Athos Costas

Athos Costas
Athos Costas on teaching trip in Bolivia, 1959.
NSA member	South America 1953 - 1957 A.B.C.P.U. 1957 - 1961 Bolivia 1961 - 1965
ABM	Americas 1965 - 1968
Counsellor	South America 1968 - 1980 Americas 1980 - 1985
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Athos Costas is an Argentinean Bahá'í who served the Faith in South America as a National Assembly member, an Auxiliary Board member and a Continental Counsellor.

Background

Athos was a Bahá'í by the 1940's, and he was elected as a delegate of the Argentina Bahá'í community to the South American Bahá'í Congress in 1948. He was serving on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Buenos Aires as of the early 1950's, and by 1954 he was serving on the National Spiritual Assembly of South America as Recording Secretary. As of 1958 he was Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. In 1958 and 1959 he visited isolated native communities in Bolivia to teach the Faith.

In 1961 Athos pioneered from Argentina to Bolivia with his wife Angelica and their two children, and as of 1963 he was serving as Director of a National School for Bahá'í teachers in Bolivia. By 1965 he had been appointed as an Auxiliary Board member, and in 1967 he went on a trip across Bolivia with Assembly member Dr. Ouladi in order to visit Bahá'í communities and Government departments in order to secure the legal recognition and protection of the Bahá'ís.

In 1968 when the Continental Boards of Counsellors were formed Athos was appointed as an inaugural member of the Continental Board for South America. In 1970 he attended the first All Quajira Bahá'í Conference in Los Mochos, Venezuela, and moved back to Argentina from Bolivia. In 1971 he attended the National Convention of Uruguay in Montevideo and consulted with the election delegates. In 1972 he visited Bahá'í pioneers in Copiapo, Chile and attended the Bolivia National Convention. In 1973 he coordinated a deepening course for traveling teachers in Rosario, Argentina. In 1974 he gave a talk on the Faith attended by 4000 in Vallarica, Paraguay. In 1975 he assisted with the formation of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of La Leonesa, Argentina, by conducting a deepening institute. In August 1976 he attended National Teaching Conference in Bolivia, at which he gave a talk on the importance of teaching. In 1978 he was a member of a delegation that met with General Augusto Pinochet of Chile for a fifteen minute audience. Also in 1978 he spoke at the Inauguration of Radio Bahá'í, a Bahá'í radio station in Ecuador. In 1979 he attended the Chile National Convention.

In 1980 the Continental Boards for North, Central, and South America were merged into a single Continental Board, and Athos was appointed to this new Continental Board for a five year term. In 1981 he attended a Summer School in Villa Moscu, Bolivia. In January 1982 he attended a National Pioneer Conference in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Later in 1982 he participated in the dedication of Bahá'í Radio of Lake Titicaca. Also in 1982 he founded the Foundation for the Integral Development of Bolivia with Eloy Anello. In 1984 he participated in a Summer School held in San German, Puerto Rico and visited Argentina. In 1985 Athos completed his term as Counselor, and was not reappointed.