Kazem Kazemzadeh
Kazem Kazemzadeh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1898 Ishqabad, Russia |
| Died | November 14, 1989 Pacific Palisades, California, USA |
| NSA member | Iran 1951 - 1956 |
| ABM | Asia 1954 - 1956 |
| Spouse(s) | Tatiana Romanovna Yevseyeva |
| Children | Firuz Kazemzadeh |
Kazem Kazemzadeh (1898 - November 14, 1989) was a Persian Bahá’í who served as a National Spiritual Assembly and Auxiliary Board member in Iran.
Biography[edit]
Kazemzadeh was born in Ishqabad, which was then part of Russia, in 1898. His grandfather, Haji Muhammad Kazim, had moved to the city from Iran due to persecution of the Bahá’í community in his home country.[1] In 1903 he began attending a Bahá’í school and in 1911 he began studying at a Russian school modeled on European education.[2]
Kazemzadeh went on to study at Moscow University where he met and married early Russian Bahá’í Tatiana Romanovna Yevseyeva. After graduating from university he began working for the Persian Embassy in Moscow and he served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Moscow up until it lapsed in 1929. In 1928 he went on pilgrimage and met Shoghi Effendi. In 1940 he resigned from his position with the Embassy and moved to Tehran, Iran, where he worked as a lawyer but primarily served the Bahá’í community and in 1941 he made a second pilgrimage.[2]
In Tehran Kazemzadeh was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly and served on several committees. In 1951 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly and in 1954 he was appointed as an inaugural Auxiliary Board member for Asia when the institution was established. In the early 50's he assisted the Bahá’í community of Yazd by heading the legal defense of members of the Local Spiritual Assembly who had been arrested although he was unsuccessful with a guilty verdict being ruled due to pressure from the Islamic clergy.[2]
In 1956 Kazemzadeh moved to the United States and he became a lecturer in Persian at Harvard University and the University of California. He lived in several communities serving on the Local Spiritual Assemblies of New Haven, Connecticut, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Santa Monica. In 1967 the Universal House of Justice appointed him as the first Trustee of Ḥuqúqu’lláh for the Western Hemisphere.[3] In later life he was able to return to Russia on teaching trips when conditions in the Soviet Union were relaxed.[4]
In 1989 Kazemzadeh passed away due to heart failure in Pacific Palisades, California. The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after his passing:
DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING GREATLY TRURSTED STEADFAST PROMOTER FAITH KAZEM KAZEMZADEH. HIS DISTINGUISHED SERVICES RUSSIA, HIS EXEMPLARY PARTICIPATION IN ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES FRIENDS IRAN, INCLUDING DISCHARGE HIS RESPONSIBILITIES AS SECRETARY NATIONAL SPIRITUAL[4]
References[edit]
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 945. View as PDF.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 946. View as PDF.
- ↑ US Supplement, No. 118, p 4
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 947. View as PDF.
