers with her family and friends. 'May we
Baha'is.' Later, He revealed a wonderful prayer have a prayer together?' she would say.
for them which is recorded in Star of the West. After the death of her husband Mrs. Kunz
In the afternoon of that day He spoke these was free to pioneer and, having offered her
words: 'This lake is very blessed. His Holiness services to the beloved Guardian, she sailed
Christ and the other prophets walked along its from New York in July 1947 at the age of fifty-
shore and were in communion with God all the eight, returning as a pioneer to her native
time and spreading the divine teachings. Now, Switzerland, thus beginning a whole new phase
praise be to God that you reached this land of her life. She settled in Berne, one of the goal
522 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

cities of the second Seven Year Plan, where to be relieved as she was approaching her
Shoghi Effendi wrote to her as follows : eightieth birthday and her health was not the
'I welcome your arrival in Europe and partic- best.
ularly in Switzerlandwhere, I feel, your work will In 1957 she flew to London-her first flight-
be of the utmost value. You will surely be for the funeral of Shoghi Effendi. Like many
blessed and sustainedin your historic task, and I others she had always harboured the wish to be
look forward to the day when through your in his presence, but alas, she had waited too
exertion and those of your devoted col- long; now his sudden passing was a terrible
laborators the first Spiritual Assembly will be blow.
established in that land. Persevere in your mag- In 1963, forty-two years after attaining the
nificent mission.' She worked tirelessly towards presence of 'Abdu'l-Baha, she returned to the
the establishment of the Berne Local Spiritual Holy Land, this time to fulfill the historic
Assembly. After this goal was accomplished, mission of being an elector of the first Universal
she returned to Urbana in 1949, feeling that she House of Justice. How Haifa and 'Akka had
was needed there. Shoghi Effendi wrote to her as changed! But the same spirit of power and love
follows : emanated from the Holy Shrines as she knelt
'The services you have rendered the Faith are in prayers of gratitude and adoration at the
truly remarkable and deserve the highest praise. Holy Thresholds.
I feel truly proud of your achievements, and am Her later years were plagued with a series of
grateful for the spirit that so powerfully ani- illnesses, but her spirit was ever radiant and
mates you in the service of our glorious Faith. I bright. She gave up her loved apartment and
will pray ardently on your behalf, that the later moved to a nursing home in the suburbs of
Beloved may abundantly reward you for your Berne where she died peacefully in her sleep on
accomplishments, and enable you, in the years 10 August 1973. The Universal House of Justice
to come, to enrich the splendid record of your cabled, in part:
services to His Faith and its institutions.' DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING ANNA KUNZ STEAD-
The pioneering spirit had taken hold, and FAST DISTINGUISHED HANDMAID BAHAULLAH
when news reached her in Urbana of the urgent HER ASSOCIATIONS BELOVED MASTER DEVOTED
needs in Switzerland, Mrs. Kunz felt restless PIONEERING SERVICES EUROPE OVER EXTENDED
and torn. To be near her children and grandchil- PERIOD UNFORGETTABLE . . .
dren was her personal longing and wish. She ' MARGARET KUNZRUHE
again wrote to Shoghi Effendi seeking his ad-
vice. For a long time there was no answer. She
was relieved. Then came the stunning reply-
proceed as quickly as possible to Switzerland.
She was crushed, but in October 1952 she
valiantly set forth once again, this time locating
in Zurich, a goal city. In the spring of 1953 she ISAAC EZIUKWU
was elected a member of the newly-formed
1934-1973
National Spiritual Assembly of Italy and Swit-
zerland and to her consternation was elected Isaac Eziukwu was one of the first believers to
secretary of this historic twelfth National Spiri- accept the Faith of Bahi'u'llah in Bangui,
tual Assembly, which post she held for nine Central African Republic. He was a Nigerian,
years. Now she understood why in mid-life she born at Umuokehi village near Umuahia, and
had been prompted to take up typing! At the had come as a trader to Bangui several years
request of Shoghi Effendi she moved back to before encountering the Faith. He was active in
Berne, though by personal wish she would have his own church as a lay preacher. One evening
chosen to remain in her splendid apartment in in 1956, on the threshold of the home of a friend,
Zurich. At Ridvan 1962 the National Spiritual he chanced to hear a Baha'i prayer being read in
Assembly of Switzerland was formed and she English. The prayer so moved and attracted him
was again elected secretary for one year. She that he asked to borrow the prayer book. After
continued to serve on the National Assembly only a few days he returned it to the Bahi'i to
until 1969 when, once again elected, she asked whom it belonged saying, 'I am convinced that I
IN MEMORIAM 523
repairer of kerosene lamps, a skill taught to him
by Mr. ~ z a m i b i h and
, gradually was able to
,, teach the Faith and gather together the first
believers. In April 1966 the first Local Spiritual
Assembly was formed in Libreville.
Greatly encouraged by visiting BahB'is, Isaac
began to teach the Faith in localities near
Libreville and later visited areas far inland.
With the help of another pioneer the Local
Spiritual Assembly of Mounana was estab-
lished, and so the Faith began to spread to
various parts of Gabon.
, ' Beginning in 1971, Isaac devoted himself to
?; the task of gaining recognition of the BahB'i
Faith in Gabon. The by-laws of the Local
Spiritual Assembly of Libreville were prepared
and submitted to the proper authorities and
Isaac was hopeful of success. However, to his
deep disappointment, months and finally years
went by withoutresult. In July 1973 he heard of
the passing of his dear friend and fellow pioneer
Mr. h a m i b a h who had settled in Brazzaville.
He was heard to say, after reading some prayers,
Isaac Eziukwu 'If it please BahB'u'llah to take my own life and
let the Faith be recognized here in Gabon, I will
am wasting my time with other religions. As be grateful.'
from today I must be a BahB'i.' He spent much Shortly after this it became evident that Isaac
time with his new friend, an English-speaking was not well. His condition worsened rapidly
Cameroonian who was the first BahB'i to come and in October 1973, with his wife and infant
to Bangui. Isaac eagerly accepted the new Rev- son, he returned to Nigeria where he died on 23
elation and immediately arose in its service October. He is buried near his father's house in
with a devotion and enthusiasm that never his home village.
failed. After his friend returned to Cameroon in It may be truly said of Isaac that he was a
1960, it was Isaac who held aloft the standard of lover of Baha'u'llah. From the time he was first
the Faith in Bangui until the arrival of attracted to the Faith until his passing, he lived
Qudratu'llah hami&ahl who came there as a for the Cause and the task he set himself, to raise
pioneer in October 1961. Isaac, athirst for the call of the Kingdom.
greater knowledge and understanding of the On learning of Isaac's death the Universal
Cause, welcomed the new pioneer and eagerly House of Justice wrote in a letter dated 6
worked to establish the first Local Spiritual December 1973 to the Local Spiritual Assembly
Assembly of Bangui which was formed at Rid- of Libreville:
van 1962. When Mr. hamilcJiih was compelled ' . . . the sad news of the passing of Mr. Isaac
to leave shortly thereafter, Isaac was again the Eziukwu was received and it brought deep
mainspring of the small community, continually sorrow to our hearts. This devoted and steadfast
offering encouragement to the other believer was a sincere promoter of the Cause,
believers. and a true lover of the Blessed Beauty. He
When the Universal House of Justice called spent his days in detachment and service, and
for pioneers at the beginning of the Nine Year set an example of dedication to his fellow-
Plan, Isaac left as soon as possible for Gabon believers wherever he was. We assure you of our
and arrived in Libreville in June 1964. Behind fervent prayers at the Holy Shrines for the
the market-place in Libreville he worked as a continued progress of his noble soul in the Abha
Kingdom. . .'
'See 'In Memoriam', p. 519. J A V J.~ M U ~ R A B ~
524 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

KAREN BARE A friend has written: 'Karen had a deep love
1942-1 974 for the Faith, a sound knowledge of Baha'i
administration and a strong sense ofjustice. Her
Karen (Stamper) Bare was born on 5 May 1942 loyalty to the Universal House of Justice was
in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She was in Hawaii in truly ardent. Her life held many tragedies and
1968 waiting for news of her husband, William disappointments, but her devotion to the Faith
Bare, an officer of the United States Air Force was the source of her strength.'
who had been reported missing in action, when A fellow pioneer to Africa, Mr. Jean-
she became attracted to the Bahi'i Faith. She Christophe Casu, paid tribute to the memory of
immediately identified herself with the Cause Karen Bare in a poem from which the following
and became a member of the Bahi'i community excerpt is taken:
of Hawaii where she was supremely happy. A
year later, in response to a call for pioneers to 'Angel is dead, she is in the Kingdom now!
Africa, she volunteered to serve in the United Oh joie spirituelle tu distribuais la force
Republic of Cameroon. Within a few weeks she aimante pour la Cause primordiale,
arrived at her post, serving first in Douala and
later in Victoria. Her activities as a pioneer were
varied. She served as a member of the National
Spiritual Assembly and on a number of national
committees, was elected to the Local Spiritual
Assembly of Victoria, devoted considerable
time to travelling as a teacher of the Faith and
offered friendship and hospitality to believers
and visitors.
Mrs. Bare was killed in an automobile ac-
cident on 4 January 1974 while visiting her
family in the United States. The National Spiri-
tual Assembly of the Cameroon Republic
wrote, in part:
'The tragic news of the death of our dearly-
loved young BahB'i sister, . . . (an) ardent pro-
moter and protector of the BahL'i Faith, came
as a great blow to our BahB'i community. The
friends in Cameroon are grief-stricken and . . .
memorial meetings have been held in a number
of places.
'Karen Bare was especially loved by the
Cameroonian women and children, on whom
Karen Bare
she poured her love. She forgot ease and com-
fort and even during the Fast in the heat of the
day would walk several miles to visit villages l'accomplissement divin. Source tu pro-
around Victoria for teaching and deepening. diguais l'Bnergie,
'Her home was the home of all visitors and l'eau merveilleuse rBgBnBratrice de lYhumanitB
pioneers who came to Victoria. The Persians are entikre,
famous for their hospitality but several re- toi frele femme jusqu'a Bpuisement, jusqu'au
marked that they had seen none to equal hers. bout!
'When the BahB'is of Cameroon read the Angel is dead, she is in the Kingdom now!
cabled message from the Universal House of Tu vis parmi nous semence prodigieuse,
Justice, they will feel some comfort for their , toujours en symbiose avec
sorrowing hearts. We hope that the youth both nos imes qui prient et nos oreilles palpitantes
here and in her motherland will be inspired by entendent,
her devoted service (in the) pioneer field (and) entendront Bternellement ton 'A11ah-u-
splendid example.' Abha' !
I N M E M[ O R I A M 525
Aimable, fraternelle, genereuse pour tout le an employee, but Dad did not know of Mr.
peuple de Baha. rand all'.^ connection with the Faith at that
Angel is dead, she is in the Kingdom now!' time. Following their visit to Green Acre, my
Karen's BahB'i books were presented to the parents became Baha'is.
National Spiritual Assembly of the United Re- A few years later we moved to Portsmouth,
public of Cameroon by her mother, Mrs. Stam- New Hampshire in order to be near Green
per, and they will form the nucleus of the Karen Acre. Each summer many wonderful BahB'i
Bare Memorial Library. teachers came to share their knowledge with
On 10 January 1974 the Universal House of others. It was at Green Acre that my father
Justice cabled : derived the inspiration and the desire to devote
DEEPLY GRIEVED UNTIMELY DEATH VALIANT
his life to teaching and spreading the Faith. He
DEDICATED MUCH LOVED MAIDSERVANT
became a deep student of the Writings and
BAHAULLAH KAREN BARE STOP HER DEVOTED
developed capacities as a public speaker. Being
SERVICE PIONEER FIELD SPLENDID EXAMPLE
blessed with a beautiful speaking voice and a
OTHER YOUTHFUL BELIEVERS STOP ADVISE
deep reservoir of enthusiasm, the result was a
HOLD MEMORIAL SERVICES STOP PRAYING
dynamic presentation. However, most of his
SACRED THRESHOLD RICH REWARDS BLESSINGS
desire to teach and pioneer came as a result of
ABHA KINGDOM.
his love for and devotion to Shoghi Effendi,
the beloved Guardian of the Faith. Although
my father did not have the bounty of meeting
the Guardian, he frequently wrote to Shoghi
Effendi and, in turn, received many letters from
him encouraging my father in his efforts to teach
PHILIP A. MARANGELLA the Cause.
My father's travels on behalf of the Faith are
1895-1974
too numerous to mention but some stand out as
'A native returns . . .' These words were written being of special interest at the time because he
in the summer of 1973 on the occasion of the wrote to Shoghi Effendi about them and re-
visit to Potenza, Italy by my father, Philip ceived replies. In 1932 my father sent to Shoghi
Antonio (Arnalfi) Marangella, who was present Effendi an account of his teaching trip through
there for the Italian Baha'i Youth Conference, the southern United States and the Guardian
held for the first time in the province of Italy replied through his secretary, adding the follow-
where he was born on 18 October 1895. Al- ing note in his own hand:
though my father was a naturalized American 'Dear and valued co-worker :I have read your
citizen and loved America deeply, he always splendid report and I am thrilled by the news it
retained a special love for the land of his birth conveyed. You have certainly rendered a service
and it was a particular pleasure for him to make which deserves to be ranked as one of the most
one last trip to Italy during the last summer of outstanding achievements in recent years in the
his life. In the summer of 1973 he had been a teaching field. May the Beloved bless, sustain
Baha'i for fifty-two years and it seemed very and guide your efforts and enable you to render
significant to him to be visiting his birthplace. still greater services in the days to come. Per-
My parents first went to Green Acre, Eliot, severe, and rest assured that my prayers will
Maine in July 1921 and attended their first continue to be offered in your behalf. Your true
BahB'i meeting at Fellowship House. The speak- and grateful brother, Shoghi.'
er was the renowned Baha'i teacher Jinab-i- In 1933 my father was still very active with
Fadil who spoke on the subject, 'The Liberators inter-racial work and in response to a report the
of Mankind'. This was Professor Fadil's last Guardian's secretary wrote on his behalf: 'The
lecture in America and he left the following day news of your ~plendid~activities in connection
for New York'to take the ship back to Haifa to with inter-racial work greatly cheered his heart
report to 'Abdu'l-Baha on his one year trip. The and confirmed his hopes for the future of your
chairman of the meeting was Mr. William H. efforts for the promotion of racial unity and
Randall of Boston, a member of the United peace in America. May your selfless endeavors
States Shipping Board of which my father was along this line be increasingly blessed and
526 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

become a means whereby many eager and
sincere souls can be led to accept the Teachings.'
Another way in which my father spread the
Teachings was through his original poetry,
some of which he sent to the Holy Land. In a
postscript to a letter dated 6 August 1933 the
Guardian wrote: 'Your poem dedicated to
Nabil deeply touched me. I urge you to revise it
and put it into final form and send to me a copy
of it for inclusion in the next issue of The
Bahb'i World . . . I would also welcome any
other poems from your gifted pen on any
phase or episode recounted in Nabil's immortal
narrative. You are rendering the Cause unique
and notable services. Be happy and persevere
in your high endeavours.' The poem entitled
'Nabil' appeared in The Bahb'i World,vol. V , on
page 673. His poem entitled 'Zanjan' appeared
on page 674 of the same volume. Two poems
he composed in memory of Keith Ransom-
Kehler were acknowledged by the secretary of
Shoghi Effendi who wrote on 27 February 1934 Philip A. Marangella
stating that the Guardian hoped that the poems
would enable both BahB'is and non-BahB'is to of my heart, the Master's richest blessings. You
'better appreciate the magnificent services which are often in my thoughts and prayers, and I feel
that devoted servant of the Cause has rendered confident that the Beloved is well pleased with
it during her long and active career of service you, and will reinforce your meritorious and
to the Faith'. high endeavors.'
For a long time my father had a great desire to Father remained as a pioneer in Italy for a
go to a Spanish-speaking country or island to year and in 1948 he returned to the United
teach the Faith. He wrote of this desire to the States where he spent the years until 1953,
Guardian whose secretary responded in a letter broken briefly by an extended trip to Jamaica
of 30 September 1937 stating on the Guardian's where he visited BahB'i communities. He left the
behalf that it would be preferable for my father United States in October 1953 and settled as a
to 'travel to Cuba and to endeavor while there to pioneer in Japan where he spent the next twenty
establish a group of believers who could be able years. The last two years of his life were spent
to carry on the work after your departure'. pioneering in Hong Kong where he passed away
My father made a trip to Cuba, remaining on 31 January 1974.
there nine days. He sent a report of this to In this last period of his life my father devoted
Shoghi Effendi which was acknowledged by his his teaching efforts to the East, travelling
secretary on 24 March 1939.In his own hand the throughout Japan from its northernmost island
Guardian penned: 'Your letter and enclosures of Hokkaido to the southernmost island of
rejoiced my heart. I feel proud of the spirit that Kyushu. He also visited Korea, Taiwan, the
so powerfully animates you . . .' Later in 1939 Pescadores Islands, Okinawa, Macao, Vietnam
my father was situated as a pioneer in Cuba and India. He was elected as a member of the
where he remained for a year. National Spiritual Assembly of Northeast Asia
By the year 1947, however, my father was for ten successive years, serving in various
pioneering in Italy and he wrote, as always, capacities.
reporting his activities to Shoghi Effendi. To a In addition to his teaching work in Japan,
letter dated 23 August 1947 Shoghi Effendi Hong Kong and adjacent areas, father had the
appended the following postscript: 'I deeply experience of making several very outstanding
appreciate your magnificent and historic ser- journeys of a wider nature. He attended the
vices. I will supplicate for you, from the depths Jubilee celebration in London in 1963 and had
IN MEMORIAM 527
the bounty of being a delegate to the second RECORD DEVOTED SERVICES FAITH IRAQ UN-
International Conventiom in Haifa in 1968. He FORGETTABLE ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL
obtained permission to make a pilgrimage at the GATHERING NATIONAL HAZIRATULQUDS STOP
end of 1970 while on a round-the-world teach- CONVEY FAMILY LOVING CONDOLENCESASSUR-
ing trip. This tour was of more than six months' .
ANCE PRAYERS SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL. .
duration and took him to numerous countries Universal House of Justice
of Europe and Asia as well as to the United
On 1 February 1974Mr. Daoud Toeg, a staunch
States. In 1971 the Universal House of Justice
and faithful servant of Baha'u'llah, passed away
asked him to visit the seats of twenty established
and four newly-formed National Spiritual As-in Hull, Quebec where he had been a pioneer
for almost three years.
semblies. This was a travel teaching programme.
Mr. Toeg was born in Baghdad, 'Iraq, of a
but it utilized his many years of experience as an
accountant and auditor and he was asked to wealthy, well-educated and devout Jewish
prepare a handbook for National Assembly family. He received an excellent education and
mastered seven languages but grew dissatisfied
treasurers. In 1973 he attended the third In-
ternational Convention to which he was a with the Jewish Faith and became an atheist.
delegate. Eventually he met Mr. Ezra Sofer, a Baha'i of
Jewish background, and became attracted to his
During the more than thirty years since my
marriage, I kept in close contact with Dad ideas and the solutions he proposed to the
through correspondence, and we met for briefproblems of individuals and nations. Knowing
that Mr. Sofer was not highly educated, he
visits in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam,
Venice, Vienna and other places. The most always wondered what might be the source of
his ideas. The night Mr. Sofer told him of the
memorable, however, were his lengthy stays at
our home in Zweibriicken, Germany during theteachings of Baha'u'llah they talked in a coffee
shop until morning came and when they sep-
last three summers before his passing. Although
arated Mr. Toeg rushed to a library and ob-
he felt an urge to retire finally and be with us for
tained all the available BahB'i books. He studied
his remaining years, he felt the even greater call
the Baha'i Writings for the next three years and
to fulfill the ever-burning desire to spread the
in 1927 declared his belief in Baha'u'llah. In this
BahB'i teachings and help consolidate the vic-
period it was customary for those who accepted
tories won, so he remained at his pioneer post in
Hong Kong to the very end. the Faith to send a written declaration of
acceptance directly to the beloved Guardian,
The most appreciated tribute to his long years
but Mr. Toeg waited until he had enrolled eight
of devotion to the Faith was accorded him in a
other believers before he sent his and the other
cablegram from the Universal House of Justice
to the National Spiritual Assembly of North-letters of declaration to the Guardian. All these
east Asia on the occasion of his passing: believers remained steadfast and served faith-
DEEPLY GRIEVED LEARN PASSING PHILIP
fully on local and national administrative
MARANGELLA DEVOTED SERVANT BAHAULLAH
bodies in 'Irkq and elsewhere. They also raised
STEADFAST SUPPORTER COVENANT HIS PIONEER
children who became dedicated servants of the
SERVICES TIRELESS WORLDWIDE TRAVELS
Cause.
BEHALF FAITH MOST PRAISEWORTHY PRAYING
In the early 1930s Mr. Toeg pioneered to Italy
SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM
for about a year and a half. On his return to
ADVISE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL SERVICE.
'Iraq he served on the first National Spiritual
AYNEDLOUISEMCCOMB Assembly of that country. He was elected to
that body for twenty-five years and was many
times its chairman.
Mr. Toeg was a hardworking merchant of
substantial means and an adviser to the branch
DAOUD TOEG director of a well-known British trading com-
pany established in London. Mr. Toeg and his
1897-1974
wife, Latifa, were married in 1942 and had three
DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING FAITHFUL OUT- sons, Jamal, Kamal and Jalil, who assisted him
STANDING PROMOTER FAITH DAOUD TOEG HIS in the teaching work and other BahB'i activities.
528 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

