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[ 40 Articles ] |
• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• April A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
The National Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahá'ís of the British Isles incorporates after a long and difficult
struggle. [BW8:161–2; UD127] |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• Ridván A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
The first Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá'ís of Budapest is elected. There are about 14 believers in the
community, mostly of Jewish ancestry. This will cause difficulty for
the community in the Nazi persecutions that are to follow. [Rebirth: Memoirs of Renée Szanto-Felbermann p108]
According to the description of Renée Szántó-Felbermann, they could not
even meet in Budapest: „It was at their (the Sugárs) house in Alag
(today part of Budakeszi) that we elected the first Spiritual Assembly
in the history of Hungary, Ridvan 1939. When we boarded the train for
Alag, in order to avoid suspicion, we Bahá'ís did not remain together,
but went by twos and threes. The same procedure was repeated on our
arrival to Alag. It was a memorable, unforgettable evening, that Feast
of Ridván in the small house at Alag fragrant with spring flowers. We
were all deeply moved. And our dear Bertha Matthiesen was radiant. …
Jenő Sugár was elected chairman, Mária Kleinberger became treasurer and I
continued as secretary." [www.bahai.hu]
- Ms Bertha Matthiesen spends a lot of time in Hungary between
1937 and 1939 when most declarations take place and the first spiritual
assembly is formed.
[www.bahai.hu]
- Mr Emeric Sala (Imre Szalavetz) a Canadian Bahá'í who was born in Hungary visits Budapest in 1933 and in 1937.
[www.bahai.hu]
- Canadian travel teacher Ms Lorol Schopflocher visits Budapest in March-April 1937.
[www.bahai.hu]
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 8 May A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Philip and Laili June Marangella arrive in Cuba, the first Bahá'í pioneers to the country. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 18 May A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Mathew Kaszab arrived in Panama and
immediately launched a vigorous proclamation campaign through the
press, radio and public talks. By October the first permanent pioneers,
Louise Caswell and Cora Oliver, arrived along with John Eichenaur
(enroute to El Salvador). [Historical Background of the Panama Temple
by Ruth Pringle] |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• August A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
The National Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahá'ís of the British Isles incorporate as an unlimied non-profit
company under the Companies Act of 1929. GPB336 |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 27 August A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
The first Bahá'í resident in Guatemala, Gerrard Sluter-Schlutius, arrives in the country from Toronto. [OBCC228] |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 3 September A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
World War II begins with Britain and France declaring war on Germany after Germany invades Poland. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 18 September A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
John and Rosa Shaw arrive in Kingston, Jamaica, from San Francisco, the first Bahá'ís to visit the country. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 22 September A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
The State of Illinois issues the
first Bahá'í marriage licence, authorizing the Spiritual Assembly of
Chicago to solemnize Bahá'í marriages and issue Bahá'í marriage
certificates. [GPB373] |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 28 September A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Martha Root, ‘foremost Hand raised
by Bahá'u'lláh', passes away in Honolulu. (b. 10 August,1872 Richwood
Union County Ohio, USA) [BBD198–9; GPB388; MRHK486; PP105]
- Photos of her gravesite 1, 2 and 3. Directions to the gravesite.
- For Shoghi Effendi's tribute to her see GPB386–9.
- On the 2nd of October Shoghi Effendi announced her appointment to the rank of Hand of the Cause of God. [MoCxxii]
- Shoghi Effendi calls her the ‘archetype of Bahá'í itinerant
teachers', the ‘foremost Hand raised by Bahá'u'lláh since ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's
passing', ‘Leading ambassadress of His Faith' and ‘Pride of Bahá'í
teachers'. [GPB386]
- From the Guardian...her "acts shed imperishable lustre American Bahá'í Community". [PP106]
- For her obituary see BW8:643–8.
- She is buried in the Nuuanu Cemetery, Honolulu.
- See also Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold and Martha Root: Herald of The Kingdom.
- See Other People Other Places by Marzieh Gail (pages 170-175) for a pen-portrait of Martha Root.
- She was designated a Hand of the Cause of God on the 3rd of October, 1954
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• October A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Antonio Roca, the first Bahá'í in Honduras, enters the country. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 1 October A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
The national Bahá'í office of the United States is established at 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Illinois. [BW10:181]
- Horace
Holley, the full-time secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of
the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, transfers his office from
New York to the Hazíratu'l-Quds in Wilmette. [SBR238]
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 25 October A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
John Eichenauer, the first pioneer to El Salvador, arrives in San Salvador from Phoenix, Arizona.
- He is 17 years old, the youngest pioneer sent out in the First Seven Year Plan.
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 1 November A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Mathew Kaszab, arrives in Nicaragua, the first Bahá'í pioneer to that country.
- In
March 1942 he is arrested and imprisoned for 23 days; he is again
arrested in September 1942; he is sent back to the United States very
ill, where he dies in January 1943 from the effects of his imprisonment.
[BW9:614–16]
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 2 November A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
The first people to become Bahá'ís
in El Salvador, Luis O. Pérez, Emilio Bermudez and José Manuel Vela,
accept the Faith in San Salvador. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 4 November A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
The first Nineteen Day Feast is held in San Salvador with four Bahá'ís. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• November A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
F. Ferrari becomes a Bahá'í, the first to accept the Faith in Honduras. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• Late in the year A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Sr. Perfecto Perez Toledo, the first Cuban Bahá'í, accepts the Faith. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 3 December A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Shoghi Effendi obtains permission
from the British authorities in Palestine to reinter the bodies of
Navváb and the Purest Branch on Mount Carmel. [DH162; PP260]
- For the report of the Haifa District Commissioner see BBR460–1.
