Margaret Lentz

Margaret Lentz

Margaret Lentz (May 23, 1877 - December 12, 1965)[1] was a German Bahá’í who served the Bahá’í Faith assisting with the functions of the International Bahá’í Bureau, opening the Dominican Republic to the religion, and assisting with the re-establishment of a community in Austria following the Second World War.

Biography[edit]

Lentz was born in Cuxhaven, Germany, in 1877 into a well off family. The First World War prompted her to seek a deeper meaning to life and she discovered the Bahá’í Faith at some point and joined the religion. She went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land shortly after declaring and met with Shoghi Effendi.[2] Shortly after her pilgrimage she pioneered to Geneva, Switzerland, to serve as an assistant to Emogene Hoagg at the International Bahá’í Bureau serving as of the early 1930's.[2]

In June, 1937, Lentz moved to the United States,[3] where she volunteered to pioneer to South or Central America,[4] and she arrived in the Dominican Republic in 1938 settling in Santo Domingo.[5] By 1940 Maria Teresa Martin de Lopez had become the first Dominican Bahá’í through Lentz,[6] and in 1943 Lentz secured a house for hosting Bahá’í activities in Trujillo.[7] She pioneered from the Dominican Republic to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1944,[8] then in 1945 she pioneered to Providence, Rhode Island, in the United States to prevent the Local Spiritual Assembly of Providence from lapsing.[9] As of 1946 she was serving on the State Election Committee of Rhode Island.[10]

At the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade in 1953 Lentz volunteered to return to Germany to assist in consolidating the German Bahá’í community in the wake of the Second World War however the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany & Austria advised there was a greater need for pioneers to Austria and she moved to Vienna arriving on April 1, 1954.[11] She worked closely with Franz Pöllinger and some Persian pioneers to re-establish the Austrian Bahá’í community and served as caretaker of the Austrian Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds after it was established.[2]

In the early 1960's Lentz broke her hip and while recovering she devoted herself to translating Thief in the Night by William Sears into German completing the project prior to 1963. Shortly afterwards she suffered a significant decline in health and moved out of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Austria and into an aged care home in Klosterneuberg opening the locality to the Faith.[12] She passed away in 1965 and Adelbert Muhlschlegel delivered the eulogy at her funeral.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Baha'i News (1966). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 419, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 354. View as PDF.
  3. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 7 (1936-1938), Pg(s) 108. View as PDF.
  4. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1942). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 8 (1938-1940), Pg(s) 36. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ Lamb, Artemus (1995). The Beginnings of the Bahá'í Faith in Latin America:Some Remembrances, English Revised and Amplified Edition. Oregon, United States: M L VanOrman Enterprises.
  6. ↑ Baha'i News (1940). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 134, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Baha'i News (1944). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 167, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1944). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 172, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1946). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 179, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1946). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 190, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 279, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 355. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1966). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 419, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
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