Mr. Toeg had the bounty of making his from 1854 to 1856. Mr. Toeg took a number of
pilgrimage to the Holy Land twice. On his photographs and was able to interview several
first pilgrimage, the Guardian was temporarily local inhabitants who had seen Bahi'u'llah. He
absent from Haifa, but he met the Greatest Holy sent an album of photographs to the Guardian
Leaf on this occasion. On his second pilgrimage, with his report, documentation which the Guard-
in 1935, Mr. Toeg spent twenty days in the ian declared would be invaluable to future
Holy Land and attained the presence of Shoghi historians of the Faith. On one of his three visits
Effendi on many occasions. Four years earlier, to Turkey, Mr. Toeg was able, with the assis-
at the behest of the Guardian, Mr. Toeg had tance of local friends, to determine the exact
learned the Persian language which aided him location of the house which BahB'u'llah had
greatly in deepening his understanding of the occupied in Constantinople, and on another
Faith and further increased his capacity and visit was able to locate the houses or the sites of
effectiveness as a Baha'i teacher. the dwellings where Bahk'u'llah was kept
In 1954Mr. Toeg was appointed an Auxiliary prisoner.
Board member for 'fraq on the first Auxiliary During the Ten Year Crusade, the Toeg
Board of Asia. He served the Faith in this family pioneered to Kirkuk in north-eastern
capacity for sixteen years. 'hiq where they spent seven years until they
One of Mr. Toeg's outstanding services to the were requested by the National Spiritual As-
Faith in his homeland was the supervision of the sembly to return to Baghdad in order to give
construction of the National Ha~iratu'l-Qudsin support and encouragement to the Baha'i com-
Baghdad, for which purpose he abandoned his munity.
job for six months. The Guardian was very In 1970 circumstances forced the Toeg family
satisfied with the design of the building and the to leave 'friq, and in the early part of 1971
way in which the work was carried out. Mr. they settled in Canada. At the request of the
Toeg was also helpful in securing land for the Canadian National Spiritual Assembly they
Temple in 'Iraq, a goal of the Ten Year Crusade. pioneered to Hull, Quebec, where they helped
For twenty years of his life in 'fraq, besides to re-establish the Spiritual Assembly which had
serving the national community, Mr. Toeg fallen below strength. Mr. Toeg was a member
rendered valuable services to the Guardian in of that Spiritual Assembly until the time of his
channelling communications between the Holy
Land and the Persian community at a time when
there was no direct means of communication.
Correspondence, Tablets revealed by the BBb
and Bah6'u711ah,relics associated with the Holy
Family and the heroes and martyrs of the Faith,
contributions to Baha'i funds, Huququ'llah
payments-all these passed through Mr. Toeg's
hands on their journey from Persia to the Holy
Land. He also received from the Guardian his
messages for transmittal to Persia. The Guard-
ian, in appreciation of this vital service, sent
Mr. Toeg approximately fifty letters of en-
couragement, assuring him of his continued
prayers and blessings. Mr. Toeg also served as
representative of the Huququ'llah fund for the
believers in 'fraq.
Mr. Toeg was involved in other spheres of
BahB'i activity, some of which are of great
historical importance. He was in the vanguard
of those who located and visited the caves of
Sar-Galu in Sulayminiyyih, Kurdistan, which
are associated with Bahii'u'llih's two-year soli-
tary retreat and meditation in the wilderness, Daoud Toeg
I N MEMI O R I A M 529
passing. The home of the Toeg family in Hull leaving the child fainting. When his brothers
became well known throughout the Ottawa established a commercial centre in Tabriz,
Valley for its weekly fireside meetings. These 'Inayatu'llah went to work for them. He became
were regularly conducted by Mr. Toeg and a very studious believer and participated in all
Baha'is and their friends were always assured of the BahB'i activities.
a most warm welcome. As a young man he made the pilgrimage twice
The stresses and strains which Mr. Toeg during the lifetime of 'Abdu'l-Baha, and twice
endured in his latter years sapped his strength. again during the lifetime of Shoghi Effendi. One
The evening before his passing, he stayed up of his treasured memories of the time spent in
until after midnight, talking and joking with his the presence of the Master was the procession of
family. The following day his heart failed and he believers who in spiritual exultation transported
passed away in the early evening. He had the to Bahji the beautiful carpet which one of the
distinction of being the first BahB'i to be buried friends had presented as a gift for use in the
in Hull. At the commemoration service held on Shrine of BahB'u'llah. He often spoke of the joy
3 February 1974 and the funeral service the of that day when the friends sang songs in the
following day, BahB'is from the Ottawa Valley, presence of 'Abdu'l-Bahi. Throughout his life
Montreal and Quebec City were present. he strove to follow the example of the Master,
and his loving nature, his thoughtfulness and
generosity, won him the appellation 'Uncle', a
title of affection and respect by which he was
known throughout his life not only by the
BahB'is but by some Government officials.
'Inayatu'llah left a touching written account
'Inayatu'llah Ahmadpur was born in the Per- of his pilgrimages in the time of the Guardian,
sian province of Milan, the home of many recording that Shoghi Effendi asked him vari-
outstanding Baha'i scholars, calligraphers, ous questions about what 'Abdu'l-Bahi had
teachers and pioneers. His father, Hiji Ahmad said when 'Inayatu'llah was in His presence.
Milini, was a prominent silk merchant who was The Guardian treated him with much love and
among the first to support and promulgate the kindness, enquired after his family and com-
teachings of S_hay&-Ahmad-i-AhsB'i and mented that 'Inayatu'llih should be grateful
Siyyid Kizim-i-Rashti, the 'twin resplendent that the members of his family were devout,
lights' who heralded the Bab and BahB'u'llah, steadfast and veteran believers. He said that
and the family became followers of the Bib 'Inayatu'llah had been twice confirmed in his
when His Revelation was brought to Milan by service to the Cause; that he had been confirmed
the Letter of the Living, Mulla Yusif-i-Ardibili. in the days of 'Abdu'l-Baha and had continued
On 11 July 1850, two days after the Bab was to render outstanding services after His passing.
martyred in Tabriz, His remains were wrapped The Guardian requested that 'Inayatu'llah
in a cloak and secretly removed to the silk chant the verses of the Bab on his behalf when
factory of Haji Ahmad Milani where they were he visited Bihriq.
deposited in a small wooden casket.l This was After being elected a member of the first
the first of a long succession of places of con- National Spiritual Assembly of fran,
cealment before the remains of the Bab were 'Inayatu'llah transferred his residence from
befittingly interred on Mt. Carmel. Tabriz to Tihrin. His house in TihrBn gradually
'Inziyatu'llah's father died while the boy was became a centre for the gatherings of the friends
quite young and he was cared for by his mother and a haven for the believers who poured into
and older brothers who surrounded him with the capital from the provinces.
such love that in later life he often remarked that At a time when the believers in a village in the
he did not feel that he had lost his father. Once mountains of A&irbayjan were about to be
as a small child he was attacked and throttled on engulfed by tribulations instigated by a fanati-
the street by a cruel and antagonistic butcher cal element, the Guardian asked him to go to the
who fled at the approach of one of the believers, village immediately and make plans to protect
' Shoghi Effendi, Information Statistical and Comparative the BahB'is. 'Iniyatu'llih obeyed and upon his
18441952, p. 20. arrival approached the chief instigator of the
530 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

LONG RECORD SERVICE LOVINGLY REMEM-
BERED PRAYING SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL
CONVEY WARMEST SYMPATHY RELATIVES AD-
VISE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL GATHERINGS
THROUGHOUT COUNTRY

A. Q. FAIZ~

MARY ASHLEY ELSTON

DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING DEVOTED HANDMAID
BAHAULLAH STEADFAST PIONEER HIS CAUSE
VARIOUS LANDS MARY ELSTON ASSURE DEAR
ALLEN RELATIVES PROFOUND SYMPATHY LOV-
ING PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HER
SOUL. Universal House of Justice

Mary Ashley Elston was born in Albion, Michi-
gan on 23 November 1898 of an English father
and an American mother. Her father, John P.
Ashley, was President of Albion College in
Michigan. Mary attended Albion College and
revolt against the Baha'is. As a result of the then Grove Schools in California.
sincerity, bravery and purity of love displayed I first met Mary and her four children in 1951
by 'In~yatu'llahthe man softened and not only when she was married to Raymond Farwell who
pievented an uprising but opened his heart to became a BahB'i in that year. Mary had em-
listen to the fundamental verities of the Cause. braced the Faith a year or so earlier. It was in
In a later period, again at the request of their home that I accepted the Faith.
Shoghi Effendi, 'Inayatu'llih settled in a i h r i q Shortly after becoming a BahB'i, when I was
where he built a house and lived alone for a very in Alaska, I learned of Raymond Farwell's
long time, developing friendships with the death. Future events led to my marriage to
Kurds, the townspeople and the government Mary and our decision to pioneer. Mary told me
officers which no doubt contributed to the safe- that it had always been in her heart to perform
guarding of the Bahh'i historic sites in that area. some mission for God and asked me to consider
Eventually he had a heart attack which re- pioneering some place with her. Little did she
sulted in partial paralysis but did not prevent know that this was my intention when I became
him from continuing his services to the Faith a BahB'i. We wrote to the Guardian for in-
he defended so valiantly, loved so abundantly structions in response to which his secretary
and supported so generously. He drew much wrote on his behalf drawing attention to the
happiness from the knowledge that his own great need for pioneers in Africa and Europe.
children were dispersed as pioneers throughout We left Seattle, Washington in November
the world in Asia, Europe and Africa. 1952 and attended the Intercontinental Con-
The physical temple gradually gave way. ference held in Kampala, Uganda, in February
With his passing in Tihran in February 1974,the
1953, the first of the four Baha'i In-
Persian friends lost a kind and loving 'Uncle'
tercontinental Conferences held in observance
whose services were extolled by the Universal of the centenary of the birth of Bahi'u'llih's
House of Justice in a cable dated 21 February: mission. We decided to remain in Kampala as
HEARTS GRIEVED PASSING DEDICATED pioneers.
STAUNCH PROMOTER CAUSE INAYATULLAH Mary was always in the thick of things and
AHMADPUR STOP HIS PERSEVERANCE LOYALTY was very much loved by the African believers
Assembly of Fort Myers for the first part of
1966 until we moved to Marco Island where a
Bahs'i group was formed. My work at Marco
Island ended in May 1967.
We promptly made the last move in our
BahB'i activities to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Mary
was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of
Kailua-Kona and again took on the re-
sponsibilities of secretary. She had to relinquish
her duties after the first year and over the next
five years she slowly deteriorated and eventually
became completely immobile. She passed away
on 3 March 1974.
I was with her when she died and saw her
buried in the very beautiful Bahi'i plot at the
Hawaiian Memorial Park. The green rolling
hills surrounded by the cathedral-like cliffs bor-
dering Nuuanu and Kalihi Valleys, a small pond
close by populated with swimming mallard that
Mary loved so well-this is my earthly idea of
what Mary would be very happy with.
Mary and I made our pilgrimage to the Holy
Mary Ashley Elston Land in 1954. During the ten days which were
spent in the presence of the beloved Guardian he
and other BahB'i friends everywhere. During infused us with a spirit that caused us both never
her fourteen years in East Africa, Mary made to fear again.
five major moves to places in that territory ALLENELSTON
within the countries of Uganda, Kenya and
Tanzania. During this time she helped to estab-
lish many Local Spiritual Assemblies and for
twelve years served as secretary of various Local MARY OLGA KATHERINE MILLS
Assemblies. Mary enjoyed reasonably good
1882-1974
health for the first ten years even though she
Knight of Bahs'u'llkh
contracted the dreaded tick-typhus the first
year. In 1954 her doctors recommended that she Olga Mills was born on 24 October 1882 in
move to a lower altitude, preferably the sea- Grimma, in what was then the German State of
coast, but she laboured on undeterred. Only the Saxony. Her mother was Katherine Swinburne
last eight years of her pioneering efforts were Bieymann of Northumberland, England and
spent by the sea in Tanga, Tanzania. In that her father was Ferdinand Bieymann, a German
period she served on the Tanga Local Spiritual lawyer. Olga married Halford Percival Mills, an
Assembly as secretary and, in 1964 when the Englishman, while she was working in the
National Spiritual Assembly of Tanzania came United States. Possessed of an enquiring mind
into being, she served as secretary. In 1965 she and an adventurous spirit, Olga began to travel
again was elected to the same office. widely at the age of twenty-two. She visited
During the last eight years of our pioneering many European countries and through the as-
efforts in Africa I noticed a decline in her ability sistance of her brother, an officer in the German
to perform her secretarial duties, a burden she Navy, she visited China, Manchuria, Japan and
had carried cheerfully, without criticism or Russia. Until the end of her life she was able to
complaint. Parkinson's disease had been slowly tell fascinating stories of her travels and partic-
taking its toll and in the winter of 1965 I insisted ularly of her visit to the grave of Confucius in
that we return to the United States. Mary finally China, an experience which thrilled her.
agreed and we left for Florida where we lived for Olga's broad experience with the people of
a year. Mary served on the Local Spiritual other religions led her along the path of search
532 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