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 5 December A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Shoghi Effendi disinters the remains of Navváb and the Purest Branch. [DH162; PP260]
- He goes at daybreak to ‘Akká cemetery and removes the remains of Navváb to a new coffin. [DH162; PP260]
- He then goes to the Nabí Sálib cemetery and transfers the remains of the Purest Branch to a second new coffin. [DH162; PP260]
- He transports them to Mount Carmel, near the grave of the Greatest Holy Leaf. [DH162; PP260]
- For his cable announcing this to the Bahá'í world see BW8:245 and DH162 and PP261.
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 8 December A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Margaret Lentz, a German
stenographer, arrives in the Dominican Republic from Geneva, the first
Bahá'í to settle in that country. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 12 December A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
The Bahá'ís of Caracas, Venezuela, hold their first Nineteen Day Feast and afterwards elect a ‘Provisional Assembly'. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 24 December A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Shoghi Effendi reinters the remains of Navváb and the Purest Branch. [DH162; GBF116; GPB347–8]
- Two vaults are cut into the solid rock in the garden area near the monument of the Greatest Holy Leaf. [DH162]
- For Shoghi Effendi's cable announcing this see DH162 and PP262.
- For Shoghi Effendi's letters and cables concerning this see BW8:245–53.
- For a description of the reinterment see BW8:253–8.
- For the prayer of visitation to the resting place of Navváb see BW8:251 and DH166.
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 31 December A.D. 1939
• A.M. |
Lady Blomfield, entitled Sitárih K̲h̲ánum, passes away in London. [BW8:651; SEBW109]
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• in the decade A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
The first Bahá'ís reside in the Belgian Congo (Zaire), Mr Rajah Ali Vahdat and Mme Marthe Molitor. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• in the decade A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
By the mid-1940s Corporal Thomas Bereford Macauley becomes a Bahá'í in Nigeria, the first Bahá'í in the country. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• in the decade A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
The first Egyptian Bahá'í summer school is held in the mid-1940s. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• in the decade A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
Bahá'ís in Argentina face opposition throughout the decade with both the police and nationalists intimidating them. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
Eleanor Smith Adler, a new Bahá'í from Los Angeles, settles in La Paz, the first pioneer to Bolivia. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
Marcia Atwater, from the United States, arrives in Santiago, Chile, as the first long-term pioneer. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
Narayenrao Rangnath Shethji, a Bahá'í from India surnamed Vakíl, visits Nepal, the first Bahá'í to do so. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
The Grand Muftí of Egypt states
that Bahá'ís cannot be buried in Muslim cemeteries, forcing the
authorities to allow the Bahá'ís to have their own.
- The graves of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl Gulpáygání and Lua Getsinger are transferred to the cemetery near Cairo.
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
A Bahá'í centre is opened in Havana, Cuba, and an organized group is formed. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
The Canadian Department of National Defence exempts Bahá'ís from combatant military duty. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
The first local spiritual assembly in Brazil is established in Bahia, with the assistance of Leonora Holsapple Armstrong. |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• early A.D. 1940's
• A.M. |
The publication in Iran of Amir Kabir and Iran, considered perhaps the most influential scholarly work of history
published prior to the Islamic Revolution, by Fereidoon Adamiyyat, one
of the most influential and widely acknowledged Iranian historians of
the 20th century. The book argues that British intelligence officers
were behind a plot which led to the creation of the Bahá'í Faith. [Iran Press Watch] |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 13 January A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
María Teressa Martín de López
(Irizarry), from Puerto Rico, becomes a Bahá'í in the Dominican Republic
while on a visit. She is the first Puerto Rican Bahá'í and the first
person to become a Bahá'í in the Dominican Republic.
- For the story of her life see BW8:631–42.
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 9 February A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
The monuments of Navváb and the Purest Branch are dedicated at a ceremony in Haifa. [ZK293]
- For details of the ceremony, see ZK293–6.
- Marble for the Monument Gardens came from Chiampo, Italy as did
marble for the Archives Building, the Resting Place of Shoghi Effendi,
the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the Terraces Project, and
the Houses of Worship in India and Samoa. [BWNS1223]
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• March A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
Emeric and Rosemary Sala of St.
Lambert, Quebec arrive in Venezuela, the first pioneers to that country.
During their eleven month stay in Caracus they will make an eight-day
trip by car over the Andes to visit a pioneer in Bogota, Columbia.
[TG76-82] |
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• 96 B.E.
• A.H.
• 1 March A.D. 1940
• A.M. |
May Bolles Maxwell passes away in Buenos Aires. [BBD153; BW8:631 TG49]
- Shoghi Effendi awards her the honour of a ‘martyr's death' and a Disciple of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [BW8:631; MA38]
- She was the first Bahá'í on European soil and the "mother" of both the French and the Canadian Bahá'í communities. [PP149]
- For the story of her life see BW17:437–8.
- Shoghi
Effendi asks her husband, Sutherland Maxwell, to design her tomb, which
is to be a ‘historic centre' for ‘pioneer Bahá'í activity'. [BW8:642]
- For an account of the erection of the monument to her see PSBW83–6.
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