Ottilie Rhein
Ottilie Rhein | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1903 Germany |
| Died | October 29, 1979 San Mateo, California, USA |
Ottilie Rhein (1903 - October 29, 1979) was a German-American Bahá’í who pioneered to Mauritius and was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh.
Biography[edit]
Rhein was born in Germany in 1903 and moved to the United States in her youth.[1] She established herself in Chicago where she secured a position managing a building with rooms for rent and one of her tenants, Betty Powers, was a Bahá’í who introduced her to the religion.[2]
Rhein lost touch with the Faith but in 1941 she visited the Wilmette Temple and reconnected with the community through meetings facilitated by Melvin Newport and Albert Windust and she declared, writing to Shoghi Effendi and receiving a reply written on his behalf in December 1942. She then pioneered to Arizona in the early 1940's and later moved to San Mateo, California. In December 1952 Rhein requested permission to pioneer to Africa from Shoghi Effendi and her request was forwarded to the US Africa Teaching Committee,[1] and in 1953 she attended the Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Chicago held to open the Ten Year Crusade.[2]
She arrived in Africa in 1953 and visited Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania before arriving at her pioneer post, Mauritius, on November 11, 1953.[3] She initially lived in a hotel in Curepipe, which was the most conservative part of the country, remaining there for three months. She began learning French shortly after arriving as the majority of the population could not speak English.[1] From Curepipe she moved to Phoenix where she lived in a small cottage and she was able to host firesides and the first resident of Mauritius, Foo Yong Yim-Lim, declared in February 1955 through her efforts.[4]
In 1955 Rhein was assisted in her teaching by visits from Jalál Nakhjavání and Aziz Shayani and by October there had been a large number of declarations.[1] In spring 1956 her visa expired and she moved to Kampala, Uganda,[5] where she assisted in the management of the National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Uganda while applying for permission to return to Mauritius. She was able to return to Mauritius in 1957.[6] In February 1958 Rhein's visa was denied again and she returned to the United States for New York as she felt the Mauritius Bahá’í community would be able to sustain itself and she was concerned she would lose her American citizenship due to living abroad for too long.[6]
In 1959 Rhein went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and in 1960 she pioneered to Chile. She remained in Chile until 1963 when she returned to the United States settling in San Mateo, California.[7]
In December 1978 Rhein received a letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of Mauritius which honored her as the Spiritual Mother of Mauritius and conveyed greetings from the Mauritian community on its 25th Anniversary. She passed away in February 1979 in San Mateo and the Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after her passing:
SADDENED LEARN PASSING OTTILIE RHEIN DEVOTED MAIDSERVANT BLESSED BEAUTY KNIGHT BAHAULLAH MAURITIUS STEADFAST PERSEVERING IN PIONEERING POSTS MANY YEARS UNDER DIFFICULT CONDITIONS. OFFERING LOVING PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER VALIANT SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. KINDLY CONVEY CONDOLENCES HER FAMILY OUR BEHALF.[8]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Edith Johnson & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 93
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 703. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 704. View as PDF.
- ↑ Edith Johnson & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 94
- ↑ Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press, London. p 129
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Edith Johnson & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 95
- ↑ Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press, London. p 129
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 705. View as PDF.