until she found the Bahh'i Faith. Although the
exact date she visited the Holy Land is not
known, it occurred some time before 1930; she
remained there for a month at the request of the
beloved Guardian to be companion to Effie
Baker who was preparing to leave for Persia to
photograph the Bahi'i holy sites. Olga would
vividly describe her first meeting with the Great-
est Holy Leaf; she ran to her and flung herself
on the ground at the feet of Baha'iyyih Khanurn
'sobbing her heart out'.
The only record we have from those days is a
letter written on behalf of the beloved Guard-
ian, dated 12 July 1931, which refers to one she
had written to him exactly a month earlier. The
letter refers to Olga's 'last visit to the Holy
Shrines' and her subsequent visit to the BahB'is
in Leipzig and Berlin and the talks she gave
there. An interesting reference is made in this
letter to 'our zealous and competent BahB'i
teacher, Mr. Benke,l who had gone to Sofia in
order to help Miss J a ~ k ' .Apparently
~ Olga had
befriended George Adam Benke and, during
World War I1 when she found herself stranded Mary Olga Katherine Mills
in Leipzig with her brother, she maintained
close contact with Lina Benke, the widow of and the consolidation of its divinely appointed
Mr. Benke. During the 'time of prohibition' in institutions' and 'one of the most significant
Germany, these two devoted ladies met several undertakings embarked upon by members of
times a week for study and prayer and even the Bahi'i National Assemblies during the
when Mrs. Benke went to Neckargemiind opening years of the second BahB'i c e n t ~ r y 'In
.~
(about May 1944) they kept in touch by corre- the service of this teaching plan Olga began to
spondence which continued after Mrs. Mills stand out as a spiritual giant. She was of small
left Germany. build, was apparently affected by the privations
On 4 July 1947, Olga wrote again to Shoghi she had suffered in Germany and was quiet by
Effendi and mentioned the possibility of her nature; but she was widely read, possessed a
moving to England. Through his secretary, the great sense of humour and was immediately
Guardian expressed happiness that she had welcome in any society. She served as a travel-
'survived the terrible ordeal of the war' and in ling teacher in England and in early 1948, even
his letter to her of 2 August 1947 he encouraged though she had reached her sixty-sixth year, she
her to seek the advice of the British National pioneered to Nottingham. In March of that year
Spiritual Assembly. she wrote to the Guardian about her ex-
Olga arrived in England during the period periences as a pioneer and her efforts to teach
when the believers in the British Isles were and become self-supporting. He graciously re-
engaged in the Six Year Plan which extended plied on 11 April assuring her of his 'loving and
from 1944 to 1950 and which was described by fervent prayers'. In October 1948 she again
Shoghi Effendi as 'the first collective enterprise pioneered, this time to Belfast. Within the next
undertaken by them for the spread of the Faith year she pioneered to Edinburgh and St. Ives.
By February ,1950 we read of her moving to
George Adam Benke, 'first European martyr for the Faith';
letter dated 21 June 1956, written on behalf of Shoghi
Brighton and, in the concluding months of the
Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany. 'In Six Year Plan, she moved into Bournemouth.
Memoriam', The Bahd'i World, vol. V, p. 416. Six pioneer moves to three countries in just over
Marion Jack, 'immortal heroine', 'shining example to pio-
neers'; Shoghi Effendi, cablegram dated 29 March 1954.
'In Memoriam', The Bahh'i World, vol. XIS, p. 674. The Bahh'i World, vol. X , p. 53
IN MEMORIAM 533
two years on the part of a gentle lady in her late was minimal. In 1956 the Guardian's secretary
sixties who always sought to be self-supporting, wrote on his behalf: '. . . He advises you, if the
is service of the highest order! Yet on 4 August situation should become worse, to try your
1950she again wrote to the Guardian offering to utmost to remain at your post, which he knows
pioneer overseas. The Guardian's secretary is the deep desire of your heart, also. He greatly
replied on his behalf 'It does not seem to him appreciates your constancy and your spirit.' In a
you could very well undertake service outside letter written in March 1957 she again received
the British Isles. . .' but Shoghi Effendi added in encouragement which gave her renewed
his own handwriting, 'May the Almighty bless, strength: 'He is happy to see that, although your
guide and protect you, aid you to extend the local resources have been depleted . . . you
range of your activities, remove all obstacles --neverthelessare remaining to "hold the fort", a
from your path, and enable you to win great service to which he attaches the greatest impor-
victories for His Faith and its institutions . . .' tance . . .' The letter invited her to take comfort
That was sufficient for Olga. When the Ten in the knowledge that eventually receptivity to
Year Crusade was launched in 1953 she begged the Faith would increase and the Cause would
him to allow her to move to another country. In become firmly established in Malta. This was
July of that year he responded urging her to the last letter she received from the beloved
'leave as promptly as possible for either Malta Guardian and she was to sustain many vicissi-
or Cyprus, preferably Malta, and there engage tudes before witnessing her greatest triumph.
yourself with all your powers in teaching the At the end of the Ten Year Plan she spent
Faith'. In a postscript in his own hand Shoghi some time in hospital because of a fractured
Effendi expressed the hope that she would be wrist but even during her convalescence she
rewarded 'for your valour' and enabled 'to win wrote regular reports to the Teaching Com-
innumerable victories in the service of His mittee. A letter written in June 1963 and which
glorious Faith'. took three days to write qescribes the deformity
Within three months this indomitable, inde- of her right wrist and fingers : '. . . It is suggested
fatigable stalwart of the Faith wrote to the I should have my wrist broken again and re-set,
Guardian stating that she hadjoined the Knight which is risky at my age. I do not feel the
of Baha'u'llah for Malta, Miss Una Town- courage to go through another four months like
shend, at her post. The Guardian added Olga's the last . . .' But a month later one of the
name to the Roll of Honour and his secretary pioneers wrote that Olga had visited her to
wrote on his behalf, 'He is praying for you both commemorate a BahB'i Holy Day and that
and urges you to persevere and never lose heart.' '. . . she seems much her old self again, though
By July 1954 Olga was able to write to the her wrist tires easily'.
Guardian that she had been joined by Dr. John Ten years were to pass before the exciting,
Mitchell who had resigned as treasurer of the long-awaited day arrived and this dear soul was
National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles able to witness the establishment of the first
to pioneer to Malta and for whom she was Local Spiritual Assembly of the BahB'is of
acting as 'housekeeper. In one of her many Malta, in the spring of 1973. In the photographs
reports to the European and Asian Teaching taken of this first Spiritual Assembly and of the
Committee, this faithful soul, as zealous as ever subsequent visit to Malta of the Hand of the
in her seventy-second year, wrote that she had Cause Ugo Giachery we have our last glimpses
met '. . . an old lady who knew Professor of Olga Mills; ninety-one years of age, happy
Browne4and his family in Oxford, and seemed and triumphant, her constancy rewarded. Gil-
alert . . .'! lian Adamson who pioneered to Malta shortly
Malta proved to be a difficult pioneer post to before Olga's death has written: 'Everyone was
maintain. Miss Townshend had to leave; Mr. filled with love for her . . . Those few days we
Mitchell returned home due to an illness from had the honour of visiting her in hospital had a
which he never recovered; pioneers tried to powerful and lasting effect on us. Her very being
settle but were unable to stay for long; con- seemed to sing, "Teach for Bahh'u'llah!!" One of
ditions for teaching were difficult and progress the friends said that the beloved Guardian had
told her to remain in Malta "until the wind
'Edward Granville Browne. blows you away': For twenty-one years she has
lived in Malta . . . we will always be grateful for moved to fill a pioneer goal in one of the islands.
her devotion and her smile which inspires us to In 1969 she returned to the United Kingdom
proclaim His Cause.' to pioneer in Hereford, and then St. Austell in
On 2 May 1974, in her ninety-second year, Cornwall. Due to health problems it became
after twenty-seven years of dedicated pioneer- necessary for her to move into the Birmingham
ing in four territories, Olga passed away. The community to be with her family, which she did
Universal House of Justice cabled: in early 1971. Her health improved and as soon
as she began to feel better she insisted on
PASSING NOBLE SOUL OLGA MILLS GRIEVOUS
responding to the call from the Universal House
LOSS BRITISH BAHAI COMMUNITY STOP HER
of Justice for pioneers to the Canary Islands.
LONG STEADFAST DEVOTION BAHAULLAH
She returned there in 1972 and at Ridvin 1974
SHEDS LUSTRE ANNALS FAITH THAT COM-
she helped to form the first Local Spiritual
MUNITY STOP ISLAND MALTA HISTORICALLY
Assembly of Arucas, Canary Islands. However,
FAMOUS CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN ISLAMIC ERAS
her physical condition had worsened and in
RECIPIENT NEW SPIRITUAL POTENTIALITIES
May 1974 she was forced to return to the United
THROUGH HEROIC SERVICE KNIGHT
Kingdom. Although mentally and spiritually
BAHAULLAH DEDICATED BAND PIONEERS STOP
still active, her health continued to deteriorate
EXPRESS FRIENDS RELATIVES LOVING SYMPATHY
and she passed peacefully to the Abha Kingdom
ASSURE ARDENT PRAYERS PROGRESS SOUL.
on 12 July 1974, in her seventy-eighth year. Her
resting place is at the Brandwood End Ceme-
tery, Birmingham. Thus ended a pioneer ser-
vice that spanned thirty years and covered three
continents. At all times Prudence George was
truly dedicated to the teaching of the Cause and
PRUDENCE GEORGE would seldom let a day pass when she did not
18961974 find an opportunity to mention the Faith to
someone, an acquaintance made in a music
Prudence George became a Baha'i in St. Lam- appreciation group or a stranger in a bus queue.
bert, Quebec, Canada in 1941. Her first pioneer In order to support herself during her many
move was from St. Lambert to Moncton, New pioneer moves she had a wide variety of employ-
Brunswick in answer to a call for pioneers ment, often as a saleswoman. She particularly
during the first Seven Year Plan of the Baha'is enjoyed her venture in Scotland selling pressure
of the United States and Canada, which ended cookers from door to door. It was later discov-
in 1944. In response to the Guardian's appeal ered that she had spent more time teaching the
for pioneers to Europe, in 1946 Prudence Faith than extolling the virtues of the merchan-
moved, with her daughter, Patricia, to Black- dise; 'The soul is more important than the
burn, England, thus returning to the country body,' she said.
she had left in 1928 to live in Canada. She Her utter faith in the power of the Greatest
pioneered to many places during the Six Year Name was illustrated during her stay in the
Plan in response to requests from the National Canary Islands. On one occasion a youth
Spiritual Assembly of the BahB'is of the British attempted to snatch her handbag and her
Isles, including Norwich and Bournemouth immediate reaction was to call out in a loud
and, in the years that followed 1950, Edinburgh voice, 'Ya Baha'u'l-Abha!' whereupon the lad
and Portsmouth. In 1959 she settled in Luxem-
bourg, filling a number of pioneer posts during
her four-year stay. At the beginning of the Nine
i
stopped in his tracks, dropped t e handbag and
ran. Prudence was left calling .m back with
open arms in order to give him the benefits of the
Year Plan she reopened to the Faith Guernsey Message of Baha'u'llah. Prudence felt that no
in the Channel Islands. During her stay there one was too high or too low to receive this great
her health began to deteriorate and she moved teaching. On becoming a BahB'i in Canada,
once more to fill a pioneer post in opening having been a very devout Christian, her iirst
Chelmsford in Essex. Pioneers were needed to desire was to pass on this precious gift to the
help open virgin territory in the Canary Islands Anglican Bishop of Montreal and she was
and, once more, Prudence responded and utterly amazed when he rejected it.
IN MEMORIAM 535
STOP MEMBER FIRST HISTORIC GROUP PARIS
TAUGHT BY MAY MAXWELL SHE ACHIEVED
IMMORTAL FAME THROUGH COMPILATION SOME
ANSWERED QUESTIONS UNIQUE ENTIRE FIELD
RELIGIOUS HISTORY STOP OFFERING ARDENT
PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER
SOUL ABHA KINGDOM URGE ALL COMMUNITIES
FRANCE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS GRATI-
TUDE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT.Universal
House of Justice

Laura Barney was born into a family of scholars
and artists in the United States of America. She
completed her education in France during the
last decade of the nineteenth century. With her
keen intelligence,logical mind and investigating
nature, she devoted her whole life, from adoles-
cence, to improving human relations, bringing
together peoples of different races, classes and
nations. She was a brilliant speaker and made
several trips around the world lecturing on the
impelling necessity of a united world. She was a
true pioneer in this field of activity at a time
Prudence George when the world was still geographically and
politically dixided and quite insensible to the
call of spiritual unity. Her enthusiasm for this
There must be many Baha'is in all parts of the ideal never lessened. Those who had the rare
world who have their own particular memories privilege of knowing her over a period of many
of Prudence George but common to all must be decades can testify that her undaunted zeal for
a recognition of her exemplary dedication to the the objective of the brotherhood of man re-
service of the Bahi'i Cause and her deep love of mained alive and glowing to the very last day of
BahB'u'llah. her life on earth.
Informed of the passing of Prudence George She became acquainted with the BahB'i
the Universal House of Justice wrote to the Revelation through May Ellis Bolles (Maxwell)
National Spiritual Assembly of the United in Paris circa 1900. Laura Barney's encounter
Kingdom on 25 July 1974: with the Faith of Baha'u'llgh proved to be the
'This ardent servant of BahB'u'llih rendered spark that ignited a fire never to be quenched.
devoted service to His Cause in the pioneering Her ideals and aspirations found fulfilment in
field and we are confident that she now has her her activities in the service of the Baha'i Faith,
reward. Please convey to her daughter and services that were joyfully rendered, with stead-
relatives the expression of our loving sympathy; fastness and perseverance, for nearly four
they may derive great comfort from the memory score years. Of the early pilgrims from the
of her constant services and the fact that she West who visited 'Abdu'l-Baha in the Holy
passed away in her daughter's home and not in Land toward the end of the last century and in
some remote and lonely outpost.' the opening years of the present one, she emerges
as one of the most dedicatedand active followers
of Baha'u'llah. The writer recalls her vivid
LAURA CLIFFORD DREYFUS-BARNEY description of her first meeting with 'Abdu'l-
Baha and the expression of rapture and
1879-1974
wonderment with which, from time to time,
ASCENSION DISTINGUISHED MAIDSERVANT she related many details of her various visits
LAURA DREYFUS BARNEY FURTHER DEPLETES to His household and the devoted services she
SMALL BAND PROMOTERS FAITH HEROIC AGE was able to render.
THE BAH L ' f WORLD

As her visits to the Holy Land became more
frequent, she was privileged to spend long
periods of time with the Master and His im-
mediate family. She met Shoghi Effendi when he
was a small boy and wrote of that first meeting:
'Shoghi Effendi! How well I remember the first
time I saw him in the Holy Land. He was then a
little boy of five or six years of age, clothed in a
brown Persian garment, chanting a prayer in
'Abdu'l-BahB's presence; his earnest eyes, his
firm mouth looked prede~tined.'~Her recol-
lections of that extraordinary child were vivid
and authentic. She became aware of 'Abdu'l-
Bahi's plan to provide for His grandson an
education in English literature. At the time of
one of her visits, Shoghi Effendi had an Italian
governess. Laura Barney was able to secure the
services of a refined and cultured English lady
who proved to be a great asset in the education
of that gifted child in the study of the English
language, a study which he joyfully pursued and Laura Clifford Dreyfus-Barney
which led him to master that idiom to perfection
in the years that followed. Laura Barney's prisoner of the Turkish government and per-
affection for the child grew into an ever deepen- mitted to receive only a few visitors. 'It was at
ing sense of admiration and respect. this juncture,' states Shoghi Effendi in God
Visits to 'Abdu'l-Baha became the centre of Passes By, 'that that celebrated compilation of
Laura Barney's life and inspiration. On a His table talks, published under the title Some
month-long visit in 1905 she was accompanied Answered Questions, was made, talks given
by her mother, Mrs Alice B a r n e ~ who , ~ had during the brief time He was able to spare, in,the
become a BahB'i. Mrs. Alice Barney was a poet, course of which certain fundamental aspects of
a painter, a musician and an architect. Her His Father's Faith were elucidated, traditional
paintings even now can be seen in the National and rational proofs of its validity adduced, and
Museum of Washington, D.C. In 1903 she had a great variety of subjects regarding the Chris-
painted a portrait of the celebrated Bahi'i tian Dispensation, the Prophets of God, Biblical
teacher, Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, during his visit to prophecies, the origin and condition of man and
Washington. other kindred themes authoritatively ex-
Among Laura Barney's many achievements plained.' The work was first published in Lon-
and services in the Faith the most outstanding is don in 1908.
the one that has immortalized her name the The existence of such a remarkable manu-
world over-the compilation of the renowned script prompted the distinguished French
volume Some Answered Questions. Unique in all scholar, Hippolyte Dreyfus? the first French
religious literature, the book consists of 'table believer, whose acceptance of the Faith dated
talks' given by the Master in response to the from 1901, to offer to translate the document
questions of Laura Barney. I have given you my into French. M. Dreyfus and Laura Barney
tired moments, Laura Barney records the Master collaborated on the translation and, -as she
as saying as He arose from the table after later related, it was during this undertaking that
answering one of her questions. These informal they discovered how well they could work
discussions took place in the period from 1904 together. They were married in 1911, but the
to 1906 described by Shoghi Effendi as the most intervening years were filled with many activities
troublous and dramatic of 'Abdu'l-BahB's min- undertaken jointly, including travels, at the
istry when He was still confined to 'Akki as a 'See Shoghi Effendi's tribute to Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney,
letter of 21 .December 1928, published in Baha'i Adminis-
'Only a Word', The Baha'i World, vol. V , p. 667. tration, pp. 157-159, and in The Bahb'i World, vol. 111, p.
See 'In Memoriam', The Bahb'i World, vol. V , p. 419. 210.
request of 'Abdu'l-Baha, to Mah-Ku and other faith in the League of Nations and represented
parts of Persia, to Ishqibad, Russian Turkistan, the International Council of .Women in that
where the construction of the first Bahb'i body, playing an important role in cultural
House of Worship was being completed, and exchange. She was the only woman named by
to Indo-China and other regions of eastern Asia. the League Council to sit on the Sub-committee
After the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha, but for- of Experts on Education, a post which she held
tunately before the beginning of the second for many years, beginning in 1926. On 23 July
World War, the original Persian text of Some 1925 she was appointed Chevalier de la Ligion
Answered Questions as well as some important dlHonneur. In that same year she formed under
and precious Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahi addressed the aegis of the League of Nations the 'Liaison
to Laura Barney and to a close friend, Mrs. Committee of Major International Organi-
Tewksbury Jackson, were transmitted to the zations to promote through Education better
Guardian through a trusted person. Understanding between Peoples and Classes'
Laura's abiding devotion to the Master, the and became a permanent member of the com-
Greatest Holy Leaf and Munirih a a n u m , the mittee as well as its liaison officer. In 1934 she
wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahi, was repaid with trust, became a member of the Advisory Committee of
love and gratitude. 'Abdu'l-Baha extolled the the League of Nations on Teaching; she was
variety of her services in many Tablets, and the also a member of the French Committee on
ladies of the household presented her with many Intellectual Co-operation.
gifts, mostly pieces of jewellery, which were Her services with international organizations
entrusted to this writer and delivered by him to were indeed extensive. She became the convenor
the Universal House of Justice a few years ago. of the Cinematographic and Broadcasting
At the request of Mrs. Tewksbury Jackson Committee of the International Council of
who on one occasion accompanied her to the Women, and in 1931 she organized, under the
Holy Land, Laura Barney helped in the project auspices of the International Institute of Edu-
of purchasing the land and of constructing a cational Cinematography of the League of
suitable home for 'Abdu'l-Baha and His family Nations, the first congress for women, held in
at No. 7 Haparsim (Persian) Street, Haifa.l In Rome in 1934, specializing in the dissemination
relating this episode to the writer later, Mme of educational material for peace by means of
Dreyfus-Barney said: 'For some time, there- motion pictures. At this Congress she was elected
fore, and meeting with many obstacles, I was one of the six vice-presidents, the only woman
occupied with purchasing the land, having a chosen. In 1937 she was appointed, by the
design for the house made-of course with the French Minister of Commerce, a member of the
approval of the Master-and seeing that its cinema section of the International Exposition.
construction was carried out efficiently and In the same year she was elevated to the rank of
promptly. All this kept me occupied for some Oficier de la Ligion d'Honneur by a decree
time.' dated 3 1 January, having been elected president
To recount in chronological order the Bahb'i of the Peace and Arbitration Commission of the
services of Laura Dreyfus-Barney in America, International Council of Women.
Europe and other parts of the world is beyond After the death of her husband in December
the scope of these few pages but mention should 1928, she t ~ i e dto overcome her loneliness by
be made of some of her humanitarian and social intensifying her efforts for the Faith of
activities in her work for world peace.2 During Baha'u'llah and the cause of peace. In 1941 she
World War I she served in Paris in the American was a member of the American delegation to the
Ambulance Corps, took part in the establish- Conference on Cultural Co-operation held in
ment of the first children's hospital in Avignon, Havana, Cuba. In May 1944, at the request of
and worked in a hospital with war refugees. At the Guardian, she attended the celebration in
the end of that global conflict she placed her Wilmette of the first centenary of the birth of the
Bahb'i Faith, although the second World War
was raging in almost every continent of the
See 'The House of the Master', Baha'i Holy Places at the globe. She gave, on that special occasion, a
World Centre, The Universal House of Justice, 1968; pp. moving address that recalled her early days in
54-57.
For a full account see Who's Who in America, vol. 29. 'Akka, and a review of forty years of
538 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

