Mehrangiz Munsiff
Mehrangiz Munsiff | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 23, 1923 Bombay, India |
| Died | June 21, 1999 London, England |
Mehrangiz Munsiff born Irani (November 23, 1923 - June 21, 1999) was a Bahá’í who was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for pioneering to the French Cameroons and she also opened Madagascar to the Faith. In her career she worked in broadcasting, often for the BBC. She was granted honors by the Red Cross and Maryland State Legislature and was a member of the UK Executive Committee for Human Rights.
Biography[edit]
Mehrangiz was born into a Zoroastrian family who had converted to the Faith in Bombay, India. Her mother had accompanied Lua Getsinger through India at the direction of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and at the age of fourteen she accompanied Martha Root from Bombay to Ajmer when Root visited India.[1] She moved to Britain by the 1940's[2] and married Eruch Munsiff in 1945. They had one daughter.
Mehrangiz was inspired to travel to teach the Faith after meeting Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. In April 1953 she pioneered to Africa, arriving in Madagascar on the 20th.[3] In April 1954 she pioneered to the French Cameroons joining African pioneer Samuel Njiki.[4] She had not met Samuel before, so he waited on the steps of a Post Office holding a prayer book so that she would recognize him.[5] She was able to speak French, unlike Samuel, and taught the Faith in the country and a Local Spiritual Assembly was established in Duala in April 1955. Shortly after the Assembly was established Mehrangiz became seriously ill, and the same month she departed for London to seek medical treatment.[6]
She remained in England after departing Africa. In February 1970 she was interviewed on the BBC as part of a series titled This is your faith. She was congratulated by Hand of the Cause Collis Featherstone for the interview through a letter.[7] In 1972 she visited Dahomey, now Benin, for a seven day teaching trip during which she visited several villages. During the visit she was received by President Apithy, one of the countries three Presidents, who she gave a copy of the Hidden Words. She also met with the head Fetish Priestess of Dahomey.[8]
In 1975 she undertook a lengthy teaching tour visiting Spain, Portugal, Senegal, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Central African Republic, and Chad before returning to England through France. From October 1976 to February 1977 she toured Central America visiting Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, the Windward Islands, the French Antilles, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica, and Mexico.[9]
In late 1977 she taught throughout Europe and attended the Asian Bahá'í Women's Conference in India in October 1977. She was then asked to tour Australasia by the Universal House of Justice and went from India to Australia where she visited Perth and Sydney, and then she toured the Pacific visiting New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Marquesa Islands, the Cook Islands and finally Hawaii, where she visited the graves of Martha Root and Agnes Alexander.[10] In 1978 she visited Italy, Germany, and Luxembourg on her way back to London to recuperate. She made another teaching tour of Africa before the close of the Five Year Plan in 1979, visiting Ghana, Nigeria, Zaire, South Africa, South West Africa, Reunion, Mauritius, Madagascar, and Kenya.[11]
She passed away in London in 1999.[12]
References[edit]
- Obituary published in Bahá’í World, Vol. 28, pp 308-309
Notes[edit]
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 205. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://bahaihistoryuk.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/ethelreda-nutt-1907-2006/
- ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 267, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 280, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1984). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 638, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
- ↑ Lee, A.A., The Baha'i Faith in Africa: Establishing a New Religious Movement, 1952-1962, 2011 Brill: Boston, p 112
- ↑ Baha'i News (1970). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 470, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1972). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 498, Pg(s) 23. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 205. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 205. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 205. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/tags/Meherangiz_Munsiff
