Ola Pawlowska
Ola Pawlowska (February 14, 1910 - April 2, 2004) was a pioneer and Knight of Bahá’u’lláh, named for pioneering to St. Pierre and Miquelon.
Ola Pawlowska was born in Łąkta, outside of Cracow, Poland. Ola was first child of Count Clemens and Alexandra Rutowski. She married Waclaw Pawlowski, who died in a yachting accident and left her with a young daughter, Suzanne. Ola was working for the Polish Department of Foreign Affairs in Denmark in 1939 when the Second World War broke out; she eventually made her way to Canada. It was while working in the Polish Consulate in Winnipeg that she encountered and eventually embraced the Bahá’í Faith.
During the Ten Year Crusade she offered to pioneer to St. Pierre and Miquelon, as she was a French speaker. For this act of service in opening a new territory to the Bahá’í Faith, she was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh.
Living in that isolated post, she began her work of translating the Bahá’í writings into Polish. After five years she returned briefly to Poland, then moved to Luxembourg. While working for an airline company there, she was offered the opportunity to go to Congo in 1961, only one year after it had gained its independence from Belgium.
She remained in that country for 30 years as a cherished member of the community, walking many miles from village to village, nurturing the youth, serving as a member of the Auxiliary Board of the Continental Board of Counsellors for Africa.
With her health deteriorating, she returned to her native Poland and was able to witness the election of the first National Spiritual Assembly there, but in 1993 she decided it was time to rejoin her daughter in Canada.
She spent her final years in yet another pioneer post, Newfoundland, where she passed away on and is buried.
References[edit]
- The Universal House of Justice. The Bahá’í World - An International Record Vol 2003-2004. Haifa, Isreal: World Centre Publications.