developmentsin the Faithinwhich she mentioned PIONEER ALASKA PUNTA ARENAS CHILE MADE
the names of many BahB'is who, like her, had VITAL CONTRTBUTION ROOTS CAUSE NORTH
laboured to spread the fragrances of SOUTH AMERICA STOP SUGGEST MEMORIAL
BahB'u'llah's Revelation in many parts of the mETmG YOUR COMMUNITY.
Universal House
world. of Justice
During the period of the second World War,
Laura Dreyfus-Barney was the delegate of the Betty Becker was born into a German Men-
French National Committee of Women to the nonite family and was raised on a farm in
Commission on Racial Affairs. At the end of the Kansas, U.S.A. where she learned to love the
war, with the birth of the United Nations, she good and simple things of life. Her quest for
became an officer of the Commission of the spiritual truth was triggered by a childhood
Council of Women for the Control and Re- experience of which she later wrote: 'I re-
duction of Armaments, located in Geneva. Dur- member when my brother, who was a few years
ing the years that followed she was very active in older than I, was baptized. The first thing I did
the work of the Economic and Social Council of was rush him to my room and ask him whether
United Nations in that city. As this writer had he felt changed and had received the Holy Spirit.
been appointed Observer for the International He replied in no uncertain terms: "No, I did
Baha'i Community, we frequently met at not. And don't you ever go up there in front of
United Nations gatherings. When the Food and everyone and make a fool of yourself." This
Agriculture Organization moved from Washing- confused me very profoundly and marked the
ton to Rome, early in 1950, she often visited start of my search for truth.'
Rome and was a welcome guest in our home. The search for a religion to which she could
Those were unique opportunities to listen to the commit herself continued even after Betty com-
reminiscences of her dedicated BahB'i life and to pleted her university education and business
hear at first hand many episodes and facts from training and began to work for an insurance
her personal experiences with 'Abdu'l-Baha, company in Kansas City, Missouri. She main-
His family, Shoghi Effendi, and her much loved tained an open outlook towards all religions,
husband, Hippolyte. After my wife and I re- seeking one that would answer her needs. She
turned to Europe from America in 1969, we attended many churches, sang in their choirs
called on Mme Dreyfus-Barney whenever we and listened to the clergy but still was left
were in Paris and there spoke joyfully of all that unsatisfied. In 1933 she attended a lecture by
was dear to our hearts. Mrs. Orcella Rexfordl (Louise Cutts-Powell)
For the last few years of her life she remained and through her learned about the Baha'i Faith
at her home, seeing some friends occasionally which she accepted in November of that year.
and living with the memories of her active and Betty's love of life and people, coupled with her
fruitful life. Although her body was handi- serious study of the teachings, qualified her as a
capped by rheumatism, her mind was as alert radiant and attractive teacher. She welcomed a
and brilliant as ever. Her beautiful earthly life constant flow of guests to her home to hear the
came to an end on 18 August 1974, five years message of BahB'u'llah. When a Local Spiritual
before the centenary of her birth. She is buried Assembly was formed in Kansas City in 1935
in the Passy Cemetery of Paris. she was elected its chairman.
(Excerpts from an English translation of Betty said that all her life she had felt a desire
'Laura Clifford Dreyfus-Barney-An Appreci- to go to Alaska or to South America, or both.
ation' by Ugo R. Giachery, published in La When the Guardian mentioned Alaska in his
PensBe Bahri'ie, No. 56, June 1976.) cablegram of 26 January 1939 encouraging
pioneers to settle in nine specific unsettled goal
areas in North America under the first United
States Seven Year Teaching Plan (1937-1944),
MATILDA (BETTY) BECKER Betty responded. She left Kansas City on 11
July 1939, attended the Baha'i Summer School
1887-1974
in Geyserville, California, sailed from Seattle,
ASSURE PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS
SOUL BETTY BECKER VALIANT SERVANT FAITH ' See 'In Memoriam', The Bahri'i World, vol. XI, p. 495
Washington a few days later and arrived in
Juneau, Alaska on 1 August. Her efforts to
settle in Juneau and Sitka proving fruitless, she
joined Honor Kempton in Anchorage where she
became permanently established in March 1941
and was a stable member of an ever-changing
BahB'i community for the next eighteen and a
half years. In 1943when the first Local Spiritual
Assembly in Alaska was formed in Anchorage,
Betty was elected recording secretary and served
on that body for many years.
Betty was active in the U.S.O. (United Ser-
vices Organization) in Anchorage from its in-
ception and throughout World War I1 was a
senior social hostess. She also sponsored rec-
reational activities for civil servants and mili-
tary personnel and contributed the money she
earned in this way to support the construction
of the BahB'i House of Worship in Wilmette.
She also helped to establish the Anchorage
United Nations Association and was one of its
officers. As a Welcome Wagon hostess she
helped newcomers become acquainted with An-
chorage and assisted them in finding housing Matilda (Betty) Beckev
accommodation during the scarcity of the war
years. Her Sunday morning waffle breakfasts one of the first in South America. Betty tirelessly
held on a regular basis she described as her most served as a member of this assembly for four-
fertile teaching activity. These were always well teen years.
attended and many enquirers became Baha'is as Des~itethe difficult clime of this austral
a result of these informal and friendly gather- region and the apathy and indifference she
ings. encountered, Betty's radiant nature overcame
At the age of seventy-two, after spending these obstacles and she served the Faith with a
twenty years in Alaska, Betty sought a new field vitality and vibrancy of spirit which belied her
of service, confident that she was leaving behind years. She displayed great generosity and kind-
in her adopted and much loved land a firm ness and during the course of her never-ceasing
foundation for the Faith of BahB'u'llah. She activities she greatly widened her social con-
offered her services to the International Teach- tacts. Impatient with her weakening physical
ing Committee of the United States and was condition she continued-in her own words-
assigned to Chile. On 8 October 1959 she to recharge daily her spiritual and mental bat-
arrived in Santiago and within three weeks took teries, to keep on going and not despair. Al-
up residence in Valdivia, a city with a large though her eyesight began to fail she was able to
German-speaking population. Betty's fluency attend the great BahB'i World Congress held in
in German enabled her to begin immediately London in 1963 and to make a pilgrimage to the
teaching the Faith even as she began a study of Holy Land in 1970. She also travelled to various
Spanish. centres in Chile to attend conferences and con-
On 12 May 1960-only nine days before a ventions.
devastating earthquake hit Valdivia-Betty For fourteen years Betty sowed the seeds of
opened the final chapter in her physical life by the Faith in Punta Arenas. Perhaps it was
pioneering to Punta Arenas, Chile, the southern- during this constant struggle that a dream was
most outpost of the Faith in the world, a city born in her soul, the establishment of a per-
greatly praised and often mentioned by our manent Baha'i Centre in Punta Arenas, a goal
beloved Guardian. The Local Spiritual As- toward which she contributed sacrificially until
sembly of Punta Arenas was formed in 1945, her death.
540 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

In April 1973 Betty suffered a stroke which ture and she became an eloquent speaker and
kept her bedridden. One year and five months fluent writer. She later studied in the American
later she contracted pneumonia which proved School for Girls where she learned English. She
fatal to an already thin and frail body. On this married Jinib-i-SJaykh Muhsin who, im-
same day the deed to the Punta Arenas Baha'i mediately after declaring himself a BahB'i as a
Centre, the first local Haziratu'l-Quds in Chile, result of the teaching efforts of Jinab-i-Fadil
was placed in her hands. Seven days later, in her Mazandirani, sold all his possessions including
eighty-seventh year, she passed to the Abha his collection of precious and rare old books and
realm, on 27 September 1974. made his way to the Holy Land to enter the
From Anchorage to Punta Arenas this val- presence of 'Abdu'l-Baha. The Master called
iant handmaiden truly lived these Words of him 'Dabir Mu'ayyad', meaning 'confirmed
Bahsu'llah, forever inscribed above her resting writer'; he became an erudite and dedicated
place : exponent of the Faith.
Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his Mrs. Na'imi and her husband were asked
country; let Izim vati'zer glory in this, that he by the Spiritual Assembly of Hamadan to go to
loves his kind. that thriving BahB'i community and assume re-
sponsibility for the management and the teach-
ing of classes of the Ta'id and Mahabbat BahB'i
schools. Mahbubih a a n u m became seriously
ill when in Hamadan and everyone despaired of
her life. At this time she dreamed of the Master
Who ordered her to arise. She humbly replied in
GRIEVED NEWS PASSING DEVOTED HANDMAID
that vision that she was unable to doso because
BAHAULLAH MAHBUBIH NAIMI HER LONG REC-
of illness. Again the Master repeated His com-
ORD SERVICES TEACHING PIONEERING FIELDS
mand and concluded by exclaiming that this is
UNFORGETTABLESUPPLICATING HOLY SHRINES
the day of arising. The memory of this ex-
perience stayed vividly with Mahbubih through-
RICHEST REWARDS PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA
out her life and the Master's words everlast-
KINGDOM CONVEY MEMBERS FAMILY LOVING
ingly inspired her responses to the needs of the
SYMPATHY. Universal House of Justice
Cause. When, after many years, she reached the
Any survey of outstanding Baha'i women in the shores of Africa as a pioneer, she told the friends
Formative Age of our beloved Faith should of her dream and emphasized the signiiicanceof
prominently include the dear name of Mah- arising to pioneer, teach and dedicate one's life
bubih Na'imi. Generations yet unborn will to the service of the Cause of God in this day.
derive encouragement and inspiration from For many years Mahbubih a i n u m actively
contemplation of her feats, her self-sacrificial served on local and national teaching com-
efforts, her dedication and heroism. She was a dis- mittees including teaching committees for youth
tinguished promoter of the Cause and achieved and women, the Nineteen Day Feast Committee
signal victories in the teaching and pioneering of Tihran, and taught BahB'i children's classes.
fields. At a time when their share in Baha'i She was instrumental in winning many people
community activities was minimal, Mahbubih to the Faith and in deepening their knowledge
. Na'imi was a source of in.spiration and provided of the teachings. She lovingly attended to the
much-needed spiritual leadership to the BahB'i needs of her family and the education of her
women of Persia. The predominant passion of children but always gave unstintingly of her
her life was teaching the Baha'i Faith, a love she time and energy to the promotion of the Cause
must have learned from her immortal, devoted of Baha'u'llih.
and radiant father, the late Jinab-i-Na'im, one After the death of her husband when her
of the greatest teachers and poets of the early children were scattered in many different parts
days of the Cause in Persia. of the world, Mahbfibih KhLnum left her home
Mahbubih a a n u m was born in 1899 in and possessions and began her service as an
Tihran, in a district where Baha'is lived, and international pioneer. She first settled in Zan-
studied at a small BahB'i school. Her learned zibar and helped in the formation of its first
father tutored her in Persian and Arabic litera- Baha'i community. Later she moved to Tan-
I N MEP

zania and opened the town of Morogoro to the to new centres or to visit her spiritual children in
Faith. When the Local Spiritual Assembly of their homes. Her hospitable home in Morogoro
Dar-es-Salaam requested her to go to Mwanza was open to the BahB'is and their friends; all
for the formation of the first Local Spiritual were received with kindness and love. Although
Assembly she immediately moved there, arriv- she was sometimes ill and weak she continued to
ing on the eve of the first day of Ridvan, and was conduct deepening classes for new BahB'is and
met at the railway station by many BahB'is and enquirers and persisted in her efforts to carry the
their guests. The large and joyous reception Faith to the villages of the Uluguru mountains.
accorded the arrival of this seemingly in- After years of service in Tanzania she re-
significant and unassuming Persian woman turned to Persia to attend to some personal
created some suspicion on the part of the Police matters and shortly after was asked by the
Department. Becoming aware of this, Mah- National Spiritual Assembly of Persia to move
bubih Khanum visited the Chief of Police, to Holland where pioneers were much needed.
introduced herself, and explained the situation; She settled in Haarlem for the formation of its
in this way the Cause became well known to the first Local Spiritual Assembly and after approx-
officials, the BahB'is continued to teach the imately a year, in response to a message that
Faith without obstruction and the Local Spiri- her spiritual children in Africa missed her
tual Assembly of Mwanza was formed. 'When keenly, she returned to Morogoro where, after
we arise to serve,' she wrote at this time, 'we considerable effort, she was successful in having
receive the promised confirmations and we ac- the education authorities accede to her request
tually behold the angels who help us. We also to have included in the curriculum of an African
will be privileged to discover the hidden trea- agricultural school an hour of BahB'i religious
sures of God . . . individuals who are soon study. Twice weekly she walked to this class
ignited by the love of God and ignite others.' which bore considerable fruit. From early
Instructed to settle in Morogoro again, she morning until late at night students and en-
launched this time a full-scale teaching pro- quirers would call at her home for further
gramme. Alone and unaided, she travelled to discussion of the BahB'i Faith. Her house was a
the neighbouring villages, walking many miles port of call for all Bahb'is travelling in the area
in sun or rain to bring the Faith of Bahb'u'llah and her hospitality was limitless.
She served for many years on the National
Spiritual Assembly of Tanzania and various
national and local committees and remained at
her post until her health broke down and she
sought a more moderate climate. She returned
to Haarlem and later pioneered to Liibeck,
Germany to assist in the formation of the first
Local Spiritual Assembly. Her last years were
spent in Hamburg where she served on the
Spiritual Assembly, instituted classes for chil-
dren, conducted deepening classes for youth and
devoted her rapidly diminishing strength to the
teaching work.
Mahbubih Na'imi had the privilege of mak-
ing a pilgrimage to the Holy Land three times
and attained the presence of the beloved Guard-
ian twice. To the last breath she remembered
her African children and continued to pray for
them. Two days before her sudden passing on 2
October 1974 a letter came from Africa: 'Come
back to us, dear mother, we need you so much.'
Alas, this time she could not respond.

Mahbzibih Na'imi
TI-IE B A H A ' I W O R L D

SEYMOUR MALKIN

Seymour was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 19
June 1923. His mother, Leona Luber, was of
Romanian descent. His father, Jacob Malkin,
was born in Russia and came to the United
States while still in his teens, shortly before
World War I, to escape the religious per-
secutions of that time. Seymour was raised by
his father and paternal grandmother. His
grandmother was a devoted and saintly follower
of the Jewish Faith and to her Seymour attrib-
uted all his spiritual guidance during his child-
hood.
At the age of nineteen, Seymour enlisted in
the United States Air Force and served for three
years in the Philippines and Australia. His duties
were in radio and special services to uplift the
morale of the servicemen through entertainment
and radio programmes. Upon his discharge in
1945, he settled in California and studied the-
atre arts and drama. He did some acting- andlater
opened his own school of drama in Hollywood Seymour Malkin
where he coached aspiring theatre, cinema and
television actors. Shortly before hearing about where Margot had been pioneering for four
the BahB'i Faith, Seymour abruptly closed his years and on 12 November 1958 they were
school, informing his students that he was going married there. Their honeymoon was spent
to search for God. He felt that life was the true teaching in the Juan Fernindez Islands off the
theatre and his specific goal was to find the real coast of Chile where they remained for about
purpose of existence. Although he had explored four months. They then went to Campinas,
many avenues of religious thought, he had never Brazil to help form the first Local Spiritual
found the spiritual satisfaction he sought. Assembly of that city. Here, Jesma Layli, their
Soon after closing his school in 1954, Sey- daughter, was born in 1959. A year later he
mour heard the word 'Baha'i' from one of his took his family back to the United States and
former students. In the home of Sando Berger he settled in Kokomo, Indiana to help establish its
saw a copy of The Hidden Words by Baha'u'llah first Local Spiritual Assembly in 1961. Their
and knew at once that it was an inspired book. son, Edmund Jacob was born there. In 1962
He attended firesides and within a few weeks, they settled in Muncie, Indiana to assist the
after an intense study of the BahB'i Writings, struggling BahB'i group there. Within a few
Seymour wholeheartedly accepted BahB'u91lih months he received a call from the Hand of the
and decided to dedicate his life to Him. Jesma Cause Dhikru'llah a i d e m asking if he were
Herbert was one of his most beloved spiritual willing to go to Chile immediately. Seymour's
teachers and he named his daughter for her. response was always immediate and wholeheart-
Seymour began his BahB'i life as a pioneer, ed. He arrived in Chile within three weeks and
first settling in various goal cities near Los was met and assisted by the Hand of the Cause
Angeles and then, in 1958, in Guadalajara, Abu'l-Qasim Faizi. Seymour's family joined
Mexico. At Ridvan of that year he attended the him shortly after and they settled in Temuco.
national convention of the National Spiritual During this period Seymour was named an
Assembly of Central America in Guatemala City Auxiliary Board member and collaborated with
where he met Margot Miessler. They decided on the Hand of the Cause Jalal Khkzeh in the work
their future together at that convention. Sey- of the protection of the Faith. Although he was
mour soon moved to Tegucigalpa, Honduras unable to fulfil his longstanding desire to attend
I N MEM ORIAM 543
the London Congress in 1963, Seymour felt Bern where, in 1951, he obtained his doctorate
spiritually compensated by being able to wit- in geology.
ness the beginning of mass teaching in Chile and In 1947, while in Switzerland, 'Abbas was
the acceptance of the Faith by the first Mapuche directed and encouraged by Shoghi Effendi to
Indians. work closely for the spread of the Cause with
The Malkins returned to the United States the members of the European Teaching
and served in various centres between 1964 and Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly
1970. A third child, Vali, was born in 1964. They of the United States.
returned to South America in 1970 in response Commencing in the 1960s, 'Abbas taught
to an appeal from the International Goals geology at the University of Baghdad. In the
Committee of the United States and settled in autumn of 1971 he was invited by the Govern-
Santo Amaro, Brazil where they helped form ment of Morocco to serve on the faculty of the
the first Local Spiritual Assembly the following University of Rabat. Arriving in Rabat he
year. learned to his surprise and disappointment that
From the day Seymour accepted it, the Faith he was expected to teach in French rather than
became the dominating passion of his life. English. He communicated with the University
Wherever he lived there was a weekly fireside of Baghdad about this unexpected situation and,
held in his home. At the last Nineteen Day Feast meanwhile, complied with the wishes of the
he attended before his death he had the happy National Spiritual Assembly of North West
experience of welcoming his daughter, Jesma Africa by visiting a number of Baha'i centres
Layli, as a declared Baha'i. under its jurisdiction, imparting spiritual joy to
During the last month of his life he often all those with whom he came in contact. In this
referred to his readiness to enter the next world, period he also visited BahB'i communities in
when called. The family attended a beautiful France and Spain and had the oppo'rtunity
gathering commemorating the birth of the B9b of visiting the resting place of the beloved
on 20 October. At this meeting one beautiful Guardian.
spiritual quality was attributed to each of the 'Abbas had been requested by a number of
BahB'is to demonstrate the beauty and power of believers in Morocco to consider settling there.
the BahB'i human flower garden of the SLo He referred the question to the Universal House
Paulo/Campinas areas. Seymour was called of Justice and received a reply stating that it
'Elegance' and Margot 'Courage'. He brought would be highly meritorious if he were to remain
home the love felt by all at the gathering and at his post in Baghdad in the vicinity of the
bestowed it on his wife and children all evening. House of BahB'u'llah however great a sacrifice
His heart became overwhelmed in its task of this might represent. He wrote again offering to
keeping him here any longer; at about 2.00 a.m., lay down his life as a spiritual ransom for the
with the words 'I'm going', his soul was freed. sublime purpose of hastening the redemption
The Universal House of Justice cabled on 24 and restoration of the House of BahB'u'llah. In
October 1974: reply the Universal House of Justice expressed
appreciation of this indication of his dedication
GRIEVED LEARN PASSING PIONEER SEYMOUR
to the Cause and assured him of its prayers for
MALKIN DEVOTED FAITHFUL SERVANT
the attainment of all his aspirations in service to
BAHAULLAH STOP ASSURE MARGOT OTHER
the Faith.
MEMBERS FAMILY ARDENT LOVING PRAYERS
'Abbis resumed his work as professor of
PROGRESS HIS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.
geology at the University of B a h d a d for a year
or two. The decree of the 'Iraqi Government
disbanding all BahB'i institutions and banning
all Baha'i activities was by then in force and
resulted in considerable hardship for the
believers in that country. Whenever it was
necessary, 'Abbhs called upon the authorities
'Abbas received his primary and secondary concerned, stating the BahB'i position with
education in 'Iraq and pursued his higher courage and dignity, especially during the few
studies in Europe, first in Berlin and then in months preceding his own imprisonment.
544 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

GRESS HIS BLESSED SOUL REALM ON HIGH STOP
CONVEY RELATIVES FRIENDS DEEPEST SYM-
PATHY.

