- 1921-00-00 —
Mohi al-Din al-Kurdi, (Sheikh Muhyí's-Dín Sabrí) a Bahá'í from Egypt, from the noble elders of Al-Azhar, arrived in Tunisia to make known the message of Bahá'u'lláh. [Website of the Bahá'ís of Tunisia]
- 100 year later this event was commemorated. [BWNS1577]
- 1935-08-00 — Mary Maxell pioneered to Germany. Her first meeting with the Bahá'ís was at the Esslingen Summer School. [WMSH45]
- 1940-05-13 — American Baha'i John Stearns sailed from Los Angeles to Guayaquil, Ecuador to take up his pioneer post. He took up residence in Quito and became the first established pioneer in Ecuador. [Heroes of God: History of the Bahá'í Faith in Ecuador, 1940-1979 p.vii; p1]
- 1944-00-00 — Gerardo Vega, of Costa Rica, was the first Latin-American native to pioneer when he began work in Panama. [BN No 171 November 1944 p4-5]
- 1947-02-20 —
Ugo and Angeline Giachery moved from New York to Rome. [BN No 192 Feb 1947 p1]
- The first native believer
under this new Seven Year Plan,
had declared himself. He is Signor
Augusto Salvetti of Italy. Signor Salvetti heard of the Faith from a
Persian believer while he was a
prisoner of war in India. After returning to his native Italy he corresponded with the International Bureau and the office of
the European Teaching Committee
in Geneva. Since he was living in
one of our "goal" countries, Mrs.
Graeffe put him in touch with our pioneers, Mr and Mrs Giachery. [BN No195 May 1947 p1]
- 1950-12-00 — Jalál Nakhjavání arrived in Tanganyika, the first Bahá'í pioneer to the country. [BW18:79]
History of the Bahá'í Faith in Tanzania says that Claire Gung was the 1st pioneer of the Bahá'í Faith in the country. Her biography, Claire Gung: Mother of Africa p14 confirms that she disembarked the The Warwick Castle sometime in February, 1951.
- 1952-00-00 — Aziz Yazdi from Persia joined Ted Cardell in Nairobi. In 1953 they were joined by Ursula Samandari from England. [A Brief Account of the Bahá'í Faith in Africa Since 1953 by Nance Ororo-Robarts and Selam Ahderrom p2]
- 1953-03-25 —
Enayat Sohaili, an Iranian, arrived in Mozambique from India, the first Bahá'í pioneer to the country. [BW13:290]
- He was imprisoned and deported in June 1953. [BW13:290]
- 1953-05-03 —
The All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference was held in Chicago. [BW12:133]
- For the texts of Shoghi Effendi's messages to the conference see BW12:133–41 and MBW142–6.
- Twelve Hands of the Cause were present. The Guardian was represented by Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum. [BW12:143; CBN No 82 November, 1956 p3]
- At the conference, five members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States resigned from that body in order to go pioneering: Elsie Austin, Dorothy Baker, Matthew Bullock, Mamie Seto and Dr William Kenneth Christian. [ZK102]
- Extract from the second message to All-American Intercontinental Conference from Shoghi Effendi... [MBW150]
.....the lands contributed in Latin America for a similar purpose approximate one-half of a million square meters, ninety thousand of which have been set aside near Santiago, Chile, for the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkár of South America. .
- 1953-05-28 —
In a message addressed on the eve of the 61st anniversary of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh, at the opening of the Ten Year Crusade, Shoghi Effendi encouraged 70 pioneers to arise to fill the goals promising that a Roll of Honour with their names would be deposited at the entrance door of the inner Sanctuary of the Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh. [MBW48-49]
- He further elaborated in a message addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada. See the message of the 8 June 1953. [MtC177]
- See 1992 28 May.
- 1953-08-25 — Soon after becoming a Bahá'í in Kampala, Enoch Olinga, together with fellow new believers Max Kanyerezi and Samson Mungono,
responded to the Guardian's call and left his home in Uganda, to fulfill pioneering goals accompanied by Persian pioneers
Ali and Violette Nakhjavání. Leaving in late August 1953 they traveled for almost 3 months, covering a distance
of over 5000 kilometers.
The first leg took them to Samson Mungono's post in
Kamina, in the Katanga region of the Belgian Congo. They then took a grueling route to
Brazzaville, where Max was dropped off and continued through the thick forests of French
Congo and Gabon, hoping to pass through French Cameroons and finally reach the British
Cameroons. The car broke down in the tropical forest of Gabon leaving the three remaining friends unable to continue. Enoch volunteered to walk
to a town 50 miles ahead through the forbidding jungle to get help.
Upon arrival Enoch was so ill he was hospitalized for two days and could not travel for a week. He told of a dream he had in which Shoghi Effendi took him in his arms to comfort and reassure him in his desperation.
