In Memoriam 1992-1997/Sverre Holmsen

SVERRE HOLMSEN 1906—1992

The Universal House of Justice is saddened at the passing of stalwart believer Sverte Holmsen. His contributions to the Faith, especially through his writing, will long be remembered. Kindly convey to Lena and Reidar Holmsen the House of Justice’s loving condolences and assurance of its prayers in the Holy Shrines for the progress of the soul

of their dear father in all the worlds of God.

Department of the Secretariat October 15, 1992

Sverte Holmsen was born on March 4, 1906, in Transvaal, South Africa, of Norwegian parents, Sverte Ryen Holmsen and Sylvia Frolich. The family moved to Gyttorp, Sweden, in 1907—8, and in 1912 Sverre became a Swedish citizen.

Ten years of primary and secondary education failed to keep the restless Sverre in Sweden, not did his father’s prestigious position in the Bofors industries. In 1922 Sverre set out to see the world. Like many other Swedish travelers before him, he chose North America and worked as a logger in the Rocky Mountains of Canada and the United States. He returned to Sweden in 1926, and after military service he married Margit Holm, a classmate from secondary school.

As a very determined and hard—working man, he was able to save enough money for a voyage to Polynesia. He visited the Hawaiian Islands and worked in Japan shortly after the great earthquake of 1923. Svette also worked aboard the M/S Amtor that was wrecked during a storm off the coast of Japan. According to his book

Suerre Halmmz

Globm mm (/170qu the Globe), he must have been the sole survivor.

Sverre’s goal was Polynesia. He and Margit reached Tahiti in January 1929, and for the first three years they lived and worked on Makatea Island. He was the custodian of a sport fishing outfit run by Zane Grey, the famous American writer. Svetre was unable to countenance the poor treatment of the workers, and he tried to bring about the betterment of their living and working conditions. His efforts resulted in his dismissal.

Sverre, Margit, and their two—yeat—old daughter Marja then settled in the remote wilderness of eastern Tahiti. They cleared a large piece of land and prepared it for cultivation. Little Marja collected eggs that the jungle hens laid outside the cottages.

The birth of their second daughter, Ragna, brought much joy to their lives. Some months later, a hurricane uprooted and destroyed all that they had established. Then Ragna died in an influenza epidemic. Margit collapsed under the weight of the

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tragedies. She took Marja and left for Sweden. Sverre followed, but their separation seemed unavoidable.

Sverte later married Agda Gothlin, a writer and artist. They lived in the town of Nora, and their first child, Lena Reri, was born in 1945. Sverre continued writing and publishing his books and making preparations to return to Tahiti. He and his family set out from Sweden on the M/S Vz‘rgz‘rzifl in August of19so. In March of the following year a hurricane left them shipwrecked. Of his four thousand books and manuscripts only fragments were salvaged. Sverre abandoned his hopes of returning to the Pacific, and he and his family spent a few months in Morocco.

Salvaged from the shipwreck was a page from a book in which the Bahá’í Faith was mentioned. Sverte saw this as providential, and he spent the next few months visiting libraries searching for more information.

In 1951 they moved to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. There Sverre found what he had been searching for. A letter from Doris Corbin, a pioneer in Sweden, directed him to the residence of George12 and Margurite True. Their son Russel gave Sverre a copy of 34/1431 7/5177 and the New Em, a book Sverre described as being the key to a number of the Bahá’í writings. In 1953 he published Morialand, his sixth book, the first in which he mentioned the Faith.

Ten years later the family returned to Sweden, settling in a pleasant suburb of Sigtuna, halfway between Uppsala and Stockholm. Sverre had the opportunity of meeting regularly with members of the Bahá’í communities ofboth cities. On July 5, 1964, he declared his faith and attended his first Nineteen Day Feast, the Feast of Words, two days later.

‘2 See “In Memoriam,” 777a Balm? World, vol. XIX, pp- 634‘36.

In the second edition of Moritzland published in 1966, Sverre wrote:

Thirteen years have elapsed since my book MORLALAND was published. Three years later I came into possession of some revolutionary writings treating epochs of man’s religions and civilization. I consider that these writings and documents, whose originals are kept in the International Bahá’í Archives on Mount Carmel, are ofsuch importance that I feel strongly to dedicate most of my time studying them, and deepening my knowledge, in order to be able to disseminate this Cause. We may have eternity at our disposal, but as far as I am concerned, I cannot afford losing one single second.13

From then on he dedicated his time, knowledge, and fluent pen to the service of the Cause. Sverre’s first article on the Faith, uBahá’í, den globala erans varldsreligion” (“Baha’L the world religion of the global era") was published in 1966 in Sdkarm (7776 Searcher), a well—known and widespread Swedish periodical and forum for art and ideas.

His next, and far more detailed and weighty contribution, was his last major work in Swedish, De Uppb/sta Harimntema (7776‘ [[lumined Horizons), published in 1969. It was well received by the Swedish press. One newspaper wrote, “[O]f all the author’s fifteen books, the recent one treats what appears to be closer to his heart,

13 Sverre Holmsen, Morizllrmd, ABE—Tryck, Halsingborg) Sweden, 1966. The limited knowledge Sverte had of the Faith in 1953 is reflected in the first edition. In the second edition he endeavored to correct the inaccuracies of the first and expanded the book to include a new chapter on the Bahá’í Faith in which he wrote ofits history and principles and provided a bibliography ofits Sacred Writings and literature.

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namely the Bahá’í world religion, little known to us, which will eventually be more and more made known in our regions.”l4 Sverre sent copies to several people of prominence including Artur Lundkvist, renowned author and member of the Swedish Academy, and his wife, writer Maria Wine. They found The Illuminm’ Horizons to be such a significant contribution to global democracy that they were inspired to present a copy to Olof Palme, the late Prime Minister of Sweden.

Sverre’s last work, entitled Inspimm'remd (The Inspire”), was published as a mimeograph in 1977 by Swedish Bahá’í Publications.

After the passing of his wife, Sverre moved to BjuV—Ekeby in the south of Sweden, where he continued to received a stream of visitors, to many of whom he expounded the urgency of the teachings. One of his more memorable moments there was when the Hand of the Cause Dr. Ugo Giachery visited him.

Sverre was a man of linguistic accomplishment. His Swedish work is vibrant, articulate, effortlessly flowing, and sweet. The fact that his seventeen books have been translated into nine languages testifies to the merit of his appeal as an author and to the freshness of the themes he has given to readers worldwide. One reviewer wrote, “Homer’s Odyssey, Melville’s M05} Dick, and Sverre Holmsen’s Singing Com! are the great sea novels of world literature.”

Sverte wrote and spoke in English, French, Spanish, Polynesian, German, Esperanto, Danish, and Norwegian with ease and in Arabic to some extent. His translations from those languages into Swedish are fluent, clear, and coherent. To

'4 Bo R. Stahi, in “Falu Kuriren,” 1969, quoted in

the Swedish Bahá’í’Neu/t, no. 18, February 2, 1970.

read his translations of the Bahá’í writings from English into Swedish is pure joy.

Sverre Hoimsen passed away on October 9, 1992, in Bjuv, Ski’me. His testing place is in the Fredenstotp cemetery in the university city of Lund.

Adaptedfiam an article by E. Djazayerz‘