F A W Z ~ZAYNU'L-'ABIDIN
1911-1975
Knight of Bahh'u'llih
DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING KNIGHT BAHAULLAH
FAWZI ZAYNUL ABIDIN HIS SELFLESS SERVICES
TEACHING PIONEERING FIELDS LOVINGLY RE-
MEMBERED CONVEY MEMBERS FAMILY WARM-
EST SYMPATHY FERVENTLY PRAYING SHRINES
PROGRESS HIS RADIANT SOUL. Universal House
of Justice
Two words from the message of sympathy of the
Universal House of Justice capture the essence
of a life consecrated to the Faith of God, for Mr.
-dadi
'Abbas Ihshn Bagh Fawzi Zaynu'l-'Abidin was truly a 'radiant
soul'. He and his wife and children were hon-
On 27 December 1973 'AbbLs was arrested oured by the beloved Guardian by being named
and badly treated by securitymen on the ground Knights of Baha'u'llah for service in the
that he was an active Baha'i. He was sentenced pioneering field in the virgin area of Spanish
to life imprisonment. When he displayed symp- Morocco.
toms of a lung condition he was transferred to a Fawzi Zaynu'l-'Abidin, also known as 'Zayn',
jail hospital. After giving him thirty injections was born in Cairo, Egypt on 28 January 1911.
for his condition which was diagnosed as His fatherZaynu'l-'Abidin Ismh'il, surnamed by
tuberculosis his doctors discovered that he the Master 'Zaynu'l-MuBlisin' (the adorning
was suffering from cancer. of the sincere ones), was a native of Hamadan,
Writing from the hospital in October 1974 Iran, who became illuminated by his belief in
'Abbas told of his fast deteriorating health and Baha'u'llah; while in Egypt, 'Abdu'l-Baha
of his total resignation to the will of God. He felt spoke in his home. His mother, Hamidih
that the end was quickly approaching and a a n u m - A q a , was a native of a i r i z who
expressed the hope that his humble services to embraced the Faith in her youth.
the Faith of BahB'u'llah and his prolonged In a childhood blessed with an aura of spiri-
suffering would be acceptable in the sight of the tuality stood an unforgettable memory: for a
Universal House of Justice. He was released very brief moment in Port Said, Fawzi Zaynu'l-
from this world on the morning of 20 January 'Abidin saw 'Abdu'l-Baha walking in the dis-
1975. tance.
On 24 January 1975 the Universal House of The young man was a solace to his parents,
Justice cabled: and a loving and generous soul towards his
brothers and sisters, all faithful Bahi'is. At the
SADDENED NEWS PASSING DEVOTED STEADFAST early age of twenty he embarked on an artistic
SELFLESS SERVANT BAHAULLAH DOCTOR ABBAS career, first as a highly respected teacher and
BAGHDAD1 WHOSE OUTSTANDING SERVICES then as Inspector of Technical Art Schools in
SHED LUSTRE ANNALS HISTORY FAITH MIDDLE Egypt. In an international competition he
EAST STOP HIS SACRIFICES WILL NOT BE IN VAIN ranked first for his unsurpassed watercolour
STOP SUPPLICATING DIVINE THRESHOLD PRO- rendition of a celebrated mosque.
IN MEMORIAM 545
A humble and devoted Baha'i, he exemplified
high standards of hospitality and courtesy and
served on the Local Spiritual Assemblies of
Cairo, Port Said and Tanta. His design for a
monument1 in the BahB'i cemetery of Cairo,
honouring Lua Getsinger and MirzL Abu'l-
Fadl, was approved by the Guardian.
In 1946he married Bahiyyih 'Ali Sa'd'id-Din,
daughter of a devoted Lebanese believer who, in
obedience to 'Abdu'l-Baha's wishes, came to
Egypt where he married 'Ismat 'Ali Effendi,
the daughter of the first Egyptian Baha'i.
Following an inspiring appeal for pioneers,
voiced by the Hand of the Cause 'Ali-Akbar
Furutan, Mrs. Zayn challenged the family to
arise as pioneers. From that moment, Fawzi
Zayn and his wife became an inseparable, spiri-
tually unified couple, dedicated to the Faith of
BahB'u'llkh. With their two sons, Kamil and
Sharif, they arrived in Tetuan, Morocco at the
-
onset of the World Crusade, on 11 October
1953. The seemingly insurmountable difficulties
of language, material resources and permission
to remain in their adopted home beyond the Fawzi zaynull-'kbidin
fifteen days for which their visa was originally
issued, simply vanished; they had received as- tual Assembly was thus elected and came to be
surances through' the Guardian's secretary of exclusively formed by Moroccan BahB'is. For
Shoghi Effendi's appreciation and prayers. nine years the Zayn home was the focal point of
The years that followed were years of mir- an expanding community that gave birth to
acles and victories. Mr. Zayn's reputation as an Baha'i groups in northern Morocco.
artist and his impeccable character inspired the In 1961 some of the believers were imprisoned
respect of students and high officials, Moroccan for their beliefs, yet the staunch faith of these
and Spanish. He became a member of the youth, some of whom were under sentence of
faculty of the Fine Arts School of Tetuan and death, became the mark of distinction of that
was asked to exhibit his work locally, then in community. At the beginning of this turmoil,
Rabat, and won resounding praise from digni- which was to end miraculously a year later, Mr.
taries and the press. From the beginning, friend- Zayn who in the eyes of the authorities was
ships were established that were instrumental responsible for introducing the Faith, was asked
in enabling the family to acquire permanent not to associate with fellow Baha'is and was
residence and in facilitating discreet yet success- dismissed from his job. Great was the sadness of
ful Baha'i teaching. A family photograph with separation felt by the believers and unspeakable
the first two believers 'deeply impressed' the the sorrow of this sensitive soul who, by the
Guardian who extended 'a hearty welcome into force of events, had to leave a country where the
the Faith to the new BahB'is'. Mr. Zayn's best of his spiritual life in this world had taken
profound knowledge of the Writings, his deep place.
spiritual insights, his very sensitive approach to In Morocco, Mr. Zayn was the secretary of
the needs of his hearers and his warm eloquence the National Teaching Committee and in Tunis,
in his native Arabic attracted the hearts of many Tunisia, from 1962 to 1966, he served on the
youth who joyously accepted the Faith and Local Spiritual Assembly with undiminished
shouldered in turn the responsibility of spread- enthusiasm. From 1966 to 1975 he served on
ing the message of BahB'u'llih. A Local Spiri- the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Glendale,
Arizona; West Hollywood; and Glendale,
See The Baha'i World, vol. X, p. 2 3 ; vol. XI, p. 196. California.
546 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

His contribution to Tunisian art is attested by oldest in a family of four brothers and one sister.
the high esteem in which he was held by his His brother, Samuel, was high in his praise of
superiors in the Arts and Crafts section of the Christopher who, he said, had to make a tre-
Government. Of his several exhibits in the mendous effort to obtain an education. In an
United States, the most noteworthy was pre- environment that discouraged children from
sented in the Brand Library of Glendale, Cali- attending school, and with no money to pay
fornia. His delicate masterpieces, from Iranian school fees, a child really had to display great
miniatures and landscapes to ceramic com- determination to persist in his schooling. It was
positions and Arabic calligraphy, convey a necessary for a sincere student to persuade the
peacefulness that speaks of his Faith. An artist Department of Education to give him a bursary
of the soul who painted to glorify the beauty of and then to measure up to a high standard of
God's creation, such was the life of this true achievement; no second chance was given if a
believer, enamoured with the Cause of child failed a course.
BahB'u'llah, and detached from worldly desires When Christopher was attending Matsapa
and ambitions. High School the acting Principal learned that
He passed away in Glendale, California on 23 Chris had become a member of a strange re-
March 1975. His last words were a plea to the ligion called 'BahB'i' and was spreading its
friends to deepen their knowledge of teachings among his fellow students. The acting
Baha'u'llah's Writings, 'because,' he said, 'this Principal threatened him with expulsion if he
is the only thing that remains in the heart.' continued to spread what were considered false
Many will thank this gentle father for having led ideas. Chris pointed out that Matsapa was, a
their steps towards the majestic shores of the Government school and that the Government
ocean of Baha'u'llih's utterance. stood for freedom of religion. The acting Prin-
cipal still tried to intimidate him but did n i t take
I ask of Thee by the splendour of the orb of
the step to expel the youth, as Chris asked for a
Thy revelation, mercifully to accept from him
written reason for his dismissal. It took great
that which he hath achieved in Thy days.
courage on his part not to recant his belief in the
Grant then that he may be invested with the
BahB'i Faith, although refusing to do so could
glory of Thy goodpleasure and adorned with
have resulted in Christopher's being deprived of
Thy acceptance.
a higher education after working so hard to
K A ~ (ZAYN)
L ZEIN
gain entry into the only school that could qualify
him for this.
After graduating from Matsapa High School
he entered Pope Pius I1 College at Roma,
Basutoland (now Lesotho) and qualified for a
CHRISTOPHER V. KUHLASE
junior secondary teacher's diploma in 1963.
1937-1975 From college, he entered the teaching pro-
0 Son of Spirit! MyJirst counsel is this: fession and quickly rose to the rank of Head-
Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart that master of the Bhunya Primary School which has
thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperish- a student body of 1,000 pupils. His success in
able and everlasting. Baha'u'llah raising the standard of education there resulted
in his appointment to the position of Headmas-
These words of Baha'u'llah were the lodestar of ter at the Secondary School of Lobamba in the
the life of Christopher Vikelizizwe Kuhlase. His heart and administrative centre of the Swazi
'pure, kindly and radiant heart' won for him nation.
friends of all ages and from all walks of life. Just During these years Christopher was exceed-
seeing his beaming smile, one would say 'he is ingly active in his service to the Baha'i Faith. He
unquestionably a Baha'i.' was on various national and local committees
Christopher was one of the early Baha'is of and was a member of the first National Spiritual
Swaziland who, as a youth, accepted the Faith Assembly of Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozam-
when he was a student at the Swazi National bique which was elected in 1967. He served as
High School at Matsapa. He was born in the assistant secretary to this body until he was
rural area of Nhlangano, Swaziland in 1937, the assigned overseas duties by the Swazi nation.
IN MEMORIAM 547
Faith and an appreciation of its capacity to
solve the complex problems of the world, and he
was able to impart that knowledge to many
outstanding people whom he met from divers
nations of the world.
His death, even as his life, was given in service
to his beloved Bahi'u'llah. Shortly before the
untimely automobile accident which took his
life on 29 March 1975, Christopher had in-
structed his wife that he must be given a Bahi'i
burial, little knowing how soon the occasion
would arise. His funeral was conducted from the
Leroy Ioas National Baha'i Centre in Mbabane,
Swaziland and was attended by between 400
and 500 mourners. The procession of cars which
slowly made its way to the immaculate and
beautiful gardens of the Bahi'i Centre was over
a mile in length. Many of his friends from
Government service attended the funeral and
spoke most lovingly of his services to the
Government and to the people of Swaziland;
they expressed the hope that another of his
calibre of integrity, honesty and brilliance
Christopher V. Kuhlase would arise in the service of the nation. No event
the Bahi'i community could have arranged
He was a brilliant and convincing speaker and could have afforded an opportunity for a more
travelled to many parts of Swaziland giving the eloquent proclamation of the teachings of
message of Bahi'u'llah. Bahi'u'llah.
Swaziland gained its independence in 1968 BENJAMIN N. DLAMINI
and those of talent and recognized capacity VALERA F. ALLEN
were called upon to assist the developing nation. -
Christopher was selected by His Majesty King
Sobhuza I1 to serve on the staff of the Embassy
of Swaziland in Washington, D.C. He also
served as an alternate member of the delegation
representing Swaziland at the United Nations
headquarters in New York.
When he returned from the United States in Ruhi Arbab was born into a distinguished
1969, Christopher joined the Department of Bahi'i family in 'Ishqabad, Russian Turkistan
Establishment and Training as Assistant Sec- where his forebears had emigrated from frin.
retary and later was appointed Secretary of the He was a bright and capable child and had an
Public Service Commission. He then became exceptionally good memory. He studied in the
Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Bahi'i primary school in 'Ihqibad and then
Power and Communications. In 1972 he was entered the State intermediate school. He ac-
transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as quired an extensive knowledge of the Faith
Under-Secretary, the position he held until the from notable Baha'i scholars including
time of his fatal accident. Muhammad-'Ali Qa'ini, Siyyid Mihdi
During his travels in his capacity as an em- Gulpaygani and 'Ali-Akbar Furutan. He en-
ployee of the Swaziland Government, both in joyed literature and was encouraged to write
the United States and in various countries articles and stories about the Faith.
which he visited as a representative of the Ruhi was among those youth who were expel-
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he met many led from the University of Leningrad and exiled
Baha'is and gained a deep knowledge of the to Persia because of their affiliation with the
548 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

Faith. The young
- - men submitted the details of
their case to Shoghi Effendi from whom they , ,

received a loving reply exhorting them not to be
saddened or grieved by the event and stating .:,, , ,., ',:

that if it were the will of God their exile and ;,!;': ,,*,
banishment might be the source of attracting :, ,,, : . ,
divine confirmations in large measure. If love of ',:, ,
God and turning to Him be accounted a crime,
the Guardian wrote in effect, what can be better
,~ ",'
than that; and were steadfastness and firmness,
servitude and selflessness to rank as a sin, what
can excel it?
Ru!$s father, Na~ru'llah,had nothing to offer
him for the expenses of his journey but a gold
watch he had saved. This he gave to his seven-
teen year old son as a parting gift with his
blessing when Ruhi left for Persia. His mother 1
could add only a scarf and her tear-laden kisses.
For a time, Ruhi lived in Ma&had. Then he I
sold his watch to obtain funds with which to
travel to Tihran. The sensitive young man,
already gravely affected by the enforced in- I

terruption of his schooling, now suffered further
Rzihi Avbdb
ordeals. Illness, privation, discomfort and soli-
tude contributed their share to making his lot spent three years studying under such eminent
almost unbearable. Other misfortunes now teachers as Fadil-i-Mazandarini and Jinab-i-
befell him: the imprisonment of his father in Sulaymani. He also devoted some time to a
'Ihqabad, followed by his death; the exile of his study of Islim acquiring as much knowledge of
brother and his disappearance; and the banish- the subject as he considered requisite for teach-
ment of his mother and his brother's family to ing the Cause. He then broadened the,scope of
irkn. When informed of the death of Rhhi's his service by conducting teacher-training and
father, the beloved Guardian whose gracious character-forming classes for BahB'i youth and
kindness sustained Rul?i throughout this dark children. After an unsuccessful attempt to serve
period, in a letter written on his behalf by his as a home-front pioneer in 1943, Rhhi returned
secretary, consoled the young man with the to Tihran and played a conspicuous part in
thought that whatever had befallen the sore- teaching Baha'i youth and motivating them to
tried and faithful Arbab family had been in the arise and serve the Faith. In 1955 he was elected
path of service to the Beloved. to membership of the Local Spiritual Assembly
R u g secured a job in a newspaper office and and served as its secretary until the outburst of
later worked in the Finance Ministry. His youth turbulence in that year which resulted in the
in Tihrin was spent in service to the Cause and demolition of the dome of the National
the sterling qualities of his character endeared Haziratu'l-Quds and the curtailment of all
him to his friends, Baha'i and non-BahB'i. He Bahi'i administrative a~tivities.~
married in 1941 and continued his services to During this upheaval, Ruhi was like a rock
the Faith in such a manner as to evoke the for the persecuted friends who repaired to his
appreciation of Shoghi Effendi. home for advice and help. To discharge the
Laying great stress upon the education of his duties devolving upon him in increasing meas-
children, Ruhi and his wife Furu& agreed that ure under such circumstances proved to be a
she would reduce her BahB'i activities and he burden that taxed his health. After spending a
would increase his in like ratio. Accordingly, he brief period in the United States, R u F returned
devoted only one-half the day to earning a to Tihran and was again elected secretary of the
livelihood and the other half to Baha'i work. In 1 see6 ~ h~e ~ h~ k ~ i ~~~~~~~i~~ ~and the united
~
order to increase his knowledge of the Faith he Nations', The Bahd'i World, vol. XIII, p. 789.
I N MEMORIAM 549
Local Spiritual Assembly. Later he served as a ROBERT HENRY PATTERSON
member of the National Spiritual Assembly of 1925-1975
Iran and on various committees. In 1968 he was
elected secretary of the National Spiritual As- Robert Henry Patterson was born in Greenock
sembly and served in that capacity until his on the west coast of Scotland on 19 September
death. 1925. He worked as an accountant until his
When he was himself a father of two children, departure for Australia in 1949.After travelling
he decided to study law. He obtained a law around Australia for several years he eventually
degree in 1950 and then studied Russian in the settled in Brisbane, Queensland and it was here,
university. He served in the Ministry of Agricul- in 1956, that he learned of the BahL'i Faith and
ture and the Veterinary College. He was next embraced it.
transferred to the secretariat of the university From the beginning, Bob played an active
and thence to the Ministry of Water and Power. role in the BahB'i community and his selfless
His services attracted the favourable attention devotion was greatly admired by all with whom
of the authorities, chiefly because of the honesty he came in contact. He pioneered to Ipswich to
and integrity which characterized all his work. assist in the formation of the Local Spiritual
When his services at one of. the national Assembly and he was also a founding member
colleges in Tihran were terminated because he of the Queensland University Baha'i Society.
was a Baha'i, he devoted his time to translating During the Nine Year Plan he responded to
valuable books into Persian; here he met with the call of the Universal House of Justice for
the same success as in the BahL'i sphere. He also pioneers to the Pacific islands, and in April 1968
produced a general book for children consisting arrived in Apia, Western Samoa, where he
of stories from different sources from various worked as chief accountant for one of the
countries translated into Persian and offered to largest firms of general merchants in the Pacific.
his countrymen. He translated for the benefit of His home was always open to both BahB'is and
youth biographies of some of the world's great their friends, and weekly firesides were held.
men. Some of his translations were put to use by Regular teaching trips were made to villages
members of the teaching profession. He made a outside Apia and on many occasions he was
significant contribution to the BahB'i com-
munity of Persia by producing a work in five
volumes for Baha'i children under the title of
Stories of the Faith.
With the close of the National Convention at
Ridvan 1975 it seemed that Ruhi Arbab's work
on earth had terminated. His body could no
longer bear the strain it had endured over the
years. He was taken to hospital where he died on
5 May. Though his passing was tragic, it seemed
a fitting climax to a life devoted to serving the
Cause of God with no thought of self, rest or
comfort.
Informed of his passing, the Universal House
of Justice cabled:
PROFOUNDLY SADDENED GRIEVOUS LOSS
STEADFAST DEVOTED SERVANT PROMOTER
FAITH RUHI ARBAB STOP HIS TREMENDOUS
EFFORTS TEACHING ADMINISTRATIVE FIELDS
CULMINATING IN HIS OUTSTANDING SERVICES
AS SECRETARY NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
UNFORGETTABLE HIGHLY MERITORIOUS ...
FURIT= ARBAB
(Translated from Persian by Rustom Sabit) Robert Henry Patterson
550 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

joined by Mr. Sam Ale Ale, a devoted Samoan loved husband, Peleiupu (Pele) Patterson
believer, who acted as his translator. informed her family that she wished to be a
Bob was elected to the National Spiritual Baha'i and carry on his work. Since then she
Assembly of Samoa when it was formed in 1970 has become active in the Baha'i community
and served as national treasurer. He also served following in the footsteps of her husband.
on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Apia until
the last months of his life when his severe illness Centre your energies in the propagation of the
precluded active participation. In the same year Faith of God. Whoso is worthy of so high a
he had the bounty of making his pilgrimage to calling, let him arise andpromote it.
the Holy Land and on the journey visited his BahB'u'llah
family in Scotland for the first time since 1949.
Early in 1971 Bob married Miss Peleiupu
Less, a non-BahB'i, of a well-known family in
Apia and became integrated into the social BLANCA VICTORIA MEJIA
fabric of the island. The birth of their daughter, 1911-1975
Mary Elizabeth, brought them much joy.
During 1974 Bob was stricken by a severe Blanca Victoria Mejia was the first Baha'i of
illness which terminated in his death on 19 May Nicaragua. She learned of the Faith through
1975. He was the first Baha'i pioneer of Samoa Mathew Kaszab,l one of the first pioneers to
to give up his life at his post. Central America, who settled in Nicaragua in
At Bob's request, the National Spiritual As- 1939. Blanca enrolled in the Faith on 21 April
sembly of Samoa consulted with his wife and 1941 and was unceasingly firm and devoted to
her family regarding his funeral and in the Cause of BahB'u'llah. Her deareSt wish was
deference to their Christian background and be- to leave this world on the anniversary of the
cause of the love and devotion which they had declaration of the Bab or BahB'u'llBh. She died
always showered upon him, it was agreed that on 23 May 1975.
prior to the BahB'i service a few prayers and Blanca was born on 3 December 1911 in
words of eulogy would be spoken in the family Leon, Nicaragua of very educated and cultured
church. On the day of his burial, as a sign of parents. At the age of three she was struck by
respect, the firm for which he had worked flew poliomyelitis which left her with a crippled left
its flag at half mast. The many non-BahB'is foot and paralyzed her right hand. Although her
who attended the funeral at the National Centre speech was also affected and she stammered and
and the burial in the Baha'i cemetery were slurred her words, this did not hinder her from
deeply moved by the BahB'i readings and studying and teaching the BahB'i Faith. She
prayers and many lingered to ask questions completed high school and an advanced course
about the Faith. in the university, then taught school for thirty
On learning of the passing of Robert Pat- years. Never married, she was retired and re-
terson the Universal House of Justice cabled on ceiving a pension at the time of her death. She
21 May 1975: wrote many stories and poems which were
published in newspapers and magazines.
DEEPLY GRIEVED LEARN UNTIMELY PASSING
The growth of the Faith in Nicaragua is due
DEVOTED PIONEER SAMOA ROBERT PATTERSON
largely to the labours of Blanca. She taught
PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL
many prominent people about the Cause of
ABHA KINGDOM PLEASE CONVEY LOVING SYM-
BahB'u'llBh and some have become active in the
PATHY MEMBERS FAMILY.
Faith. In spite of her delicate health her free time
Robert Henry Patterson lies with his fellow was spent in visiting the BahB'is and their
believers in Magiagi Cemetery. The melodies friends. People from many different back-
and words of many BahB'i songs waft over their grounds sought her friendship because she was
graves when the friends gather at the National loving, amiable, kind and sincere to everyone?
Centre a short distance away. Bob will always When Mathew Kaszab was imprisoned by the
be remembered in the hearts of many for his
loving spirit with its kind and gentle qualities. 'See 'In Memoriam', TIze Balzd'i World, vol. IX, p. 614; The
A few months after the passing of her be- Balzri'i Centenary 1844-1944, p. 196.
I N MEM[ O R I A M 55 1
declaration of one of the Founders of the Faith.
She was a member of the first Local Spiritual
Assembly of Leon, andis buried there. Her place
in the history of the Cause in Central America is
assured, for the Universal House of Justice
cabled :
SADDENED LEARN PASSING BLANCA MEJIA
FIRST RECORDED BELIEVER NICARAGUA HER
DEVOTED SERVICE CAUSE FOR OVER THREE
DECADES LENDS LUSTRE ANNALS FAITH CEN-
TRAL AMERICA PRAYING HOLY THRESHOLD
PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.
ROSET. MANGAPIS

