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From Bahaipedia
 Hungary
Hungary Bahá’í National Convention, 2005.
Location of Hungary
National AssemblyHungary
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 9,709,786
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 281
History:
Firsts
 -  Local Assembly 1939, Budapest 
 -  National Assembly 1992 
Official Website http://www.bahai.hu/
Related media
Categories: Hungary • People

Hungary is a country in Central Europe. Hungarian is the official language and Christianity is the predominant religion.

The region was united as Hungary in the 9th Century and became a notable European power throughout the Middle Ages. In 1867 the country was united with Austria as the state of Austria-Hungary, which collapsed following the First World War. In 1920 Hungary was re-established with its present borders and in 1949 it became a satellite state of the Soviet Union. It remained part of the Eastern Bloc until 1989 and is now part of the European Union.

The Bahá’í Faith was brought to Hungary in 1913 when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Head of the religion, was invited to visit Budapest during His travels in Europe. A community was established in the 1930s, however the Second World War and subsequent governmental restrictions on religion prevented the community from growing or developing. In the late 1980s restrictions on religion were relaxed and a community quickly grew in the 1990s which remains active to the present day.

History[edit]

As of 1913 no Bahá’í travel teachers or pioneers had visited Hungary however ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had become known in the country due to His travels in Europe and America and some residents of Budapest wrote to ask that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visit. On April 9, 1913, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived in Budapest by train remaining in the city until April 18, meeting with many people and delivering a public talk during His time in the city.[2] In December 1925 Martha Root visited Budapest and taught in the city until January 1926.[3] She returned briefly in February, 1926, while traveling to Austria from Bulgaria but due to exhaustion she was unable to undertake any teaching activities.[4]

By the early 1930's there were four Bahá’ís living in Gyor who were attempting to establish a Bahá’í community but felt they were limited due to a lack of Bahá’í material translated into Hungarian.[5] As of 1932 two of the Gyor Bahá’ís, Nicholas Erdelyi and George Steiner, were making efforts to translate Bahá’í literature into Hungarian with Steiner working on a translation of Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era.[6] Martha Root visited Gyor in early 1933 accompanied by Howard and Marzieh Carpenter and they visited Steiner who was gravely ill,[7] passing away in 1934.[8] Root and the Carpenter's also visited Budapest while in Hungary with Martha and Marzieh giving several talks.[7]

In 1936 Renee Szanto-Felbermann declared, having heard a talk by Martha Root in Budapest in 1933, and at the time of her declaration she was the only Bahá’í in Hungary. After a short time she was joined by American Bahá’ís Randolph and Jeanne Bolles who began holding Bahá’í meetings,[9] and by 1937 there were eight Bahá’ís in Budapest who established a Bahá’í group.[10] In 1939 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Budapest was established,[11] however efforts to consolidate a community were made impossible by the Second World War,[9] and the Communist government of Hungary established after the War forbade Bahá’í meetings and teaching religion preventing any progress of the Faith in the country.[12]

Hungarian Etelka Szasz became a Bahá’í while at an Esperanto conference in Vienna, Austria, in 1965 then returned to Hungary, settling in Budapest, where she taught close relatives and she was the only active Hungarian Bahá’í at the time.[12] In 1980 restrictions on travel between western countries and Hungary were relaxed and Bahá’í travel teachers began to visit Hungary and were supported by Szasz resulting in her being interrogated by the secret police.[13] In the late 1980's religious restrictions in Hungary began to be relaxed and in 1987 Rúḥíyyih Khánum visited Budapest where there was a small group of Bahá’ís and by 1989 five pioneers had settled in the country.[14] In 1989 an annual international book and video fair was established in Budapest and the Bahá’í Publishing Trust of the United Kingdom was able to organize a Bahá’í display,[15] and in January 1990 the Bahá’í music group El Viento Canta performed concerts in Hungary and were interviewed on television.[16]

The European Bahá’í Youth Council organized teaching projects in Hungary during 1990,[17] and as of that year there were forty Bahá’ís in the country with only eight being pioneers. The Local Spiritual Assembly of Budapest was established in 1990,[14] and the first national Bahá’í teaching conference of Hungary was held in 1991 with a second Local Spiritual Assembly being established that year.[18] By 1992 there were four Local Spiritual Assemblies and one hundred and thirty Bahá’ís in Hungary and the country established a National Spiritual Assembly that year with ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan representing the Universal House of Justice at the countries first National Convention.[19]

In 1993 Rúḥíyyih Khánum visited Hungary again and planted a tree in Budapest to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's visit to the city.[20] In 1995 Hungary held its first Bahá’í National Youth Conference.[21] Also in 1995 the President of Hungary visited the Bahá’í booth at Budapest’s International Book and Video Fair and was presented with a copy of The Promise of World Peace message by the Universal House of Justice,[22] and in 1999 a Bahá’í delegation was granted an audience with the President.[23] As of 1999 eighty percent of the Hungarian Bahá’í community were Roma and in July that year a Bahá’í delegation met with the President of Hungary's National Roma Association.[23]

As of 2002 there were over 1,200 Bahá’ís in Hungary and that year a National Bahá’í Centre, designed to accommodate the needs of the growing community, was opened in Budapest with several government dignitaries attending the dedication.[24] In 2003 the Bahá’í community of Hungary began the Mesed project which aimed to provide literacy education to disadvantaged Roma women and by 2006 the project was providing classes in eight towns and cities across the country.[25]

In 2019 the Hungarian Bahá’í community published a book in honor of the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb which detailed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's visit to Budapest.[26] In 2022 grassroots conferences were held by Bahá’í communities across Hungary to provide spaces for consultation on building vibrant communities as part of the Global Conferences initiative of the worldwide Bahá’í community.[27]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. ↑ Earl Redman, Abdu'l-Baha in Their Midst, George Ronald: Oxford, 2011', pp 318-321
  3. ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold, George Ronald: Oxford, 1983, p 238
  4. ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold, George Ronald: Oxford, 1983, p 247
  5. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1936). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 5 (1932-1934), Pg(s) 377. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Baha'i News (1932). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 60, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 M. R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold, George Ronald: Oxford, 1983, p 390
  8. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1937). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 6 (1934-1936), Pg(s) 502. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 633. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1937). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 110, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1990). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 711, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Paul Vreeland, The Bahá’í World, In Memoriam 1992-1997, Baha'i World Centre, 2010, p 348
  13. ↑ Paul Vreeland, The Bahá’í World, In Memoriam 1992-1997, Baha'i World Centre, 2010, p 349
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 218. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 211. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 201. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 203. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 205. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 219. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1999). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 26 (1997-1998), Pg(s) 104. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 25 (1996-1997), Pg(s) 67. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1997). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 24 (1995-1996), Pg(s) 112. View as PDF.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2001). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 28 (1999-2000), Pg(s) 93. View as PDF.
  24. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2004). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 31 (2002-2003), Pg(s) 78. View as PDF.
  25. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/467/
  26. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1351/
  27. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1593/
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