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OBITUARIES
Martin Aiff
On 13 March 2001, in Windhoek, Namibia. Martin Aiff was born in Darmstadt, Germany, on 21 March 1919. He became a Bahá’í in 1946 and soon after was appointed to the National Youth Committee in Germany. In 1948, he married Gerda Hafimann and they had six children together. He was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany and served as a member of that body from 1957 to 1959, when he left Germany to live and teach the Bahá’í Faith in Afiica during the Ten Year Crusade. The family settled in Southwest Africa (later Namibia) in the capital of Windhoek and remained there until 1967 before moving to Leuderitz and later Tsumeb. Mr. Aiff had a variety ofjobs in Namibia, working as a commercial salesman, manager of general stores, school ad ministrator, and manager of arts and crafts centers. For seven years he and his wife had served as caretakers of the German national center, and they performed the same duty at the national center in Windhoek during their residence in that city. Mr. Aif’f served on the National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Afnca in 1973—74 and was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly ofNamibia upon its formation in 1981. He was a member of that National Spiritual Assembly from 1981 until 1984 and in 1985. In 1986 he was appointed to the Auxiliary Board, serving that institution until 1996. In its message after his death, the Universal House Of Justice wrote that his persistent activities in Africa would “serve as shining examples of devotion for generations to come.”
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Najmieh Ala’i
On 4 September 2000, in Auckland, New Zealand. Najmieh Lameh was born on 12 March 1908 in Tabríz, Iran. She was a fourth generation Bahá’í and served the Bahá’í Faith in many capacities during her life in Iran. She was a member of many administrative committees, including the Advancement of Women Committee, Young Women’s Education Committee, and the Armenian Teaching Committee. She graduated as a trained nurse and around 1955 became the head of nurse training for the Bahá’í-run Mimaqiyyih Hospital. She married Raḥmatu’lláh Ala’i in 1928 and the two had three children before Mrs. Ala’i was widowed in 1940. In the early 1980s, when the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran was at its height, she moved to New Zealand, settling in the city of Kaikohe, where the National Spiritual Assembly had identified a need for teachers of the Bahá’í Faith. She moved to Auckland a few years later and lived there until the time of her death. In its message after her passing, the Universal House of Justice recalled her “staunehness of Faith” and “dedication...t0 the Bahá’í community.”
Husnieh Bahá’í
On 18 November 2000, in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Husnieh Zikru’lláh Irani was born in Tiberias, Palestine, in 1908. Her grandfather was Mirza Muhammad-Quli, the youngest halfbrother of Baha’u’llah. Her father, a
cousin of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, was imprisoned along with Him in Palestine. The year of her birth, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was released from imprisonment and her family settled near the Sea of Galilee. She married Muhammad Bahá’í and together they had six children. Her professional nursing training enabled her to serve many people in the area, especially with her fluency in Arabic, English, Hebrew, and Persian. Consequent t0 the kidnapping of her husband during the 1948 War of Independence, she and her family accepted an offer to stay with Shoghi Effendi. After the war, with her husband safely released, the family moved to Nazareth while Mr. Bahá’í assisted Shoghi Effendi with the construction of the International Bahá’í Archives and the superstructure Of the Shrine of the Bab at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa. Because the family was able to acquire some of the land surrounding the Shrine ofBaha’u’llah at Bahjí, which they donated to the World Centre, the Bahá’í community was able to protect the Shiine and its surrounding properties. After the death of her husband, she moved to Oakville, Ontario, Canada in 1966, and from 1968 to 1974 she was the hostess of the national Bahá’í center in Canada. She later pioneered t0 Guadeloupe and St. Lucia in the Caribbean but returned to Canada when her health began to fail. In Canada, she was known as “Mama Bahá’í” and was remembered by the Universal House of Justice for her “characteristic generosity, kindness, and hospitality.”