JAMES HENRY ISAAC BEETON

James Beeton, the first Cape Barren Islander to
become a follower of Baha'u'llah, was born on
15 April 1907 on Cape Barren Island, the
Blanca Victoria Mejia second largest island in the Furneaux group,
north-east of Tasmania. Jim, as he was known
Nicaraguan government for his Baha'i activ- to his family and friends, spent his early years on
itiesl she never failed to visit him and bring him the island and when he grew up he raised sheep.
food and persisted in her fruitless attempts to Later he moved to the Tasmanian mainland to
obtain his release. When one of the Baha'is met manage a farm in partnership with his two
with an accident and was in hospital, Blanca brothers.
recited many times daily the Tablet of Ahmad In April 1970 Jim retired to live in Glenorchy,
until the believer recovered and returned to his near Hobart, Tasmania's capital city. Here Jim
home. This man is now a member of the and his wife, Eliza,, came into contact with the
National Spiritual Assembly of Nicaragua. Baha'i Faith through Mr. and Mrs. Harry
These incidents serve to show how highly spiri- Penrith. Harry is a full-blood Australian Ab-
tual she was, and how loving to the Bahi'is. original and his wife, Leone, a white Australian.
Through the generosity of some Baha'i It was a rare and beautiful experience for the
friends, Blanca attended the centenary celebra- Cape Barren Island people in the Hobart area to
tion of the BahB'is of the United States held in meet an interracial couple and they listened with
Wilmette, Illinois in 1944. She was always very respect to the BahB'i teachings on the unity of
proud to show the photograph taken during the human race. At that time the Cape ~ a r r e n
that centenary convention. She can be seen Islanders regarded themselves as a separate race
standing in the right-hand corner of the picture and tended to associate only with other Cape
which appears in vol. X of The Baha'i World. Barren Islanders, holding themselves aloof from
Unfortunately her copy of the photograph was the white and Aboriginal population.
buried during the earthquake which struck The fiftieth anniversary of the Ascension of
Managua in 1972. Blanca escaped uninjured 'Abdu'l-Baha was marked by a public service
and moved to Leon to live with one of her held on 27 November 1971 at Hobart Town
nieces. One day she fell, breaking her right Hall with approximately forty people in atten-
thigh, and died two days later, fulfilling her wish dance, three-quarters of them Cape Barren
to leave this earth on the anniversary of the Islanders, friends of Mr. and Mrs. Penrith. Jim
Beeton who had never before attended a Baha'i
The Bah6'i World, vol. IX, p. 616. meeting was in the audience. A brief intro-
two Knights of Bahs'u'llah, Miss Gretta Lamp-
rill,' the first BahC'i in Tasmania, and Miss
Gladys Parke,2 the first BahC'i in Northern
Tasmania.

SIYYID AM~R-SHAH MUJAHID
1936-1975
Siyyid Amir-&ah Mujahid was born in a village
in the Province of Maydan, Afhanisthn in
1936. His father being a religious man en-
couraged him from childhood to study theol-
ogy. Arnir-Shah from an early age displayed a
great talent for acquiring knowledge. He soon
excelled in Persian and Arabic and showed a
keen interest in religious subjects. He went to
Kabul, the capital of the country, to complete
his studies with a famous 'ulama and while still a
young man became a mu119 entitled to teach
classes in theology. Although Mr. Mujahid was
a member of the Shi'ih sect of Islam he was
James Henry Isaac Beeton open-minded. He studied Sunni literature and
without any hesitation had contact with Sunni
priests. Such was his integrity and character that
duction to the Faith was presented and he had the confidence and respect of the 'ulamas
excerpts were read from a compilation of the of both sects. He won great popularity and
words of 'Abdu'l-Baha. The service was fol- respect by denouncing from the pulpit those
lowed by a dinner and informal BahB'i gather- who, in the guise of priests, sought material gain
ing. The Cape Barren guests who have scant and worldly acclaim. He was a pious and highly-
social life expressed their delight at being in a principled man. When a friend presented him
gathering of people of many races and listened with funds to enable him to make a pilgrimage
with interest to the remarks of Miss Thelma to Mecca he refused the gift explaining to his
Perks of the Continental Board of Counsellors friend that if his intention were sincere the
in Australasia who described her travels in money should be distributed among the poor.
various regions of the Pacific and spoke of the He lived modestly in a very humble dwelling.
uniting influence of the teachings of How Mr. Mujahid became interested in the
Bahs'u'llah. During the evening Jim Beeton BahB'i Faith is an interesting story. Two BahB'is
expressed his desire to be a BahB'i. A humble independently dreamed that 'Abdu'l-Baha told
and loving soul, he at first hesitantly said that he them to give the message of God to Siyyid Amir-
felt he was 'too old and uneducated to become a -Shah Mujkhid, and they did so. After a very
Baha'i,' but his shining eyes betrayed that he brief investigation of the teachings and a perusal
had already accepted the Faith in his heart. of the Tablets of Baha'u'llah, Mr. Mujahid was
Shortly after declaring his acceptance of the confirmed in the Bahs'i .Faith, exclaiming that
Cause, Mr. Beeton became seriously ill with what he had read could only have been the
diabetes. Despite the restrictions this imposed revealed Word of God. Although he was ad-
upon him he participated in Bahs'i community vised that a man in his position might not
activities to the extent he could and served on relinquish his duties as a mulli too soon, he did
the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Glenorchy. not agree, and he refused immediately to con-
On the evening of 24 May 1975 he passed into a
coma and left this world. He was laid to rest in ' S e e 'In Memoriam', The Baha'i World, vol. XV, p. 534.
Launceston, only yards from the resting place of See 'In Memoriam', The Baha'i World, vol. XV, p. 457.
IN MEMORIAM 553
dedication for thirty-five years. She died at her
pioneering post in the Canary Islands on 10
June 1975.
One knows a great deal about the spirit of
Ann Ashen after reading the pioneer appli-
cation which she filled out in January 1961 at the
age of sixty-six. In the area reserved for pre-
ferred pioneering location, Mrs. Ashen checked
Europe, Central America, South America, Asia
and Africa. At that time she was not in good
health and her resources were limited to a small
Social Security cheque. In spite of this she began
a period of renewed service as an overseas
pioneer, completing fifteen years in European
goals before her passing. She represented her
beloved Faith in Finland, in Luxembourg and,
at the very end of her life, in the Canary Islands.
The Baha'i friends in Las Palmas, calling for
her to take her to a prayer meeting, found her
lying on the floor, her hip broken as a result of a
fall. She was operated on in the local hospital
* 9.BL
the following day, 10 June. When a number of
BahL'is, including Virginia Orbison, called to
Siyyid Amir Bcih Mujcihid see her after the surgery, they were told that she
had died just as they arrived. One later reported,
tinue giving lessons in Islamic theology, stating 'She looked as if she were seeing something
that it was dishonest to waste the time of his wonderful!' Burial took place in the BahB'i
students on subjects which he now knew were of cemetery the following day and a memorial
no importance to the advancement of their gathering was held that evening.
souls. However, because of popular demand, he Miss Orbison, recalling the passing of Mrs.
continued for some time to preach from the Ashen, has written: 'Her stay, and her passing in
pulpit. the hospital, provided opportunities for speak-
As a Baha'i, Mr. Mujahid travelled to various ing about the Faith. She did the best she could
Provinces and was instrumental in bringing a without knowledge of the language. The super-
number of people into the Faith. He wrote two visor, who was with her at the end, had been
little booklets, one being an outline of the proofs extremely kind and attentive; she spoke English
of the Baha'i Faith and the other a dissertation well and received the Message of BahB'u'llah
on the laws of BahB'u'llah. with great interest . . . I am thankful for having
Unfortunately, his life as a Baha'i was very had the bounty of seeing Ann on . . . my first
short and he died on 19 June 1975 after a brief visit to the Canary Islands. It was a very moving
illness. A number of famous 'ulamis attended experience. All the believers were deeply
his funeral and praised him publicly as one who touched, as they loved and admired Ann . . .
loved the truth and who was courageous in Just two weeks before her fall, she had spoken to
following the right path at all times. the friends in a meeting and all mentioned her
radiance and the wisdom of her talk. Surely her
soul is soaring into the heights of the Abha
kingdom.'
Mrs. Ashen spoke very little about her early
ELIZABETH ANN (ANNA) ASHEN years, but she did mention that her parents had
1895-1975 emigrated from Holland to the United States,
and that she had had the opportunity to study
Elizabeth Anna Jessuren Ashen was born on 19 German in school. After graduating from high
October 1895 and served the BahB'i Faith with school in 1915 she worked first as a bookkeeper
THE BAHA'I WORLD

bourg. In its farewell letter the National Spiri-
tual Assembly of Finland wrote: 'We are very
grateful for your devoted services always in
helping our country to reach her Crusade goals
. . . May our Beloved Bahi'u'llah richly bless
your efforts wherever you toil in the work of
establishing His Kingdom on this earth of ours.'
After serving for some time in Esch-sur-
Alzette, Mrs. Ashen settled in Lamadelaine;
here, her dreams of assisting the youth were
realized, with many attending her numerous
fireside and social gatherings. Mrs. Ashen was
elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of
Luxembourg at the 1964 convention and served
on that body for one year. By the time her failing
health prompted her to leave the unfavourable
climate of Luxembourg and pioneer to the
Canary Islands, a Local Spiritual Assembly had
been established in Lamadelaine.
Informed by the National Spiritual Assembly
of Spain of the passing of this devoted servant of
Baha'u'llah, the Universal House of Justice
wrote on 8 July 1975: 'We were profoundly
Elizabeth Ann (Anna)Ashen sorry to learn of the passing of Ann Ashen
whose devoted services in the pioneering field
will long be remembered. That she has laid her
and later became a licensed practical nurse. She mortal dust to rest in the soil of the Canary
embraced the Baha'i Faith in 1940 and from Islands is a crown to her pioneering achieve-
that time onward her efforts were directed ments which will assuredly be abundantly
towards the goals of the BahB'i teaching plans. blessed in the Abha kingdom. It is our prayer at
As early as 1945 she wrote to Shoghi Effendi the Sacred Threshold that the believers in the
about her desire to pioneer to Mexico. Even- Canary Islands will be inspired by her example
tually her homefront pioneering led her to to win great victories for the Cause of
Alaska, where she served in Ketchikan. At the BahB'u'llah.'
time that she applied for overseas pioneering, BETHMCKENTY
the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska re-
ferred to her as a 'diligent and ceaseless worker'.
Exactly two months after she volunteered to
pioneer abroad, she arrived at her post in Lahti, ISFAND~YARBAKHT~YAF~
Finland and wrote to the European Teaching
1895-1975
Committee : 'The friends here are very delightful
and I am sure that we will be able to do great Isfandiyar U u d a d a d Bahram Baatiyiri was
things . . . I spent Thursday and Friday in born in Nirsi-abad, Yazd, Iran in 1895. He
Stockholm at the Haziratu'l-Quds and then received little education and after completing
went to Turku where I had a long visit with elementary school he took up the family occu-
Mildred Clark and Loyce Lawrence and the pation of farming. Hardworking and quick to
Turku friends . . . There is such a wonderful learn, he became adept at his work. Isfandiyar's
Baha'i spirit here and such love that the Faith family were zealous Zoroastrians and as a
cannot help but grow.' young man he clung to his beliefs fanatically
At the end of the Ten Year Crusade, Mrs. and held a deep-rooted prejudice towards the
Ashen offered to remain in Europe and, after teachings of other Faiths. He loathed to hear the
making pilgrimage to the Holy Land early in Mu'aadhin raise the call to prayer and he
1964, she relocated in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxem- hated Isfandiyar Ardi&ir, a Baha'i teacher of
wrote a letter to 'Abdu'l-Bahk which he signed
'Isfandiyar a u d a d k d ' and was favoured by a
Tablet in reply in which the Master addressed
him as 'Isfandiyar Khudidkd, known as
Babtiyari' (literally, befriended by good for-
tune or destiny). From that day forward he
adopted the name BaQtiyari and even applied
for his identity card under this name.
In 1920 he attained the presence of 'Abdu'l-
Baha in the Holy Land. The pilgrimage brought
him contentment, joy and a firmer belief in the
Cause of God. A brighter future dawned for him
and he acquired increased devotion and some
measure of economic security. In 1921 he and
his wife pioneered to Karachi, then a small
developing city. He served successively on the
National Spiritual Assembly of India and
Burma which came into being in 1923 and on
the National Spiritual Assembly of India, Paki-
stan and ~ u m which
a was formed in 1947, and
in 1957 when an independent National Spiritual
Assembly was established in Pakistan he was its
first chairman. In the half century during which
he served on these bodies he often held the office
of chairman or treasurer. He did not relish being
called treasurer and would style himself the
Yazd, joining with other youths in harassing trustee of the Baha'i funds. Although he pro-
him. In 1914 he married Sarvar u a n u m , the fessed himself ignorant of accounting pro-
daughter of Rustam Jam&id of Maryamabad. cedures, he was of the highest integrity and was
The turning point came for Isfandiyar well suited to his service. He continued to be
Bakhtiyiri a year or so later when he met elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of
Burzu Isfandiyar, a nephew of a noted BahB'i, Pakistan until he was appointed to serve as a
at a memorial gathering held at the home of a member of the Auxiliary Board.
relative. The Bahi'i refrained from drinking Baatiyari radiated love and affection, a
wine which is a part of the Zoroastrian cere- capacity which attracted hundreds to him and
monial for the departed, and read extracts from won many friends for the Faith. He established
Tablets of Bahi'u711ah which so impressed the friendly and enduring relationships with munici-
young Bakhtiyiri that he began to investigate pal officials, Government officers and leaders of
the Bahi'i Faith. As soon as he became the business community. The elite of the city
attracted he turned to Isfandiyar Ardihir whom considered it their privilege to serve the BahB'i
he had so vehemently opposed, was lovingly for- community.
given and, under his tutelage, began a serious During the half century of his BahB'i service
study of the Baha'i Cause which he soon whole- Bakhtiyari travelled extensively in the subcon-
heartedly espoused. This declaration on the part tinent and in Burma, Ceylon and Bangladesh.
of one so orthodox gave rise to a battalion of The teaching tour on which he accompanied the
sorrows for Babtiyari. Relatives and friends Hand of the Cause Martha Root1 in 1938 was a
deserted him and it became impossible for him landmark in the history of the Faith in southern
to continue farming. Disgusted by the blindly Asia. They visited many centres and had audi-
dogmatic activity surrounding him he disposed ences with several outstanding figures including
of his land and in 1917-19 18 with his young wife the Maharaja of Travancore and Dr. Rabin-
he sailed for Bombay where he became a part of dranath Tagore. On another occasion he also
the active community of BahB'is and eventually See 'International Survey of Current BahL'i Activities', The
established himself as a partner in a hotel. He Baha'i World, vol. VII, pp. 95-98.
556 T H E BAHA'I W O R L D

accompanied the renowned BahB'i scholar, the duties as an Auxiliary Board member, he began
Hand of the Cause Tarazu'llah Samandari, in a tour of Frontier Province, an area inhabited
his travels in India. His own teaching excursions mostly by the Pathans. Here the laity tend to be
took him from Kashmir to Cape Comorin and orthodox and the mullas prejudiced. He based
from Karachi to Rangoon. The second World himself at the BahB'i Centre in Rawalpindi and
War had ravaged Burma. He undertook long began his work but his extensive travels and age
and tiring visits to the BahB'i communities there took their toll at last and he fell ill. During his
to encourage the friends who had suffered and illness his indomitable spirit prevailed and in an
to revisit the resting-place of the Hand of the attitude of prayerfulness he breathed his last on
Cause Mustafa Rumi at Daidanaw. Travelling 24 June. He was buried in the Karachi BahB'i
and teaching became for him a way of life. For cemetery, in land which he had struggled to
months on end and sometimes for intervals of acquire from the municipality.
up to six months he would be away from home On 24 June 1975 the Universal House of
teaching the Cause here, consolidating a centre Justice cabled :
there and encouraging the friends wherever he
DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING VALIANT SELFLESS
went. His travels were facilitated by the full co-
STEADFAST PROMOTER FAITH ISFANDIYAR
operation of his understanding wife whose
BAKHTIYARI STOP HIS LIFELONG SERVICES SHED
loneliness can only be imagined, for the couple
LUSTRE ANNALS FAITH ENTIRE SUBCONTINENT
had no issue. She passed her days in prayer,
STOP ADVISE HOLD BEmTTING MEMORIAL MEET-
content that her husband was engaged in the
INGS STOP SUPPLICATING DIVINE THRESHOLD
service of God. BaBtiyari's business partners,
RICH REWARD HIS LONG DEVOTED SERVICES
too, consented to his travels so he was able to
CAUSE GOD.
move about with a light heart in serving his
beloved Cause.
Mr. and Mrs. Baatiyari were twice able to
visit the Holy Land and attain the presence of
Shoghi Effendi. In 1963, Isfandiyar again went
to the Holy Land to participate in the first
election of the Universal House of Justice. JAMES VASSAL FACEY
Baatiyari's devotion to the Guardian may
be measured by his dedicated implementation of
Shoghi Effendi's advice to shift the national James Vassal Facey passed to the Abha king-
headquarters of the BahB'i community of India dom on 9 July 1975. He lived an exemplary
from Poona to New Delhi. As treasurer of the BahB'i life, one that was completely dedicated to
National Spiritual Assembly he spearheaded a Baha'u'llah's service. His goal was total com-
drive for funds during the course of which he mitment to the Cause he loved so dearly and to
travelled thousands of miles, and successfully which he contributed his utmost for thirty years.
negotiated the purchase of the present National Jim and his wife Gladys-called Maisie by
Haziratu'l-Quds of India. He was also re- her friends-accepted the BahB'i Faith in June
sponsible, with the help of various friends, for the 1945 and were among the first harvest of souls
purchase of a site on which was constructed the who responded to the teaching efforts of Cora
first Bahi'i endowment in the Indian subcon- Oliver and Louise Caswell who opened Panama
tinent, a structure which became the present to the Faith in 1939. Mr. and Mrs. Facey shared
National Haziratu'l-Quds of Pakistan. He also the distinction of appearing on the membership
acquired two adjacent lots which he donated to roll of Panama's earliest believers and were
the Faith and on one of which a building was among the first five privileged to promote the
placed which he named 'The Happy Home' and Cause of God in Panama.
for which he settled a trust for a future Baha'i Born in Jamaica on 8 August 1896, James
kindergarten. Facey came as a boy to Colbn, the ancient
The last two decades of his life were spent in Atlantic seaport of Panama, with his widowed
pioneering to difficult areas in northern Paki- mother. While she worked to support herself
stan, first to Sargodha and then to Murree, a hill and her son, Jim lived in the home of an
station. In the spring of 1975, in relation to his Anglican priest, Father Edward Cooper, and
IN MEM