In mid-October they reached the British Cameroons on the very evening of the conclusion of the Holy Year.
Confirmations of the monumental efforts these first African pioneers made soon followed:
Enoch, Max and Samson all successfully brought many local people under the banner of the
Greatest Name.
[A Brief Account of the Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in Africa Since 1953 by Nancy Oloro-Robarts and Selam Ahderom p4] - 1954-02-18 —
Shirin Fozdar arrived in Saigon, the first pioneer to Vietnam.
- In June 1954, her daughter-in-law, Parvati Fozdar (wife of Jamshed Fozdar's) and their young son, Vilay, came to Saigon from the United States to help Ms. Shirin Fozdar. Jamshed Fozdar arrived on July 18, 1954. A month later. In August Ms. Shirin Fozdar returned to New Zealand. Mr. Jamshed Fozdar found employment and the family lived for a long time in a small apartment at 88 Le Loi Street (the old Bonard).
- Pham Huu Chu was the first person to accept the Bahá'í Faith in Vietnam. [Bahá'í Religion in Community Education in Vietnam by Vu Van Chung]
- 1954-03-25 —
The passing of Marion Jack (General Jack) (b. St. John, New Brunswick) at her pioneer post in Sofia, Bulgaria at the age of 87. She had been at her post since 1931. [BWNS385; Never be Afraid to Dare p. 227]
- Shoghi Effendi called her 'a shining example to pioneers of present and future generations of East and West'. [CF163]
- For her obituary see BW12:674–7.
- See also BFA2155; MC359.
- For a photo of her gravestone see CBNOct1972p.10.
- See Bahá'í Chronicles for a biography.
- For a photo by the Bahá'ís of Sofia see BW5p464.
- See also Marion Jack: Immortal Heroine by Jan Jasion
- See CBN October1979 for tributes as well as a photo of her gravesite.
- See The Early Years of the British Bahá'í Community (1898-1911) p128-129.
- 1954-04-00 — A mere eight months after settling in British Cameroons, Enoch Olinga, along with
the community of new believers at his pioneering post received a cable from Shoghi
Effendi asking for African believers to settle in British Togoland, French Togoland, the Ashanti Protectorate and in the Northern Territories Protectorate before the following Ridván.
Although Bahá'ís for only a few months, their response was instantaneous; the largest difficulty
arose in limiting themselves to the four names required to fulfill the designated posts. This was determined by a vote. David
Tanyi, Edward Tabe, Benedict Eballa, and Martin Manga were duly selected. Samuel Nyki was sent to French Cameroon. Each one established a Local Spiritual Assembly in their
assigned posts within two years.
[A Brief Account of the Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in Africa Since 1953 by Nancy Oloro-Robarts and Selam Ahderom p4; KoB71] - 1956-01-01 — The first Bahá'í pioneer in what is now the Central African Republic, Samson Nkeng, arrived in Bangui from the British Cameroons1
- 1956-02-21 — The first Bahá'í pioneer, Marguerite Allman, (later Miners), formerly of Hamilton and her pioneer post in the Queen Charlotte Islands (now Haida Gwaii), arrived in 1956. She taught the second Icelandic Bahá'í, Erica Petursson. [BN No 487 October 1971 p20; BN303 May 1956 p13]
- 1956-02-28 — In early 1956, Rudolfo Duna, his wife Angelica, and eleven year old daughter Julia,
early Mozambican Bahá'ís, undertook the arduous train journey from Johannesburg, South Africa
to Luanda, Angola, covering over 5,000 kilometers. Within a week after their arrival in Luanda, a community large enough to
establish a Local Spiritual Assembly was formed.
Another example of a new African believer arising was the case of Dorothy Chivunda in Zambia. When word of the
Faith reached the church Dorothy attended, it aroused the curiosity of the congregation. The
church decided to send Dorothy to investigate the claims of this new religion. Within three
weeks, she declared as a Bahá'í, promptly organizing a teaching trip to her native village in
Kawiku, in Chibwakata area of North Western Province. This trip, and the others that followed,
involved over 300 kilometers of travel over rough terrain. It set in motion a process that would
lead to the enrolment of thousands of her fellow tribesmen, the Lunda of Zambia, into the Faith.
[A Brief Account of the Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in Africa Since 1953 by Nancy Oloro-Robarts and Selam Ahderom p3] - 1956-04-21 — After their pilgrimage Harlan and Elizabeth Ober travelled to South Africa where they helped form the first all-African Local Spiritual Assembly in Pretoria as had previously been request of them by the Guardian. They returned in December as pioneers. [BW13869]
- 1959-05-07 — Donald Corbin, a pioneer to Grenada Island, made a trip to Dominica specifically to try to reach the Carib Indians. [BN No 343 September 1959 p10-11]
- 1962-04-01 — Virginia Breaks, Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Caroline Islands, moved to Saipan, the largest Island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a territory of the United States. She was the first pioneer to the area.