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Massoud Berdjis
On 1 February 2001, in Saarlouis, Germany. Massoud Berdjis was born to a Bahá’í family in Kashan, Iran, on 9 January 1927. He moved to Zurich, Switzerland, in 1947 to pursue his studies and was very active in the Bahá’í community there; for one semester he interrupted his studies to assist Hand of the Cause of God Adelbert Miilschlegel to translate the Kitab-i—1qan. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1951 and obtained a doctoral degree in Germany, where he met and married Hermine Mayer, with whom he had four children. The family moved to Vienna, Austria, and Mr. Berdjis served on the first National Spiritual Assembly of that country in 1959—60 and again from 1964 to 1968. He also served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany from 1972 to 1994 after returning there from Austria. He worked for various engineering firms and research centers in Germany and was able, due to the flexibility of his work, to make trips throughout German—speaking Europe to teach the Bahá’í Faith. He was appointed as the Ḥuqúqu’lláh representative in Germany and served in that capacity from 1970 until his death. During the Iranian Revolution, he was instrumental in assisting the Bahá’í community of Germany to establish good relations with the German government to present the case of the Bahá’ís persecuted in Iran. In 1985, he resettled in the German town of Saarlouis,
with the goal of establishing a Local Spiritual Assembly there. He traveled extensively through Germany, giving lectures and seminars on the Faith, and until the end of his life was dedicated to assisting the Bahá’í community.
Victor de Araujo
On 4 January 2001, in Norwalk, Connecticut, the United States. Victor de Araujo was born near London, England, on 19 February 1922. He spent his Childhood in Brazil and went to the United States in 1946 in his capacity as the Vice-consul at the Brazilian Consulate in Chicago. He became a Bahá’í that same year, and a year later married Betty Scheffler. They had two children. He earned a master’s degree in English from Northwestern University in Chicago and later a PhD in English from the University of Washington in Seattle. He taught at Yakima Community College and later the University of Washington before taking an assistant professorship at the University of Michigan. In 1967, he became the principal representative of the Bahá’í International Community (BIC) to the United Nations and served in that position for 23 years, representing the Bahá’í community and chairing numerous committees on behalf of the BIC. He also coauthored many statements by the Bahá’í International Community, which presented Bahá’í Views on a wide range of issues. In its message after his death, the Universal House of Justice recalled his “gentle spirit”
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and “dignified bearing” and praised the “efficacy of his tireless, exemplary exertions” in the service of the Bahá’í International Community.
Habib Esfahani
On 11 January 2001, in Céte d’Ivoire. Ḥabíbu’lláh Esfahani was born to a Bahá’í family in Port Said, Egypt, on 9 August 1922. He worked as an accountant and served on the Local Spiritual Assembly in Port Said, until his decision to depart in April 1954 for Senegal, where he stayed before moving to Céte d’Ivoire, then known as French West Africa, in 1960. He was the first Bahá’í to settle in the country and was named by Shoghi Effendi as a Knight of Baha’u’llah for French West Africa, remaining in Céte d’Ivoire until his death.
Rose Perkal Gates
On 2 February 2001, in Orange, California, the United States. Rose Gates was born in the United States on 13 April 1904. She became a Bahá’í in 1948 and in 1953 responded to a call for Bahá’ís to settle in remote areas during the Ten Year Crusade by moving to Kodiak, Alaska, where she stayed for seven years. As the first Bahá’í in the Kodiak Islands, she was named a Knight of Baha’u’llah by Shoghi Effendi. She assisted in the establishment of two Local Spiritual Assemblies in Alaska and served for two years on the National Spiritual Assembly there. In
1960 she went to Switzerland, where she stayed for six years and helped to establish the Local Assembly Of Locarno. She eventually relocated to South Africa and served as the secretary of the National Teaching Committee and on the National Spiritual Assembly of that country from 1973 until 1985. In the face of poor health and failing eyesight, she returned to the United States in 1986, joining her family in California, where she continued to serve the Bahá’í Faith until the end of her life.
