Elsa Steinmetz
Elsa Steinmetz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Died | March 13, 1970 Switzerland |
| NSA member | Italy & Switzerland 1953 - 1962 Switzerland 1962 - ???? |
| ABM | Europe 1954 - ???? |
Elsa Steinmetz (d. March 13, 1970) was an American Bahá’í who pioneered to Switzerland where she helped establish a Bahá’í community and served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Italy and Switzerland and the independent National Spiritual Assembly of Switzerland.
Biography[edit]
Steinmetz was a member of the American Bahá’í community and as of the early 1940's she was living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.[1] She pioneered to Berne, Switzerland, with her sister, Fritzi Shaver, in 1947. She learnt German after arriving in Switzerland and was able to facilitate Bahá’í meeting without a translator or assistance shortly after arriving.[2]
In 1949 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Berne, the first in Switzerland, was established. In 1953 Steinmetz and Shaver pioneered to Basel at the request of the European Teaching Committee where Shaver passed. Steinmetz then pioneered to Lucerne.[3] In 1953 the National Spiritual Assembly of Italy and Switzerland was established and she was elected to the body. When the independent National Spiritual Assembly of Switzerland was formed in 1962 she was elected as a member and she attended the First International Convention in 1963 as a member of the body.[2]
In 1968 Steinmetz was invited to return to the United States to reside at the Bahá’í Home for the Aged in Wilmette, Illinois. She briefly resided in the Home but returned to Berne in June 1969.[4] She passed away in 1970 and the Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after her passing:
GRIEVED NEWS PASSING VALIANT STEADFAST PIONEER ELSA STEINMETZ HER DEVOTED SERVICES CAUSE OVER LONG YEARS ETERNALLY WOVEN ANNALS FAITH SWITZERLAND EUROPEAN CONTINENT PRAYING SACRED THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.[2]
References[edit]
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 918. View as PDF.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 475. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 918. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 476. View as PDF.
