Emeric Sala
Emeric Sala | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 12, 1906 Havas Dombrovica, Hungary |
| Died | September 5, 1990 |
| NSA member | Canada 1948 - 1953 |
Emeric Sala (November 12, 1906 - September 5, 1990) was a Hungarian-Canadian Bahá’í who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada and pioneered to Africa and Central America.
Biography[edit]
Sala was born into a Jewish family in the village of Havas Dombrovica in Hungary in 1906. His father, Adolf, was a lumber inspector and his mother was named Charlotte. The family moved to Romania when he was a child and he was raised in Romania.[1] He had a sister and two brothers.[2]
Sala attempted to move to America in the early 1920's but was unable to secure permission to immigrate and instead moved to Germany where he found work on a ship in Hamburg sailing to western Africa. The ship he worked on then sailed to Montreal, Canada, in 1927 and he remained in Canada working as a ditch digger and then a dish washer in a small hotel although he was soon dismissed as he accidentally broke dishes while washing them.[1]
Sala was introduced to the Bahá’í Faith in 1927 when he attended a public meeting which May Maxwell and her daughter Mary spoke at and he declared in 1929. He established the first Bahá’í Youth Group in Canada in Montreal with Rowland Estall, Mary Maxwell, and George Spendlove and they began holding study classes which soon had a high attendance. Rosemary Gillies became a Bahá’í through the classes and she married Sala in 1934.[2] In 1930 Sala assisted his family in moving to Canada from Europe.[2]
Sala had established an import business as of the 1930's and he traveled across Canada on business trips and used them to teach the Faith giving public talks in several cities which were sometimes the first ever Bahá’í talk in a city. In 1937 he made a travel teaching trip to Europe with the encouragement of May Maxwell and went on pilgrimage to Haifa where he met Shoghi Effendi spending an evening alone with him. Upon returning to Canada from his pilgrimage he collaborated with Siegfried Schopflocher to purchase a property for the Faith which was the first Bahá’í property of Canada and became the site where the first Canadian summer schools were held.[2]
In 1940 Sala and his wife pioneered to Venezuela and he undertook travel teaching trips across South America although they returned to Canada in 1941.[2] In 1948 both Sala and his wife were elected to the inaugural National Spiritual Assembly of Canada and served for five years. In 1953 the Sala's retired from the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada and sold their home and Sala settled his business affairs leaving them in the care of his brother, Ernest, so that they could pioneer to Africa to support the Ten Year Crusade.[3]
The Sala's initially intended to settle in the Comoro Islands which were a goal territory of the Ten Year Crusade however they were unable to secure permission to enter the country and Shoghi Effendi directed them to settle in Zululand, now apart of South Africa, instead. They departed Canada for Africa in April 1954.[4] They secured permission to establish a trading post in Eshowe which allowed them to support themselves however their license was not renewed by the South African authorities and they had moved to Port Elizabeth by 1959.[3][5]
In the late 1960's the Sala's returned to Canada from Africa for a brief time then pioneered to Mexico settling in Guadalajara and they both undertook several travel teaching trips across Central America from their home. In January 1980 Rosemary passed away and Sala remarried to Donya in September and they undertook travel teaching trips throughout America, Asia, and Europe in the 1980's notably touring China and India together.[3]
Donya passed away in August 1990 and Sala passed a few weeks later on September 5, 1990. The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after his passing:
HEARTS GRIEVED PASSING VETERAN TEACHER PROMOTER FAITH EMERIC SALA. HIS WORLDWIDE TRAVELS, HIS HISTORIC EFFORTS IN REARING ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE CANADIAN BAHA'I COMMUNITY, HIS SCHOLARLY WORK, HIS ENTHUSIASM, ARDOUR AND STEADFASTNESS WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED. PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL. CONVEY FAMILY FRIENDS DEEPEST LOVING SYMPATHY.[3]
Publications[edit]
- 1945 - This Earth One Country
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 993. View as PDF.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 994. View as PDF.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 995. View as PDF.
- ↑ Canadian Baha'i News, No. 53, p 2
- ↑ Canadian Baha'i News, No. 115, p 4