‘Abdu’lláh Mesbah
On 12 October 2000, in SaintLouis, France. ‘Abdu’lláh Mesbah was born to a Bahá’í family in 1910 in Tehran, Iran. He served on many committees in Iran during his time there, including the Translation Committee and the National Youth Committee. He left for France in 1931 to earn a degree in mathematics, and stayed four years before returning to Iran. He spent two years in Iráq, from 1943 to 1945, before leaving Iran for good in 1954, moving first to Belgium, then Morocco, and later to Lebanon. During his travels, he worked as a professor of mathematics in several universities and was active in the Bahá’í communities, teaching the Faith and serving on various administrative bodies as a member of the Auxiliary Board serving Hand of the Cause Musa Banani. In 1968, he was invited to work at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, to
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assist in the establishment of the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, and he remained for twenty years. After leaving Israel he lived in the Netherlands for ten years before moving to France for the last two years of his life.
Feizollah Namdar
On 22 March 2001, in Lenzberg, Switzerland. Feizollah Namdar was born in Baku, Russia, on 23 December 1919. He moved to Iran in 1943, where he worked as a radio technician and broadcaster. After becoming a Bahá’í there, he relocated to Europe, where he worked for several engineering firms. In 1954 he moved to Germany and there met Ursula Mauthe, who he married in 1956. Mr. Namdar was a member of the first National Spiritual Assembly of Luxembourg from 1961 until 1963, when he moved to Switzerland, serving on the National Spiritual Assembly there from 1965 until 1984, and staying in that country until his death. He made frequent trips to his native Russia, returning in 1989 as a representative of the Bahá’í International Community to meet with the Russian Council on Religious Affairs about the official registration of the Bahá’í community in that country. He returned to Russia several times during the 1990s and served as a liaison between the Bahá’í community and the government. He also assisted the development of Bahá’í institutions in Russia, served as a lecturer at
Landegg Academy in the first study
course for Bahá’ís from the USSR,
and helped to establish the Institute of Spiritual Foundations at the Ukrainian University for National Progress.
Hans Odemyr
On 24 January 2001, in Stockholm, Sweden. Hans Odemyr was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 25 August 1921. He managed a family—owned clothing industry throughout his life, assisted by his wife, Saga, with whom he had two children. His first contact with the Bahá’í Faith came in 1948, when he met two American Bahá’ís who had pioneered to Sweden. He maintained Close contact with the Stockholm Bahá’í community and finally became a Bahá’í in January, 1953; his wife became a Bahá’í the following month. He was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Stockholm in 1953 and remained on that body until his death. In addition, he served on the Regional Spiritual Assembly of Scandinavia and Finland from 1957 until 1962, and on the National Spiritual Assembly of Sweden from the time of its formation in 1962 until 1992. He also worked on a number of committees, including the National Teaching Committee and the National Publishing Committee. He initiated and oversaw the publication of the Swedish Bahá’í newsletter. MI. Odemyr’s actions were instrumental in the purchase, in 1957, of the national Bahá’í center and of the Bahá’í temple site in Stockholm in 1958.
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Both of these goals had been emphasized by Shoghi Effendi. During his lifetime, he gave many talks and interviews about the Bahá’í Faith and authored pamphlets about the Faith. In its message after his passing, the Universal House of Justice lauded his efforts, which “played a Vital role in the...estab1ishment of the Bahá’í community” in Sweden.
Audrey Robarts
On 22 August 2000, in Rawdon, Quebec, Canada. Audrey FitzGerald was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1904. In 1928, she married John Robarts, the marriage producing four children. She and her husband became Bahá’ís in 1937 and both were active teachers of the Faith. In 1953, at the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade, they became the first Bahá’ís to settle in Bechuanaland (now Botswana) and for this were named Knights of Baha’u’llah by Shoghi Effendi. After Mr. Robarts was appointed as a Hand of the Cause of God in 1957, the family travelled extensively throughout Africa to teach the Bahá’í Faith and assist in the consolidation of young Bahá’í communities. They returned to Canada in 1967 and settled in the small French Canadian town of Rawdon, but continued their world travels for many years. In 1992, after her husband’s death, Mrs. Robarts travelled to four countries in southern Africa teach the Bahá’í Faith, in response to a request from the National Spiritual Assembly of
Botswana, which addressed her as the “beloved mother of our country.”