She remained in the Caroline Islands for fifty years, serving as an Auxiliary Board member for twenty. [BW22p320] - 1966-09-29 — Frances A. Foss, the first pioneer on St Maarten, arrived in Philipsburg.
- 1967-00-00 — Egbert Barrett arrived on Carriacou from Grenada, the first pioneer to the island.
- 1968-09-09 — Gerald (Jerry) Van Deusen, a 24-year-old American Bahá'í from the Windward, Leeward and Virgin Islands and the first pioneer to Upper Volta, arrived in Ouagadougou.
- 1968-12-31 — Two Chilean Bahá'ís, Aníbal Soto, a telegraph operator in the Chilean Navy and his wife, Norma Soto, were posted to a Chilean base in Antarctica.
- 1975-04-20 — Michael Cooper, a Bahá'í from Northampton, U.K., who had never had a passport, never been out of his country , and never been on an airplane, volunteered to pioneer to Iceland. He on April 20th, just in time to become the ninth member of a Spiritual Assembly. [BN No 544 July 1975 p17]
- 1976-00-00 — British pioneers Ron, Thelma, Simon and Suzanne Batchelor lived in Kathmandu, Nepal. [Thelma Batchelor on Bahá'í History UK]
- 1998-07-29 —
The passing of actor and writer O. Z. Whitehead at the age of 87 in Dublin. (b. in New York City on 18 March 1911).
- His most acclaimed performance and best remembered role remained that of Al in John Ford's classic 1940 film version of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
- After the World Congress in 1963 he pioneered to the Irish Republic where, among other services to the Faith, he served on the National Spiritual Assembly.
- He published three volumes of pen portraits, Some Early Bahá'ís of the West (1976), Some Bahá'ís to Remember (1983), and Portraits of Some Bahá'í Women (1996).
- He is remembered as a champion of the Arts. [Bahá'í Studies Review Vol8, 1998]
- See Robert Weinberg's O. Z. Whitehead (1911-1998):Actor and writer that was published in Bahá'í Studies Review No 8 in 1998.
- 2000-11-02 —
The passing of Creadell Johnetta Haley (b. 4 Jul 1916 in Pawhuska, Osage County, Oklahoma, USA) in Washington, DC. She was buried in the Quantico National Memorial Cemetery, Virginia. [Find a grave; ObeisanceBaha]
- Her passion included mechanic and learning to fly. While studying for her pilot's license war broke out and so in September 1942 she joined the Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) of the Army. After military service, she enrolled in Wilberforce University, and also returned to the airfield where she was able to quickly receive her private pilot's license.
- She later left Wilberforce University to enroll in the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, and later continued her music education at San Jose State University. It was during her time in California that she was introduced to the Baha'i Faith.
- In the spring of 1967 she pioneered to Venezuela where she remained until her return to the United States in 1999. She then took up residence at St. Mary's Court Apartments in the Foggy Bottom section of Washington, DC.
- She is well-remembered for writing Bahá'u'lláh and There Is Only One God, both of which appear on the album Fire and Snow.
Other songs include ("Love, Love, Love"; "Sing His Praises"; "It's Time To Be Happy"; "Baha'u'llah Is The Promised One"; "A New Race of Men" and "God Is One".
- See Pioneering pilot's missions carried her skyward
- 2003-06-20 —
The passing of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Ursula Samandari (b. Ursula Newman 29 December, 1909 in Mitcham, Surrey, England) at her pioneering post in Buea, Cameroon.
- In 1953 she and Dr. Mihdi Samandari moved to Nairobi, Kenya, and a year later went to live in Mogadishu, Somalia where they stayed until 1971. At the request of the Universal House of Justice, they had pioneered to Cameroon. [BWNS230, BW'03-'04pg237]
- 2005-01-00 — Doris Katzenstein, originally from Germany, pioneered to Lithuania, first to Kalaipeda and finally settling in Palanga where she taught German and English at the Palanga University of the Third Age. [Website]
She first encountered the Faith on board a ship from fellow passengers, Martin and Gerda Aiff and their children, who where on their way to Windhoek. She retuned to Germany after three years and accepted the Faith in about April of 1963 and after the opening of the Frankfurt Temple in the summer of 1964 she returned to Windhoek, eventually settling in Elizabeth Bay where she served by teaching children's classes. After four years he returned to Germany and locate in Ulm. While preparing to return to Windhoek she received the news of her appointment as an Auxiliary Board Member.
In 1971 she pioneered to Manaia, Romania where she worked as a tourist guide for 4 1/2 seasons. She did international travel teaching in Korea, Thailand, Rangoon, where she visited Daidanaw, known as Àbdu'l-Bahá's Village. [information from "Thursday Night@7PM" 7 December 2023]
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