In Memoriam 1992-1997/Eruch Maneksha Munsiff

In Memoriam 1992-1997 Eruch Maneksha Munsiff

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ERUCH MANEKSHA MUNSIFF

1920-1995

Eruch Munsiff was born on September 1920, in the seaport city of Bharuch (Broach), India. In 1945 he wed Meherangiz, and a daughter, Jyoti, was the fruit of their marriage.

When India gained independence in 1947, Eruch was amongst the first group of officials to serve the country’s diplomatic mission abroad; he was posted to the High Commission in London.

Eruch became a Bahá’í sometime in 1948. From 1949 to 1955 he served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of London, often as its chairman or treasurer. In November of 1952 his was the first family from the United Kingdom to go on pilgrimage after the war. They were in the Holy Land for eleven days, on ten of which Eruch and his wife had the bounty of being with the beloved Guardian as the only Eastern pilgrims in the group.

When the Ten Year Crusade was launched, he assumed the total care of

[Page 251]Jyoti so as to enable Meherangiz to pioneer to Madagascar in 1953 and to French Cameroon in 1954. She was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for her efforts in the latter. As Jyoti noted, “[I]t was a joint effort although my mother was technically the pioneer.”

In March 1955 Eruch was transferred to the Embassy of India in Washington DC where they remained until 1958. During this time he was on the Local Assembly of Silver Springs, Maryland. Offered posts in Peking or Shanghai, he, acting on the guidance of the Guardian, resigned from diplomatic service because it would involve political work.

The following year the family returned to the United Kingdom. He served again on the London Assembly until its dissolution and thereafter on the Assembly of Wandsworth until his death. For twelve years he was secretary of the European Pioneer Committee.

Eruch had a talent for organizing large-scale events and functions for the Bahá’ís of London. In 1964 he single-handedly took nearly two hundred friends from the United Kingdom to the dedication of the Temple in Frankfurt, Germany.

As well as traveling teaching in the United States, he made efforts for the Faith in Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, Canary Islands, Greece, Germany, Finland, Holland, Belgium, and Portugal. He gave seminars and courses at Landegg Academy and at various summer, winter, and youth schools.

“In 1955, Shoghi Effendi instructed that membership of a Local Spiritual Assembly should be drawn from those residing within the local government boundaries. As a result, fifteen of the twenty-four Bahá’í communities formed in 1950 dissolved, but by April 1963, fifty Local Spiritual Assemblies had been established, all conforming to the areas of jurisdiction.” The Bahá’í Faith in the United Kingdom: A Brief History, Dr. Moojan Momen.

He passed away at the age of seventy-five on October 15, 1995. The following day the Universal House of Justice offered its condolences:

GRIEVED NEWS PASSING DEARLY LOVED LONG-STANDING PROMOTER FAITH ERUCH MUNSIFF. RENDERED DEVOTED SERVICES CAUSE GOD UNITED KINGDOM WITH TENACITY AND LOVING SPIRIT. FOR SEVERAL YEARS ASSISTED EFFECTIVE MOVEMENT PIONEERS AS SECRETARY EUROPEAN PIONEER COMMITTEE. SUPPLICATING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL. CONVEY OUR LOVING SYMPATHY HIS BELOVED WIFE AND DAUGHTER.

From material provided by Jyoti Munsiff