Augusto Robiati
On 5 October 2000, in Monza, Italy. Augusto Robiati was born in Milan, Italy, in 1912. As part of his work as a civil engineer, he left Italy in 1936 to undertake a vast project to build roads and bridges between Asmara, Ethiopia, and Massawa, Eritrea. A member of the engineering corps of the Italian army during the Second World War, he was captured and held in Asmara while building roads for the Italian military. Shortly after escaping captivity, he met his wife, Alma. The two had four children, all born in Asmara. It was also in Eritrea that he first learned of the Bahá’í Faith, declaring his belief in 1959. He traveled throughout Eritrea to teach the Bahá’í Faith and upon his return to Italy in 1961 undertook numerous trips throughout that country to spread the Faith. He was elected to the first Italian National Spiritual Assembly in 1962 and attended the first International Convention to elect the Universal House of Justice. In addition to his work as a civil engineer, he was also the dean of the poetic and artistic coterie of Monza. He contributed regularly to the Italian journal Opinioni Bahá’í' and published ten books about religion and the Bahá’í Faith, including Gli Otto Veli (The Eight Veils), L ’Islam 6 i1 Corano (Islam and the Qur’án), and a recent two—volume work entitled Le
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Grandi Tappe dell’EvoluZione del Pensiero e dello Spirito (The Great Stages in the Evolution of Thought and Spirit). Mr. Robiati also lectured at schools and universities throughout Italy on the Bahá’í Faith and on other topics dealing with the problems of mankind, such as drug abuse, Violence, and famine. After his death, the Universal House of Justice wrote of his “staunehness of faith, his indefatigable endeavors in the teaching and administrative fields, and the purity of motive which Characterized his manifold activities.”
Hassan Abdel—Fattah Sabri
On 11 November 2000, in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, the United Kingdom. Mr. Sabri was born into a Bahá’í family in Cairo, Egypt, on 31 March 1922. He served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Cairo while he trained as a mechanical engineer. He went to the United Kingdom for postgraduate studies in 1945 and between 1945 and 1950 served on a number of Local Spiritual Assemblies, the National Youth Committee, and the National Teaching Committee. He married Isobel Locke in 1951, and that same year they moved to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as Bahá’í pioneers. In 1954, the couple relocated to Kampala, Uganda. During his time in Uganda, Mr. Sabri worked as for the Ford M0tor Company as an engineer and was later a lecturer at the local technical college, eventually becoming head of the engineering department. He
and Isobel later moved to Kenya, but left Africa in 1983 when he and Isobel were invited to serve at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa. There he was instrumental in establishing the Office of Social and Economic Development, in which he served for 13 years. Isobel, with whom he had a son and daughter, had been a Continental Counsellor in Africa and served as a member of the International Teaching Centre during their time in Haifa. She died in 1992. He married Betty Goode in 1994 and the couple served at the Bahá’í World Centre until 1996, when they moved to the United Kingdom. Following his death, the Universal House of J ustice sent a message praising his life of service and requesting that memorial services be held in the United Kingdom and the African countries where he had lived.
Fatollah Soltani
On 18 June 2000, in Londrina, Brazil. Fatollah Soltani was born to Bahá’í parents in 1925 in Hamedan, Iran. At age 25 he married Fatemeh Masnoui and the two had one daughter. Mr. Soltani worked for the government in Tehran but lost his job because of government opposition to the Bahá’í Faith. The family decided to move to Brazil in 1977 and a year later he was elected to the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Ribeirao Préto, Sao Paulo. The family soon moved to the city of Londrina, where they started a business making traditional Brazilian food. Mr. Soltani and his wife were
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both active in teaching the Bahá’í Faith in Brazil although they had little formal education and were not fluent in Portuguese. During one two-month teaching project in the Amazon, close to two hundred people declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh. The Soltanis were inspired by their meeting with Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánurn at an international Bahá’í conference in Manaus. Afterwards, Mr. Soltani and his wife, despite their advancing age, embarked on many teaching trips through the states of Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina from 1985 to 1991. Although he suffered a stroke in 1991 after a heart operation, he continued to be active in the community, teaching and assisting with the commemoration of the seventyfifth anniversary of the Bahá’í Faith in Brazil.
