# Obituary: Antonella Khursheed (1958-2000)

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Anjam Khursheed, Obituary: Antonella Khursheed (1958-2000), bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Obituary
> Antonella Khursheed (1958-2000)
> 
> Antonella Khursheed, the secretary of our Singapore Association Bahá'í
> studies group, lost her life on 30th July in a motorway accident while
> vacationing in Italy. The cause of the accident was a burst tire. She leaves
> behind her husband Anjam, and 6 year-old daughter Sarah.
> 
> Antonella enthusiastically served our Singapore Association of Bahá’í
> Studies group from its very beginning in 1996. She helped found it, and
> was one of the three key people always involved in it. Antonella desktop
> published all four volumes of the Singapore Bahá'í Studies Review
> journal published so far and managed its distribution to various Bahá’í
> institutions around the world. In 1996, Antonella wrote a paper entitled
> “Jesus the Son of God and the Incarnation Doctrine”, which was
> subsequently published in our first Singapore Bahá'í Studies Review. She
> had a deep interest in the history of Christianity, and its relationship to the
> Bahá’í Faith. Antonella organised our annual Singapore Bahá'í Studies
> conference. Practically all the conference organisation was managed
> single-handedly by Antonella. She arranged all the usual conference
> details with great love and enthusiasm, from providing the food,
> welcoming our participants and speakers, through to the printing of the
> programme of Abstracts. She did all this in a great spirit of service, and
> she is for us, quite simply, irreplaceable. Words cannot describe our
> feeling of loss for Antonella.
> 
> Antonella was an Italian from a Catholic background, bom in 195 8 . in
> Rome. When she was 15 years old, she investigated and discovered the
> Bahá’í Faith, and was the first in her family to become a Baháfí. Later her
> sister and mother also became Bahd’is. In 1992, she married Anjam
> Khursheed, a Pakistani of British nationality. In September 1993, her
> daughter, Sarah, was bom in Torino, a city in the Northern part of Italy.
> The family moved to Singapore in January 1995 where Anjam Khursheed
> took up an Associate Professor post in the Electrical Engineering
> Department at the National University of Singapore.
> 172        THE SINGAPORE BAHÁ1 STUDIES REVIEW
> 
> Antonella Khursheed was well known in the Singapore community for her
> altruism and inspiration and she leaves behind a living legacy of good
> deeds and charitable works. She was the past president of Faculty Link, an
> organisation in the National University of Singapore that co-ordinates and
> helps newcomers settle down. Antonella always made herself available to
> anyone in need and readily offered a helping hand to all who asked. She
> worked tirelessly to create a sense of unity and involvement within this
> diverse community and initiated charity projects and fundraising events.
> Antonella was also a keen crusader for the environment and was
> responsible for starting the glass bottle and ‘green bag’ recycling projects
> at Kent Vale (condominium for university lecturers), for which she
> recently received a community award. She also initiated the ‘Books at
> Home’ project which allowed residents to browse and buy quality
> children’s books in the comfort and convenience of her own home.
> 
> Antonella was a very active member of the Singapore Bahd'i community.
> Apart from being secretary of the Singapore Bahá'í Studies group, she
> most recently served as Secretary of the Local Spiritual Assembly of
> Queenstown. Antonella believed deeply in the underlying unity and
> equality of all people and devoted her life to making this belief a reality.
> She and her husband held regular dinner talks in their home to promote
> mter-religious and multi-racial harmony. She was also the editor of her
> daughter Sarah’s school newsletter and still managed to find time to
> volunteer weekly at the Rotary family community centre. Antonella was
> enthusiastic and tireless in her pursuits and her generous spirit and warm
> heart will be greatly missed by all those whose lives she touched. Her
> compassion, generosity and enthusiastic spirit of service will not be
> forgotten and is an inspiration to the many people she came into contact
> with. She will always be with us ~ her belief in people and her desire to be
> of service to humanity ~ these are living legacies that we can continue in
> our own lives.
> 
> Anjam Khursheed
>
> — *Obituary: Antonella Khursheed (1958-2000) (Used by permission of the curator)*