‘Alí-Akbar Nakhjavání

‘Alí-Akbar Nakhjavání
Born	1865 Urdubad, Nakhjaván, Azerbaijan
Died	December 31, 1920 Bákú, Azerbaijan
Spouse(s)	Fatimih Khanum Tabrizi (m. 1914, d. 1938)
Children	Jalál Nakhjavání (1917-1982) Alí Nakhjavání (1919-2019)

Mírzá ‘Alí-Akbar Nakhjavání (1865 - December 31, 1920) was an early Baháʼí who served ‘Abdu’l-Bahá personally accompanying Him on His visit to America.

Biography

Nakhjavani was born in what is now known as the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in Azerbaijan in 1865. His mother, Ma'sumih Khanum, was a Shaykhi who became a Baháʼí. He later came to live in Bákú, after being expelled from his school in Nakhjavan for speaking languages other than Russian and his mother experiencing opposition for her religion, allowing him to continue his studies which included attending University in Tiblis, Georgia. After completing his studies he began working for prominent Bákú Baháʼí Músa Naqíov managing property deals and becoming his executive secretary.

In the early 1900's he began to undertake tasks for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá being given the responsibility of corresponding with Isabella Grinevskaya who wrote a play on the Bab in 1903. He also asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for advice before writing to Leo Tolstoy on the Faith beginning a correspondence in 1909 which resulted in a personal friendship developing. In 1911 Nakhjavani accompanied Grinevskaya to Egypt as she wished to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and he met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the first time himself and was invited to join Him on His tour of the West. He joined ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America on June 19, 1912, and was a member of his entourage and recorded some personal impressions of His activities and talks in his memoirs. After returning from the West Nakhjavani undertook his own teaching tour of Europe and central Asia.

In 1914 Nakhjavání went to the Holy Land where at the suggestion of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá he married Fatimih Tabrizi, a descendant of one of the companions of Bahá’u’lláh on His exile to the Holy Land who had served as an attendant in the household of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Akka. They lived in the Holy Land for a few months and purchased a property in Haifa however before the close of 1914 they moved to Bákú in Azerbaijan. They had a son who passed in infancy after moving to Bákú, and in 1917 they had a son Jalál, and in 1919 they had a third son Alí.

Nakhjavání had a weak heart and was a diabetic and his health deteriorated in 1919 and 1920 and he passed away in December 1920. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá summoned Fatimih and her sons to the Holy Land after ‘Alí-Akbar's passing.