went to school. As a youth, he served as acolyte
in the church of which Father Cooper was
pastor. As Jim grew to manhood, both Father
Cooper and his mother encouraged him to
study for the ministry. At first Jim accepted
training for this vocation but he became increas-
ingly dissatisfied with doctrinal teachings and
finally was convinced that the ministry was not
for him. He stopped attending school and feel-
ing that under the circumstances he could no
longer accept the hospitality of Father Cooper
he left the parsonage and found employment in
the Colon Import and Export Company where
he remained as accountant for over fifty years.
In 1924 he met and married a young Colon
secretary, Gladys Abrahams, who was also a
free thinker in matters of religion. They agreed
that they would not affiliate with any church
and, for the next twenty years, they practised no
formal religion, though a high moral standard
of conduct was practised in the home and their
four children, Cedric, Kathleen, Alicia and
Betty, were exhorted to achieve an education.
In the early 1940s, Maisie met the two pio- .Tames Vassal Facey
neers who were then living in Colon, Cora and
Louise, and became attracted to the Baha'i
teachings. After a course of serious study it did Panama was assigned the groundwork re-
not take the Faceys long to realize that they sponsibility, under the guidance of the Uni-
were Baha'is and they applied for membership. versal House of Justice, for the acquisition of a
One other student who was attending the class, site and the subsequent construction of the
Iola Edwards, was accepted formally as a mem- Mother Temple of Latin America. His ded-
ber with the Faceys, and thus was formed the ication to the work relating to the construction
first Baha'i group in Colon, the second largest of the first BahB'i House of Worship on the soil
city in Panama. of Panama knew no bounds. When he was
When the first Local Spiritual Assembly was appointed as one of the readers at the dedication
formed in Colon, circa 1950, both Jim and of the Temple in April 1972, his gratitude for
Maisie were members. Jim was elected as trea- this bounty was immeasurable.
surer, a service he rendered all the rest of his life. Jim's total commitment to the Cause of
Their daughter, Kathleen, declared her faith in Baha'u'llah was readily apparent to all those
1953 and their daughter, Alicia, the following who came into contact with him. To him, the
year. The girls were in their early twenties and Cause was like an ocean, and he was a fish
both served on the Local Assembly. swimming in this ocean. He taught the Faith for
Jim was a member of the regional National thirty years with a steadfastness which was as
Spiritual Assembly of Central America and the natural as breathing. The stranger sitting beside
Antilles which came into being in 1951 and him on a public park bench, his fellow passenger
served as treasurer of that body until 1957 when on a bus, train or plane, within seconds would
the regional National Spiritual Assembly of hear, however briefly, of the BahB'i Faith. His
Central America was formed. When an inde- ever-burning zeal to present to others the veri-
pendent National Spiritual Assembly was es- ties of Baha'u'llah's teachings was perhaps his
tablished in Panama in 1961 he was again greatest weakness in that his patience with
elected as treasurer and in this office continued anyone reluctant to recognize or accept was
to render faithful and dedicated service until often thin. Being so totally convinced himself,
1968. The National Spiritual Assembly of he could not understand how anyone could fail
558 THE BAHA'I WORLD

to see the truth. He avidly supported extension Assembly duties and private teaching and mak-
teaching projects on the national and local levels ing an occasional trip.
and he placed into circulation countless Baha'i He was ill for only three months before his
books and pamphlets. He would never write a death and passed away quietly with Maisie
letter to a non-BahQ'i which did not contain sitting beside him. We know that when the
some reference to the Faith. history of the BahB'i Faith in Panama is written,
Jim had a keen grasp of the administrative and 'Abdu'l-Bahi's prophecy about Panama's
principles of the Faith. He studied this aspect of role in the development of the Faith shall have
the Faith avidly and applied the principles in his been fulfilled, James Facey's contributions to its
relationship to his fellow BahQ'isas members of earliest stages will merit singular recognition.
institutions or on a personal plane. Always an . . . ye must give great attention to the Re-
outstanding example of loyalty to these divinely public of Panama . . . That place will become
inspired guidelines,he expected the same loyalty very important in the future. The teachings,
from others. As his service to the Colon once established there, will unite the East and
Import and Export Company lengthened, he West, the North and South.
was increasingly able to arrange his vacations to 'Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of the Divine Plan
coincide with BahB'i conferences and institutes,
both in Panama and abroad, and made an effort
to attend as many as possible, it giving him
much satisfaction that he was able to finance his
own travelling expenses thereby saving the FRED GRAHAM
struggling national fund thousands of dollars. In
1913-1975
1952 he was privileged to witness the dedication
of the Mother Temple of the West in Wilmette, Two weeks before his passing, Fred Graham
Illinois and he was also present at the All- attended the conference at Wilmette in 1975
America Intercontinental Teaching Con- that brought together the two great branches of
ference in Chicago in 1953 when the Ten Year the Administrative Order, on both of which he
Crusade was launched. He attended the Inter- had served for many years. The Universal
national Convention in Haifa in 1963 for the House of Justice had called together all the 'high
first election of the Universal House of Justice ranking officers' and 'senior administrative
and served as a teller during that epoch-making bodies' of the Faith in North America for
event. special consultation on the future protection of
When the Faceys embraced the Baha'i Faith the Cause. It was in many respects the culmi-
they became targets for taunts and ridicule from nation of his life, for his intensely enquiring
friends and members of the clergy who pro- mind had had a unique opportunity to explore
phesied that their allegiance to this 'strange cult' through consultation some of the most impor-
was destined to be short lived, that they would tant themes in the Writings of the BahB'i Faith,
soon abandon it in disillusion. Jim's faith was and the genius for loving which Fred possessed
exposed to yet another test when the beloved was fully utilized in this gathering whose prin-
Guardian announced that BahB'is should resign cipal achievement was to bind more closely than
their membership in secret organizations in- ever before the institutions of the Faith. Step-
cluding Freemasonry. A prominent member of ping out of the Temple shortly before the
the Masonic Lodge for years, Jim unhesitat- closing session of the conference, Fred was seen
ingly dissociated himself from this fraternal tie. taking a stroll in the gardens. His face was
For him, there could be no other course; the literally radiant, his hat cocked on the side of his
BahB'i Faith was the most important thing in his head in a fashion that was characteristic of him
life. when he was especially happy, and his step was
Five years before his final illness, Jim retired so jaunty that the phrase 'walking on air'
from business and built a new home at Puerto seemed not at all inappropriate. But what most
Pilon, a suburb of Colon, where he laid out and struck those who saw him was his smile: he
planted an extensive garden. He remained smiled as if he had discovered some marvellous
interested, active and in good health until his secret.
late seventies, continuing to carry on his Local His discovery of that secret began in 1949
He saw in every experience further con-
firmations of the Providence that guided his
entire life.
His ability to see the good in everything was
applied not only to his own life but to the lives of
all who came in contact with him. To his family
and friends he was a constant inspiration, a
source of wit and a dear companion. He would
frequently ask 'Are you happy?' with such a
pure reflection of 'Abdu'l-BahL's spirit of love
that he imparted happiness in the asking. He
was both a serious student and a spontaneous
optimist. He approached young people with the
same open humility as he did leaders of thought.
This humility, coupled with his humour, invited
others to share in his delight with everything
around him, and made him able to evoke in
others a quality of response which they were
unaware that they possessed. While remaining
remarkably unaware of his own noble qualities,
his audacious mind seemed to put him in touch
with ideas that were at the very forefront of the
unfoldment of the Cause, for he always strove to
Fred Graham unravel their implications, and derived new joy
from doing so in his teaching and administrative
service.
when his former piano teacher, Miss Gertrude In 1954 he was elected to the National Spiri-
Barr, was moved to reacquaint herself with him tual Assembly of Canada on which body he
for the express purpose of teaching him the served for nine years, participating in the first
Faith, after his name had come to her repeatedly election of the Universal House of Justice. In
during prayer. Aware of her interest in an 1964, following a heart attack, he was appointed
unfamiliar religion, Fred at first tried to avoid to the Auxiliary Board and, as his health im-
her, but she was determined and finally suc- proved, devoted increasing time to extensive
ceeded in telling him about BahB'u'llah. It was travelling teaching throughout his area of re-
not long before he responded to the wonderful sponsibility. Fred's service to the Cause was
nature of her message. He embraced the Cause marked by a profound awareness of the impor-
in 1951 and immediately began a course of tance of its institutions and a deep love for them.
teaching which lasted until his death on 21 July During his years as an Auxiliary Board member
1975. the National Assembly derived great strength
Fred was born in Rose Valley, Prince Edward and assurance from his efforts to communicate
Island, Canada on 18 August 1913 and spent his to the friends the ardent appeals so often made
childhood in both Canada and the eastern by the Guardian that they should 'rally round'
United States. As his father's work involved a their local, and in particular their national,
great deal of travelling, Fred's early education centres of activity. This special service was
took place in many different towns and cities, a paralleled by Fred's love and appreciation of
circumstance which may have contributed to the institution of the Hands of the Cause. His
the impression he gave throughout his life of life became an occasion for the institutions of
being at home in whatever situation he was in. the Covenant of Baha'u'llah to meet, to ap-
His work also reflected this flexibility for not preciate the gifts with which each had been
only did he at one time manage a large chain of endowed, and to serve the common purpose for
restaurants and establish his own successful which they had been created.
business in Hamilton, Ontario, but he later On 22 July 1975 the Universal House of
became equally adept in the automotive field. Justice cabled :
560 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

ASSURE FERVENT PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES geline, by giving German lessons. She managed
PROGRESS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM AUXILIARY to book passage for herself and the child on the
BOARD MEMBER FRED GRAHAM DEVOTED last steamer leaving Italy for New York. Had
SERVANT BAHAULLAH INSPIRING TEACHER she waited one more day she could not have left.
CAUSE STOP EXTEND SYMPATHY WIFE FAMILY Some time after reaching America she mar-
FRIENDS THROUGHOUT CANADA LOSS WARM- ried a Mr. Kropf and went to live in Michigan.
HEARTED EXEMPLARY BELIEVER. Her interest in religion continued and deepened.
On one occasion in 1915 she attended a Nine-
teen-Day Feast in a private home and on
hearing the beautiful prayers read recognized
VERENA VENTURINI that this was the Faith of God for this day, the
Cause of which her sister had been speaking and
1878-1975
writing to her for so many years. Once when she
On 13 August 1975 the noble soul of our was invited by a literary society in Lowell,
unforgettable Baha'i sister, Mrs. Verena Ven- Michigan to conduct one of their meetings, she
turini, took its flight to the Abha kingdom. My felt it was her chance to offer the message of
hand is stilled and unable to pen the loving Bahi'u'llih; a BahB'i friend, Mrs. Perry of
remembrance and the sorrow that her departure Grand Rapids, read the principles of the Faith
evokes in innumerable friends. Her life in the and Verena spoke of Tahirih.
BahB'i Faith, lasting well over half a century, Mrs. Agnes Parsons who had given up her
sets an example, arouses admiration, inspires worldly life and become a dedicated believer
and infuses courage. made her pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1918.
In 1909, in the city of New York, at the home Verena was prevented by family obligations
of her sister, Mrs Maria Schober, Mrs. Ven- from joining her, so she contented herself with
turini for the first time heard the names sending 'Abdu'l-Baha a pair of tan silk gloves.
BahB'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Bahi. It was the eve of When her sister's family moved to San Fran-
her departure for Italy, as her husband Guido cisco, she was asked to join them there. Among
Venturini, a distinguished musician, wished her new friends she counted John and Louise
their child to be born in Rome. That evening Bosch.
Grace Ober and Ella Robarts visited Mrs. Two hard blows came in rapid succession
Schober and spoke of a Personage Whose de- through the deaths of her second husband and
scription made a deep impression upon Verena. her physical and spiritual sister, Maria Schober.
Religion had been very important to her since Mrs. Schober's BahB'i burial was conducted by
childhood; therefore she was attentive and Mrs. Ella Cooper in Brentwood, California.
anxious to know Who He was. She was told : He The desire of her daughter, Evangeline, to
is the Son of BahB'u'llah; His name is 'Abdu'l- start her university studies in the fine arts and
Bahi. The next day Mrs. Venturini departed for music in Italy brought Verena back to Rome in
Rome. 1928.During the long period she spent in Rome,
Mrs. Schober later became a BahB'i through from the date of her return to the end of World
May Maxwell and accompanied her on one War 11, she remained steadfast in the Covenant
occasion in 1912 to the hotel where 'Abdu'l- and was delighted to receive from time to time
BahB was staying. Having attained His presence Baha'i travellers who visited Rome. In 1947,
and, overcome with awe, having forgotten when Dr. and Mrs. Ugo Giachery arrived in
everything she had wanted to ask the Master, Rome as pioneers, she was the first one to join
Mrs. Schober remembered only her sister of them in their efforts to form the first Local
whose difficulties she spoke to Him, and re- Spiritual Assembly of Italy in that city in 1948.
ceived 'Abdu'l-BahB's assurance that He would On page 145 of his Recollections of Shoghi
pray for Mrs. Venturini. Effendi, Dr. Giachery has written: '. . . on the
The death of Mr. Venturini initiated for wall by the head of his bed, Shoghi Effendi had
Verena a period of anxiety and difficulties. She placed the photograph of the first Italian Local
was in a desperate situation at the outbreak of Assembly, that of Rome . . . nothing had
World War I in 1914 and was attempting to pleased him more than the establishment of a
support herself and her little daughter, Evan- BahB'i administrative institutionin the Christian
AORIAM 561
She never missed a Nineteen-Day Feast, al-
though her home was at least fifteen kilometres
from Rome ;and even when she was eighty years
old, if there was no one to accompany her, she
would take a bus or tram in order to be present.
Unfailingly she brought bouquets of flowers
which the younger believers recognized as the
fragrant and gentle signs of her presence. Un-
forgettable are the memories of the Nineteen-
Day Feasts she hosted yearly, usually in the
spring, at her beautiful home. This setting was a
perfect fusion of the beauty of her soul with the
scent and colour of the flowers and plants in the
surrounding gardens.
In a letter dated 16 July 1931 written on
behalf of Shoghi Effendi it was stated: '. . . He
expects from you splendid achievements and
these you can certainly accomplish as you have
been endowed with a deep and unwavering faith
in the principles and the teachings of the Cause.'
Appended in the handwriting of the beloved
Guardian were the significant words : 'With the
assurance of my loving prayers for your happi-
Verena Venturini ness and spiritual advancement . . .' What per-
fect consonance came with time to exist between
capital of the world,' and the Guardian said, the contents of the Guardian's letter and the life
'"There are three religious centres in the world of our dear friend and spiritual sister!
with distinct functions: Rome, Mecca, and For many years in succession she was elected
Cairo, where the Cause will register its greatest to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Rome. Her
victories for the Faith in the future." ' wisdom and love of the Cause of God were a
Upon learning that a Local Spiritual As- source of inspiration to her colleagues on that
sembly was to be formed in Rome, Verena body. Her faithful service will never be for-
became aflame. She immediately purchased gotten, and it was with much regret that she was
many Bahi'i books and memorized many of the allowed to withdraw from active administrative
beautiful prayers. One day an American writer, service because of her advanced age.
Mrs. Frances Toor, came to her with a letter of We pray that she may intercede for us, and
introduction from mutual friends in the United help to accelerate the progress in this world of
States. She was invited by Mrs. Venturini to a those ideals whose universal acceptance,
meeting at the Giachery's home and later ac- throughout her whole life, was her heart's most
cepted the Faith. Mrs. Isabella Argenide Papa, ardent longing.
her daughter's mother-in-law, also met Dr. and MARIOPIARULLI
Mrs. Giachery and subsequently accepted the
Faith. How great was her joy! Having one
member of her family embrace the Faith was the
source of one of her greatest spiritual comforts
during the years she lived in Rome.
Mrs. Venturini attended the Intercontinental
Teaching Conference held in Stockholm in
1953, one of the four conferences signalizing the Ghulam-'Ali 'Ubbadi was born in Tihran in
launching of the unique Ten Year Crusade of 1899. His father was a highly placed govern-
Shoghi Effendi, and during the years that fol- ment employee and a devout Muslim, as were all
lowed she attended some of the Italo-Swiss the members of the family. When Mr. 'Ubbadi
Baha'i Summer Schools held at Bex-les-Bains. was in his early childhood his father died and he
562 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

