Manuel Garcia Vasquez
Manuel Garcia Vasquez | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | August 20, 1923 Cabreiros, Orense Province, Spain |
| Died | February 9, 1990 |
| NSA member | Iberian Peninsula 1957 - 1958 Dominican Republic 1961 - 1962 |
| ABM | Americas 1962 - 1965 |
| Spouse(s) | Emilia Garro Bermejo |
| Children | Zoraida Garcia Garro |
Manuel Garcia Vasquez (August 20, 1923 - February 9, 1990) was the third person to become a Bahá’í in Spain.[1] He pioneered to South America, and to the Basque region of Spain.
Biography[edit]
Manuel was born in Cabreiros, Orense Province in Spain. His family moved to Chipiona, Cadiz, when he was 20 months old as his father received a teaching position at a primary school there. In 1939 the family moved to Madrid and Manuel began working for the Hispano-American Bank as secretary to the regional director.
He became interested in Esperanto and began correspondence with 72 other speakers across the world. One of them was Virginia Orbison, a Bahá’í who pioneered to Spain in 1946 and likely introduced Manuel to the Faith. He read Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era when he was 23 and declared on July 5, 1947, which alienated him from his family, and he became an active participant in teaching plans. He was an inaugural member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Iberian Peninsula formed in April 1957 and served on the body as Secretary for one term.[2]
He married Emilia Garro Bermejo in late 1957, and they pioneered to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic together. They moved to Santiago de los Caballeros where Manuel became secretary of the Local Spiritual Assembly, and he and his wife established a local radio station and had their daughter Zoraida Garcia. The family later moved from Santiago de Los Caballeros to Ciudad Trujillo. Manuel was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly while living in the Dominican Republic, and was also appointed the first National Radio Teaching Committee. He was appointed as an Auxiliary Board Member for Propagation of the Faith in Central America and the Antilles in 1962, holding the position until 1965 when he and his family were forced to return to Europe following the revolution in the Dominican Republic.[3]
They initially stayed in Madrid after returning to Europe, but then moved to Zaragoza where Manuel served on the Local Spiritual Assembly as secretary. In 1969 they pioneered to Algorta in the Basque area of Spain. He was appointed to the National Radio Committee of Spain and organized Bahá’í programmes for broadcast which he also had taped, serving this role for fourteen years. He also made weekly trips to cities across Spain to teach the Faith while living in Algorta. He lived in Algorta until 1978.
In 1990 Manuel passed away after an illness. The Universal House of Justice cabled the following after his passing:
SADDENED NEWS PASSING STALWART SERVANT BAHA'U'LLAH MANUEL GARCIA VAZQUEZ, ONE OF THE FIRST TO EMBRACE THE CAUSE IN SPAIN. HIS RECORD DEVOTED SERVICES SPANNING OVER FOUR DECADES UNFORGETTABLE. HIS MEMBERSHIP HISTORIC FIRST LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY MADRID, SECRETARY FIRST NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY IBERIAN PENINSULA, HIS PIONEERING DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND SEVERAL HOMEFRONT GOAL TOWNS, HIS UNTIRING EFFORTS TEACHING, DEEPENING FIELDS ARE WARMLY REMEMBERED. PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS RADIANT SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. CONVEY LOVING CONDOLENCE MEMBERS HIS FAMILY.[4]
References[edit]
- Obituary in Baha'i World, Vol. 20, p 955.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/tags/Spain
- ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 316, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
- ↑ Bahá’í News, No. 423, p 2: https://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_423.pdf&page=2
- ↑ Baha'i World, Vol. 20, p 955.