David Tanyi
On 3 June 2000, in Bakebe Village, Cameroon. Nyenti David Tanyi was born on 1 January 1928, in Bakebe village, in the Southwest Province of Cameroon. Mr. Tanyi became a Bahá’í in 1953, taught by Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga. Mr. Tanyi and his wife, Esther Oben Tabi, had twelve children together, although only two survived to adulthood. Mrs. Tanyi was the first woman to embrace the Bahá’í Faith in Cameroon and she and her husband were nicknamed by Mr. Olinga
the “Adam and Eve of the Faith in Cameroon.” Mr. Tanyi had been working as a bookkeeper, but left Cameroon with his wife in 1955 to teach the Bahá’í Faith in Benin, then moved to Ghana in 1957 and stayed there for many years, and the couple eventually settled in Kumesi. In Ghana, he worked as a shoemaker until he became certified as an accountant and got a job in the Finance Department of the University of Science and Technology. At various times he served on Local Spiritual Assemblies in Cameroon and Ghana, was a member of the Auxiliary Board and was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Ghana. In recognition of his being the first Bahá’í to settle in French Togoland (now Togo), he was named by Shoghi Effendi as a Knight of Baha’u’llah.
Bahíyyih Randall Winckler
On 8 September 2000, in Sabie, South Africa. Margaret Peregrine Randall was born 3 August 1907 in Medford, Massachusetts, the United States. By her own account, she became a Bahá’í at the age of five, when she had the opportunity to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who had come to visit her sick mother. She went on pilgrimage to Haifa at age 12 and later published an account of it called My Pilgrimage to Haifa: 1919. During her pilgrimage, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave her the name Bahíyyih (Arabic for “‘beautiful”). She was appointed to the National Youth Committee in the US in 1926
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and served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Boston after she turned 21. In 1952, Shoghi Effendi requested that she Visit 15 European countries where Bahá’ís had recently pioneered. For the length of the four—month trip, she gave two lectures a day in cities and towns throughout Europe. Shoghi Effendi further directed her to settle in South Africa, and she arrived there in 1953 with her second husband, Harry Ford, whom she married in 1938. She was followed to South Africa by her mother and stepfather, her daughter from her first marriage, and her brother. Her husband passed away in Johannesburg in 1954. She married Godfried Winckler in 1973, who died in Sabie in 1986. She traveled widely in Africa and became an expert on African beadwork and a renowned speaker on African art, making a business of acquiring and promoting it. She was a member of the first Local Spiritual Assembly in South Africa and secretary of the first National Teaching Committee, also serving on the National Spiritual Assembly from 1960 to 1966 and from 1967 to 1968. In 1968, she was appointed to the Continental Board of Counsellors and served that body for 17 years. After her death, the Universal House of Justice sent a message advising that memorial services should be held in her honor throughout South Africa.
Kay Zinky
On 10 May 2000, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the United States. Edith “Kay” Mehring was born 25 March 1903 in Rocky Ford, C010rado. She was trained as an operatic singer. A skillful seamstress, she invented and patented a method for making silk stockings that did not run. Her marriage to Raymond Zinky in 1922 produced twin sons. She became a Bahá’í in 1947 and served on many Bahá’í committees and institutions in Colorado, including managing the Temerity International Bahá’í School in Pine Valley. In 1954, she left the United States and was one of the first two Bahá’ís to settle in the Magdalen Islands, Canada, an act for which she was named as a Knight of Baha’u’llah by Shoghi Effendi. Upon returning to the United States after a year in the Magdalens, she traveled extensively throughout the country. Always active in the Bahá’í community, she made compilations of Bahá’í writings for publication and teaching in Bahá’í summer and winter schools. Her research in the British Museum Library helped to uncover some three hundred previously unknown Bahá’í Tablets. Later in life, she traveled to Africa and Europe to teach the Bahá’í Faith. The Universal House of Justice, in its message after her death, remarked that her “indomitable spirit will certainly remain a source of inspiration for generations to come.”
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