- 1940-00-00 — Eleanor Smith Adler, a new Bahá'í from Los Angeles, settled in La Paz, the first pioneer to Bolivia.
- 1941-05-18 —
Yvonne Cuellar, a French woman, became a Bahá'í in Bolivia.
- Although Marina del Prado was the first to become a Bahá'í, on 2 February 1941, she did not remain active, so Yvonne Cuellar is recognized as the first Bahá'í in Bolivia. She was called by Shoghi Effendi 'Mother of Bolivia'.
- For the story of her life see BW19:619–22.
- 1953-08-11 — Virginia Orbison arrived in the Balearic Islands from a pioneer post in Spain and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Balearic Islands. [BW13:449]
It was neither her first nor her last pioneer experience. Between 1942 and 1946 she pioneered to Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. After World War II she went to Madrid, Spain where she helped raise the first local spiritual assembly and she did the same thing in Barcelona the following year.
In July of 1953 she went to the Stockholm Intercontinental Teaching Conference where she offered to pioneer to Mallorca in one of the Balearic Islands, She stayed about one year before returning to Barcelona in August of 1954 where she attended the Iberian Teaching Conference that was attended by 60 people. Late that nine, she and nine others were arrested by the police and interrogated for 18 hours. They had thought that the Bahá'í were Communists.
In 1956 she moved to Portugal where she was elected to the first Iberian Regional Spiritual Assembly. After three years she was forced to leave by the authorities because of her Bahá'í activities, holding property and owning a telephone.
She was asked to go to Luxembourg where she spent nine years but made little progress in establishing the Faith. She was then asked to got to Malaga, Spain and by 1972 Malaga had a local spiritual assembly so she pioneered to Margella in 1979.
The National Spiritual Assembly asked her to write a history of the Faith in Spain which was completed in 1980.
As was her wish, she passed to the Abha Kingdom in 1985, still a pioneer. [KoB346-347; Wikipedia]
See also Also see Bahá'í World 19 pages 715-721 or 692-697 in the print version and Bahá'í News #586 January 1980 p2-5. - 1957-04-21 —
The Regional Spiritual Assembly of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia was formed at Buenos Aires, Argentina. [BW13:257]
- Prior to this time, since 1951 it had been administer by the National Spiritual Assembly of South America. [Bahaipedia NSA; South America]
- 1960-00-00 — A number of Bahá'í primary schools were opened in Bolivia.
- 1961-02-21 — The first Indian congress of Bolivia was held in Oruro, with Indians participating. [BW13:268]
- 1961-04-21 — The National Spiritual Assembly of Bolivia was formed. [BW13:258]
- 1961-07-08 — The Custodians announced that mass conversion had begun in Ceylon, Central and East Africa, and Bolivia, while in Canada native peoples had begun to enter the Faith. [MoC293]
- 1970-04-01 — More than 6,000 people became Bahá'ís in Bolivia. [BW15:232]
- 1970-08-16 —
The Continental Conference was held in La Paz, Bolivia. [BW15:317; VV5]
- For pictures see BW15:301–2.
- 1984-00-02 —
The first Bahá'í university, Universidad Núr, opened in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. [VV82–3]
- Website.
- 1984-03-21 —
The inauguration of Radio Bahá'í of Bolivia on the medium-wave band at Caracollo, Bolivia. Construction of the new station and its associated Teaching Institute was completed in January 1984 and inaugurated on March 21, the Baha'i new year Naw-Ruz. [Mess63-86p619]
- A country-wide radio production and broadcasting programme began in 1983 as prelude to opening of the station. [BW18p111]
- The radio station reaches a region in Bolivia and Peru encompassing more than four hundred Local Spiritual Assemblies. Its mission is the socioeconomic development of the indigenous Bahá'ís in that region. Farsheed Ferdowsi and his brothers provided partial funding for this project in memory of their father, Fatollah Ferdowsi. To their pleasant surprise, the National Spiritual Assembly of Bolivia decided to name the Teaching Institute after him. [The Ferdowsi Institute]
- 1987-02-15 — The passing of Eleanor Hollibaugh (b. 17 February 1897 in Hastings, Nebraska) in Montraux, Switzerland. She was a pioneer to La Paz, Bolivia but when she had to return for reasons of health, she settled in Reno, Nevada. At the end of World War II the European Teaching Committee asked her to join fellow American Dagmar Dole in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1949 they asked her to move to the Netherlands and in 1958, again at their request, she moved to France where she remained until 1960 when the Committee requested that she go to Switzerland. [BW20p868-871]
Find a Grave.
- 1988-11-26 —
Over a thousand people became Bahá'ís in Bolivia during a teaching project. [BINS189:2]
- A later report indicated that over 2,000 people had become Bahá'ís. [BINS195:1]
- 1993-01-29 — The first Latin American Bahá'í Social and Economic Development Seminar took place in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. [BINS308:2; BW92–3:139]
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