Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

home Canada 1700s 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 		 

Date 1954-01-0, descending — sort earliest first

date event tags firsts
1954 Jan Andrew and Mina Matthisen arrived in the Bahamas and were named Knights of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:449] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Islands; Bahamas; Caribbean
1954 Jan Kenneth and Roberta Christian arrived in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and were named Knights of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:456] Kenneth Christian; Roberta Christian; - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Southern Rhodesia; Zimbabwe
1954 Jan Virginia Breaks arrived on the island of Truk and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Caroline Islands. [BW13:450; MBW57] Virginia Breaks; - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Islands; Truk, Caroline Islands; Caroline Islands
1954 Jan Elizabeth Bevan (later Mrs Golmohammed) arrived in Rhodes and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:455] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Islands; Rhodes
1954 Jan Munír Vakíl, a former general in the Iraqi army, settled on one of the Kuria-Muria Islands in the Arabian Sea and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:453]
  • For the story of the hardships of his pioneering post see ZK99–101.
    		•  - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Islands; Khuriya Muriya Islands, Oman; Oman
    1954 Jan The arrival of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Abdu'l Rahman Zarqani, in the Seychelles. [BWNS272] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Islands; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Seychelles; Africa
    1954 3 Jan The passing of Helen "Nellie" Stevison French (b.19 Oct 1868 Peoria, Illinois) in Monaco. She was buried in the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago.

    In September 1953 Nellie French, 85, became the first Bahá'í to arrive in Monaco, but she passed away a few months later. For her act of service in bringing the Faith to the country, she received the accolade Knight of Baha'u'llah from Shoghi Effendi.

    A celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Bahá'í Faith in the Principality was held on 24-25 April 2004 at the Theatre des Varietes in Monte Carlo, and opened with the reading of a welcoming message from the National Council of the Principality. [Newspaper Archive on BLO]

  • Evincing a marked talent for singing, Nellie left in 1888 for Naples, Italy, to develop that interest. The four-year residence abroad gave her the opportunity to learn the French and Italian languages, to acquire an appreciation of the Latin fine arts, and to master a strenuous course in training for the operatic stage. She suffered a case of typhoid fever in 1892 and returned to the United States to recuperate; but her recovery was followed by scarlet fever which impaired her vocal chords irreparably. Her aspirations for a musical career were ended.
  • In 1894 she married Stuart Whitney French, a childhood companion. About 1896, accompanied by her mother, she attended a few meetings at the home of Dr. Khayru'lláh. The spiritual seeds were sown. Moving to Arizona in 1900, Nellie French lived in Bisbee until 1904 and in Douglas until 1917. Her visits to Chicago and New York furnished a few Bahá'í contacts with meager information; the Bahá'í messages. Mrs. Isabella Brittingham went to Arizona in 1917 to teach the spiritual significance of the Bahá'í Faith offered Nellie a rare privilege. That experience confirmed Nellie who became the first resident Bahá'í teacher in Arizona.
  • Mr. and Mrs. French moved to Pasadena in 1918. During Riḍván, in April, 1921, Mr. and Mrs. French visited Haifa and 'Akká; that pilgrimage became the fulfillment of all her hopes.
  • She contributed to the literature of the Faith by her work from 1930 to 1946 as Chairman of the Bahá'í World Editorial Committee, during which time she assembled material for volumes IV—X. She translated into French and Italian the "Blue Book" and the brochure "Number 9," and for several years she wrote "Loom of Reality," a column published in the Pasadena Star-News. In 1931 she made permanent Braille plates for Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era and for the Kitdb-i-iqan. She served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada 1929 - 1938.
  • As an administrator, she served as Chairman of the Pasadena Spiritual Assembly from 1928 to 1938. For four years, ending in 1944 she was Chairman of the InterAmerica Committee, and in this capacity she presided at a session of the Centenary Celebration in 1944. Later she was a member of the European Teaching Committee. She helped support the work of the International Bureau at Geneva and the All-Indian project at Macy, Nebraska, undertaken by her sister-in-law, Mary Farley Stevison.
  • In April, 1952, thirty-one years to the day, Nellie French returned Mt. Carmel to meet the beloved Guardian in person. During the Holy Year which was also the first year of the World Spiritual Crusade, Nellie French settled in the principality of Monaco to win the accolade, "Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW12p700]
  • Find a grave.
    		• Nellie French; In Memoriam; Knight of Bahá'u'lláh; Peoria, IL; USA; Monaco
    1954 3 Jan Howard and Joanne Menking arrived in the Cape Verde Islands and were named Knights of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:450] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Islands; Cape Verde
    1954 Jan Charles M. Ioas arrived in the Balearic Islands and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:449] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Islands; Balearic Islands, Spain
    1954 Jan Jean Sevin arrived in Tuamotu Archipelago and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:457] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Islands; Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia
    1954 Jan The arrival of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Dulcie Dive in the Cook Islands. [BWNS265] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Islands; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Cook Islands

    Try also a shorter date like or 1954-01 or 1954-0

    try also the Chronology Canada — 1954-01-0 or 1954-01 or 1954-0

    Home Site Map Links Tags Chronology About Contact RSS