was cared for by his only brother until he had extreme difficulty in challenging the logic of
reached fifteen years of age at which time he left the teaching presented by the BahB'i and he and
his brother's house where he was unhappy and his associates left the house in a state of anger
began to work in the business world. He applied and perplexity. Mr. 'Ubbadi resolved to have
himself diligently, working far into the night, nothing further to do with the BahB'is. The clerk
and soon became successful and prosperous. He did not change his behaviour towards Mr.
was highly respected by his colleagues and 'Ubbadi but continued to visit him and on one
tradesmen. He was a leading citizen in his occasion presented him with a BahB'i book. In
neighbourhood and won the respect of the local time Mr. 'Ubbadi's heart was changed by what
residents. One day the representative of the road he read. He sought out the BahB'is and became a
sweepers' organization, a clerk, came to him devoted and active member of the BahB'i com-
requesting a certificate approving the manner in munity. He was at this time about twenty years
which the sweepers had performed their duties. of age. He eventually married Ridviniyyih
Mr. 'Ubbadi who was punctilious in all affairs Raw&an-Damir, a member of a distinguished
personally inspected the streets of the district BahB'i family, and she was in all circumstances a
and then signed the certificate. The clerk, who constant source of encouragement and help to
was a BahB'i, was impressed by Mr. 'Ubbadi's him and a sincere and loving collaborator.
character and invited him to his home for tea. A In 1943, Mr. and Mrs. 'Ubbadi pioneered to
friendship developed between the two men and Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim, on the outskirts of Tihrin,
-
eventually the clerk arranged a meeting between where they were successful in establishing the
Mr. 'Ubbadi and an outstanding BahB'i first Local Spiritual Assembly. Mr. 'Ubbadi
teacher. All that Mr. 'Ubbidi heard during that served as a member of the BahB'i Training
first meeting disturbed him, but his heart was Institute in Tihran. A boarding school had been
attracted to this new message. After a period of established for orphaned and needy children.
uneasiness he requested another meeting be- Mr. 'Ubbadi helped the institute both finan-
tween the Baha'i teacher and some of his Muslim cially and spiritually. In his new home he
friends who were well versed in Islamic theol- continued to suvervise the education of children
ogy. Mr. 'Ubbadi was distressed that his friends and engaged a teacher from Tihran for their
instruction. Unfortunately, after two years, he
became seriously ill and suffered extreme pain
and had to return to Tihrin, but he continued to
send children to the institute and to pay their
expenses. When his condition worsened and his
physicians despaired of his life, Mr. 'Ubbbdi
wrote to the beloved Guardian requesting
prayers for the restoration of his health.
Receiving an assurance of Shoghi Effendi's
prayers thr0ugh.a letter written by his secretary
on his behalf on 14 November 1945, Mr.
'Ubbadi gradually regained his strengthandcon-
tinued his service in the cradle of the Faith. In
1955 Mr. and Mrs. 'Ubbadi made a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land and entered the presence of
ShoghiEffendiwho told them he was well pleased
with their services. The visit to the holy Shrines
and the moments spent with the Guardian were
Mr. 'Ubbadi's most cherished memories.
The most fruitful period of Mr. 'Ubbadi's life
was the last twenty years which he spent as a
pioneer in Morocco. He and his wife came to
Rabat on 23 August 1955, two years after the
launching- of the Ten Year Crusade. Mr.
Ghulam-'Alt ' Ubbadi 'Ubbadi was elected to the Local Spiritual
I N MEM[ O R I A M 563
Assembly of Rabat and served on this body for WAYS REMEMBERED ASSURE PRAYERS HOLY
nineteen years, often in the capacity of chair- SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL.
man or treasurer. His broken health prevented
his continuing this service during the last year of
his life. During the period from 1965 to 1967 he
was also a member of the National Spiritual
Assembly of North West Africa. Despite the
distance, his advanced age and his uncertain G. S. SANTHANAM KRISHNAN
health he travelled to the meetings, some of
which were held in Algeria and Tunisia. He had
a profound affection for the friends in Morocco. In the Heroic Age of the Faith thousands of
He had a warm and generous nature and was God-intoxicated men, women and children joy-
always the first to offer assistance to those in fully sacrificed everything, including their very
distress. His help was always extended in a most lives, for their Beloved. In the Formative Age
discreet manner. such souls are rare. G. S. Krishnan was one of
Although his most signal services were ren- them.
dered in Morocco, Mr. 'Ubbadi served the Krishnan was born in Singapore on 1 Oc-
entire Baha'i world through his unstinting gen- tober 1945. A quiet boy by nature, he would
erosity. He was indeed like a fathomless spring, never quarrel and he went his own way without
constantly pouring out his resources to advance troubling anyone. A very devout Hindu, he
the work of the Faith throughout the world, would frequently be found meditating or in
through contributing to the purchase or con- prayer. He became a BahB'i followingthe Ocean-
struction of Ha~iratu'l-Quds,Temples, Teach- ic Conference of the South China Seas, held in
ing Institutes and the publication of BahB'i Singapore in January 1971. Thenceforward he
literature. He received from Shoghi Effendi never looked back, but gave his who1.e heart and
many expressions of gratitude including a cable soul to the Cause of Baha'u'llah.
acknowledgingwith 'deep appreciation' his 'his- He immediately began to serve the Faith by
toric service' in purchasing the National teaching and by working on committees, and he
Ha~iratu'l-Quds of Morocco. Among his even changed his residence in order that he
papers were found more than 80 letters from the could provide a place for meetings. He was the
Universal House of Justice, many of them chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly of
containing expressions of appreciation of his Katong and was one of the nine delegates at the
unfailing generosity in contributing to a wide national convention for the election of the first
variety of Baha'i projects in every continent. National Spiritual Assembly of Singapore in
On 19 August 1975, while in London for 1972. He served as secretary of the regional
medical treatment, Mr. 'Ubbadi passed on to Bahi'i Youth Council of Singapore and was its
the Abha kingdom in his seventy-sixth year, press officer. His relations with the local press
mourned by a wide circle of BahB'i friends. A were good and Krishnan would personally en-
floral tribute was received from the broken- sure that the Baha'i Holy Days and other Baha'i
hearted believers in Morocco who had loved observances were announced. He would deprive
and highly valued him. He is buried near his himself to give whatever he had to the Baha'i
heart's beloved, Shoghi Effendi, in the Great Fund. While attending the BahB'i Summer
Northern London Cemetery, New Southgate. School in Johor Baru before he left Singapore,
The following cable from the Universal he gave away his camera although he knew he
House of Justice summarizes in a few words the would be lost without one.
qualities we loved in Mr. 'Ubbadi: Although Krishnan was slim and of slight
stature, his heart was large. His purity of heart,
REQUEST NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY IN- selflessness and good humour endeared him to
FORM RIDVANIYYIH UBBADI DEEPLY GRIEVED the friends. When he visited Malaysia in con-
PASSING GHULAM UBBADI HIS STEADFAST DED- nection with his employment he would contact
ICATION HIS GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT the Baha'is and offer his services, and he was
VAST NUMBER VITAL PROJECTS HIS DEVOTED very much loved by the believers there. He
SERVICES PIONEERING TEACHING FIELDS AL- was always punctual and never broke a promise.
T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

drunkenness he witnessed. The only way to lay
a foundation for the Faith, he concluded, was to
educate the unspoiled children. He vigorously
pursued this plan and started children's classes
in seven villages, one for each day of the week.
He conducted a children's class at Karaikal each
Sunday morning and in the evening he offered
classes for adults, but no one came and he was in
great despair.
Karaikal was opened to the Faith in 1953
through the pioneering efforts of Mrs. S. M.
Noorani and Mrs. Salisa Kermani and after
years of struggle a BahB'i Centre was con-
structed through the generosity of Mr. and
Mrs. Kermani. During her historic tour of India
in 1964 the Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Baha
Ruhiyyih a a n u m had called for BahB'i
teachers to visit Karaikal where she found a
receptivity to the Faith, but she cautioned that
they needed to be physically strong and capable
of visiting the villages on foot over the rice-
paddy walks. Krishnan visited the villages on
foot but as time went on his health declined. The
G. S. Santhanam Krishnan spicy local food did not agree with him and he
existed mainly on bananas and rice. He became
dispirited and wanted to leave Karaikal. In June
Krishnan arrived in India in January 1974 1975 he obtained an appointment in a school in
and proceeded to his parents' home in Kumba- Lucknow and there, too, he taught the Faith
konam. He served the Cause in India just as incessantly although he spoke no Hindi.
eagerly as in Singapore, systematically making At a regional teaching conference in Hyder-
appointments with local dignitaries and pre- abad he volunteered with some other Baha'is
senting literature to them. Soon a BahB'i group for a teaching project in an interior tribal area in
formed and he enthusiastically assumed the Warangal. When the call for funds was made at
responsibility of deepening the friends. A pro- the conference he gave his watch, then all his
lific writer, he directed a steady flow of letters money and finally his sandals. He proceeded
and reports to the National Spiritual Assembly with the team to Warangal where they had some
of India and the State Teaching Committee. success but Krishnan soon fell ill. He was
After a period of six months the National admitted to the University Hospital there and
Assembly appointed him as a travelling teacher. succumbed to an internal haemorrhage which
He later became an assistant to Auxiliary Board took his life on 6 December 1975. In his small
member B. Afan. battered suitcase were found only BahB'i books
He was sent to Karaikal to assist with the and notebooks containing quotations from the
work in a number of villages in the Thirunallar Baha'i Writings and carefully transcribed
area where he visited government offices, schools prayers.
and colleges and spoke to members of service The National Spiritual Assembly of India
organizations including the Lions Club and the wrote at the time of his passing: 'Mr. Krishnan
Rotary Club. As he did not find any friends of served the Faith most diligently and sincerely
his calibre there, he felt lonely. He attended all . . . He was a young man . . . full of enthusiasm,
Baha'i conferences, near and far, to revive his devotion and love for Baha'u'llah and had
spirits through the joy of BahC'i fellowship. In dedicated his life to the service of the Faith. In
the villages of Thirunallar he was handicapped spite of the offer of a good job in Singapore he
in teaching because he could not speak Tamil preferred to continue his full-time services in
and he was distressed by the widespread India and had informed the National Assembly
that till the end of the Five Year Plan he would
not leave his post.'
In reply, the Universal House of Justice wrote
on 22 December 1975:'We were grieved to learn
of the passing of the devoted, brave and stead-
fast pioneer, Mr. S. Krishnan. His passing in the
field of service to the Cause of God no doubt
will confer upon him a special bounty which will
be a cause of the progress of his soul in the
eternal Kingdom of God.
'In his lifetime he has established a link
between the BahB'i communities in India and
Singapore. This bond of love and co-operation
between your two countries will be further
strengthened by his passing.
'Please convey our deepest sympathy to his
relatives and friends in Singapore and in India.
We shall offer prayers at the holy Shrines that
the mercy of Bahi'u'llih may rest upon his
soul.'

Muni'r Vakil
1900-1976
Knight of Bahs'u'llah addition to caring for his family and pursuing
his studies. Under difficult circumstances, and
It is very difficult in a brief memoir to cover all with perseverance, he obtained a degree in law,
aspects of the life and services of this coura- and was subsequently enrolled in the army as
geous and devoted servant of Bahi'u'llah part of the reserve force.
whose passing to the Abhi kingdom on 14 The 1920s witnessed a stream of very sig-
February 1976 ended a brilliant page in the nificant events in 'Iraq. King Faisal I of 'Iraq
annals of the history of the Faith in 'Iraq and handed the House of Baha'u'llih to the Muslim
deprived the Baha'i world of an outstanding authorities. The entire Baha'i world community
and firm believer. was mustered, by the beloved Guardian, to rise
He was born in Baghdad in a house adjacent and protest against that shattering decision
to the blessed House of BahB'u'llah. His grand- which, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, deprived
father and father accepted the Faith during the the Baha'is 'of yet another BahB'i Shrine, the
days when Bahi'u'llah was in Baghdad and they House occupied by Baha'u'llah for well nigh the
served the Cause devotedly and looked after the whole period of His exile in 'Iraq, which had
blessed House during their lifetimes. This close been acquired by Him, and later had been
association with the House was a privilege ordained as a centre of pilgrimage, and had
which Mr. Vakil and his family treasured. He continued in the unbroken and undisputed
was also privileged, as a young boy, to be in the possession of His followers ever since His depar-
presence of the beloved Master in the Holy ture from Baghdad.'l Munir Vakil, acting as the
Land. His mother and elder sister served caretaker of that blessed Spot, carried out the
'Abdu'l-BahB's household for a short period instructions of the beloved Guardian with zeal,
during which Munir befriended the young hope and selfless devotion.
Shoghi Effendi. Mr. Vakil served on the first National Spiri-
With the passing of his father, Munir Vakil, tual Assembly of 'Iraq and was enthusiastically
who was then still a young man, inherited the
responsibility of tending the blessed House in 'See God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, pp. 356-357.
566 T H E B A H A ' ~W O R L D

involved in the progress of the Faith there. His to leave 'Iraq within five months of his arrival
position in the Ministry of Defence reached a and to proceed to the Seychelles which was a
peak when he was promoted to legal counsellor goal area assigned to the National Spiritual
to the Ministry with the rank of Brigadier. His Assembly of 'Iraq. He stayed there arranging
colleagues and superiors came to know Mr. for his entire family to join him, but was recalled
Vakil and witnessed his uprightness, fidelity and to Baghdad in 1954 following the death of his
devotion in the discharge of his duties. He mother. In April 1955, Mr. Vakil and his family
conveyed the Baha'i spirit in every aspect of his moved from 'Iriq to settle in the Seychelles. His
life and work, especially in looking after the activities in increasing the number of believers,
interests of minorities and upholding the rights particularly among the native population, were
of individuals regardless of class, rank or creed. untiring. The Vakil family stayed in the
His outstanding record and integrity won the Seychelles until 1962, by which time the first
respect and admiration of many military Local Spiritual Assembly on these islands was
officers. established and the number of believers had
At the onset of the Ten Year Global Crusade been increased considerably. Mr. Vakil pur-
of the beloved Guardian Mr. Vakil attended the chased for the Faith the Haziratu'l-Quds in
Asian Intercontinental Teaching Conference Victoria, Mahi: and maintained it until he left
held in New Delhi in October 1953. Im- the islands.
mediately after the conference he arose to an- After his return to 'Iraq he continued unceas-
swer the call of the Guardian for pioneers to ingly his vigorous service to the Faith and later
virgin territories. He left directly from India to served on the National spirituai Assembly.
settle in the Kuria Muria Islands, a group of five Following a heart attack, he became bed-ridden
rocky islets in the Arabian Sea off the south-west for a long time. During the period prior to his
coast of Oman, an action for which he was passing, he was a tower of strength to the
named by Shoghi Effendi a Knight of faithful believers in 'Iraq and his steadfastness
Baha'u'llah. The conditions on the islands were and obedience to the orders of the Government
extremely difficult, poor and perilous. He spent were exemplary.
a hazardous period of nine *months during The meritorious life of this valiant servant of
which he shared his primitive hut with the few the Blessed Beauty is summarized in the follow-
domestic animals of the island. The natives who ing cable of the Universal House of Justice
lived entirely on the proceeds of fishing were which bestowed loving praises for his rich
initially very sceptical of the presence of Mr. record of service :
Vakil in their midst. The presence of a foreigner
DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING DEVOTED KNIGHT
who sought to live as they did was without
BAHAULLAH MUNIR VAKIL HIS SELFSACRIFIC-
precedent. He ate and dressed like the natives
ING SERVICES TEACHING ADMINISTRATIVE
and shared their subsistence-level existence. He
PIONEER FIELDS LOVINGLY REMEMBERED SHED
was visited only once by the British military
LUSTRE ACHIEVEMENTS HEROIC COMMUNITY OF
representative of the Hadhramaut and Masqat
WHICH HE WAS SUCH DISTINGUISHED MEMBER
area. This man and his wife were intrigued by
PRAYING SHRINES PROGRESS HIS RADIANT
the presence, in such a remote and non-civilized
SOUL ASSURE FAMILY FRZENDS HEARTFELT
island, of an 'Iraqi of high military rank. It was
SYMPATHY.
through this contact that Mr. Vakil's family
received the sole report that reached them about F ~ Q V ~MUQBIL
N
the conditions under which he lived; it was
coupled with the admiration expressed by the
British Governor for his selfless devotion and
perseverance.
Following a period of illness Mr. Vakil was EDWARD L. BODE
forced to return to Baghdad where increasing 25 August 1906-13 March 1976
pressure was placed upon him by the Ministry
of Defence to resume his job and accept pro- Edward and Mary Bode-these names are en-
motion. However, the flame of pioneering ser- twined in the history of the BahB'i Faith as were
vice continued to blaze in his heart. This led him their services in life. From the time of their
IN MEMORIAM 567
marriage in 1936, 'they together had but one
goal . . . They were like migratory birds, going
where the divine wind of Baha'u'llih blew them :
the world was their nest; their food: the goals of
the Divine Plan; their only security: God will
assist all those who arise to serve Him.' (G. S.)
This unity in service-so tenacious and
touching-was often remarked by the Guardian
of the Faith, who launched their marriage with
the hope that 'this union may serve to impart to
your heart and to the heart of your dear hus-
band a renewed and powerful stimulus to assist
in spreading far and wide the Divine Word.'l
Ten years later he urged them 'to persevere in
your task, however great the sacrifice involved
. . .', and, a year after, expressed his admiration
of their 'passionate spirit of devotion to the
service of our Faith. . .'2 Fulfilling to the utmost
of their powers the Guardian's trust, they at-
tained that height of 'living sacrifice' to which
Shoghi Effendi had called the 'spiritual de-
scendants of the dawn-breakers' of the Heroic
Age.
Edward's father had come from Germany to Edward L. Bode
the United States as a child, and at the time of
Edward's birth his family lived in a small arrived in Rio de Janeiro on 16 January 1946.At
Missouri town, moving to St. Louis when he long last they were 'enabled to . . . serve in those
was only three or four. Here, in vacations and foreign fields' that had for 'so long been luring
after graduation, he gained experience in a [them] from afar!'4 The formation of the first
hardware store which qualified him for his Local Spiritual Assembly of Rio de Janeiro the
duties, during World War 11, as a civilian following April, its incorporation, and the de-
attached to the United States Air Force for the velopment of a BahB'i Publishing Trust for the
supply of flying training fields in Arizona and Portuguese language were notable achieve-
California. Before this, after his family's move ments in which they shared during their three
to California when Edward was seventeen, he years in Brazil. There followed short periods of
had made his way in Hollywood, as actor and teaching in Holland and Portugal in 1949-1 950.
assistant director in silent films, and as theatri- In 1952 Edward required major surgery in the
cal agent; to him came Mary, who had appeared United States; convalescence was long, but the
in a number of plays in New York. Their Guardian's 'loving fervent prayers' and their
marriage and Edward's acceptance of the own strong determination brought complete
Baha'i Faith, into which he was welcomed by healing and return to the pioneer field, this time
Shoghi Effendi 'as a dear fellow-worker in the in Mexico, where from October 1954 to January
Divine Vineyard', set these two on the path of 1956 they worked in Cuernavaca, Puebla and
their 'pioneer labours, so faithfully and selflessly Mexico City, then briefly in the Canal Zone,
rendered'3 in North and South America, Europe Panama. The next two years found them active
and the island of Madeira. in teaching in Mississippi and Florida, but
Their desire to pioneer had been awakened longing 'to win still more brilliant victories, in
through membership, in 1941-1942, of the distant fields . . .' (Shoghi Effendi)
Inter-America Committee during the first Seven In October 1959 they began their remarkable
Year Plan. Even before war's end, they had services to the Dutch BahB'i community, lasting
turned their thoughts to South America, and for nine and a half years, in Arnhem, The Hague
Nuinbered quotatioils are from letters written on behalf and Rotterdam, during which time Edward
of Shoghi Effendi. served for five years as a member of the
568 T H E BAHA'I W O R L D

National Spiritual Assembly. The years 'we spent Edward's last service was to find the BahB'i
in Holland,' he wrote, 'were a mixture of delight, Centre, a 'lovely house' where enquirers happily
frustration, hard work and gratification. The gathered.
Dutch people furnished the delight. . . . But But Madeira's climate was unsuitable for
their interest in the Faith was a thing of slow and Edward. In January 1976 he developed an
laborious growth. . . . So the years in Holland agonizing bronchial asthma after influenza, re-
were filled with work . . . for the Faith . . . for covered slowly, but suffered it again in March,
BahB'u'llBh. And what is more glorious than followed by a stroke; a day later, on 13 March,
that? he rejoined his dear partner in the Abhi realms,
In the spring of 1969, Edward aged sixty- whose presence, Muriel wrote, 'was so strong
three and Mary ten years older, both seriously and real' as 'his breathing became fainter and
disabled in health, bravely took up their pioneer fainter, lighter and lighter, till it was like the beat
post in Funchal, Madeira, recommended to of butterfly wings. . . .' Edward's burial was in
them by the Universal House of Justice. Within the British Cemetery. He was known in Madeira
six months, Mary's death occurred in Lisbon. as ' 0 homen de Deus' (man of God), for 'he was
Edward had received from his parents, Wil- more of a saint and hero than anyone will ever
imina and William Bode, whom he greatly know . . .' (V. 0.)He had held to Madeira until
cherished, an example of love in marriage, and the end, and was extolled by the Universal
for forty years Edward, by his 'patience, love House of Justice in its cablegram dated 15
and care' for Mary, had enriched his own March 1976:
marriage; 'their togetherness was endless and of
HIS FIRM DETERMINATION REMAIN POST
classic beauty'. (G. S.) 'Words cannot express
MADEIRA EXEMPLIFIED SPIRIT DEVOTION CAUSE
my feelings of despair as we were like one unit,'
HE SERVED FOR MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS AS
Edward himself commented.
For nearly three years Edward soldiered on,
PIONEER AMERICAS EUROPE ...
ceaselessly, cautiously teaching; reinforced in
1972 by others, but again alone in 1973 when
Muriel Ives Newhall arrived in April to find him Note: The author is indebted to Gini Sijsling, Virginia
Orbison and Muriel Ives Newhall for their letters about
with 'the look of another Lincoln-solitary and Edward Bode's life and service; their initials are given after
bowed'. She set herself to be, in Mary's stead, quotations from them. The National Spiritual Assembly of
'the hands and feet' to see to his physical care the United States kindly sent Mr. Bode's report, 6 May 1975,
describing his and his wife's pioneering in Brazil and Holland.
and to share with him the continuous demands The 'In Memoriam' article about Mary Hotchkiss Bode
of pioneering in restricted circumstances. appears in Tlze Bahd'i World, vol. XV, pp. 460-461.

Errata

Ednardo Dnarte Vieira, 1921-1966, the first African Bahb'i Salomon Pacora Estrada, known as Pacora Blue Mountain,
martyr, whose 'In Memoriam' appears in The Bahd'i World, 1889-1969, one of the first of Inca descent to embrace the
vol. XIV, pp. 389-390, where his name is incorrectly given. Faith of BahB'u'llih. His 'In Memoriam' which appears on
Illforlnation subsequently received at the World Centre con- p. 467 of The Baha'i World, vol. XV, is illustrated by the
firmed the spelling of his name as set out above. photograph of another believer.

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