Palle Bischoff
Palle Bischoff | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 16, 1925 Humlebaek, Denmark |
| Died | January 24, 2002 |
| NSA member | Scandinavia & Finland 1957 - 1962 Denmark ???? - ???? |
| ABM | Europe ???? - ???? |
Palle Bischoff (April 16, 1925 - January 24, 2002) was the first Danish Bahá'í to become a Baha'i in Denmark, and the first Bahá'í to pioneer to Greenland.[1] He also served as a Deputy Trustee of Ḥuqúqu’lláh in Denmark.
Biography[edit]
Palle was born in Humlebaek, Denmark in 1925. He studied commercial science and obtained a degree in the field. He became a Bahá'í on November 17, 1947, and attended a Feast in Stockholm shortly after declaring. He expressed appreciation for being able to visit Bahá'í communities while travelling.[2] In 1950 he chaired an evening at the Third European Teaching Conference in Copenhagen, and delivered a talk on Progressive Revelation.[3]
In 1951 Palle was appointed to manage a fishing station at Aasiaat (then Egedesminde), Greenland by the Danish government allowing him to become the first Bahá'í to pioneer to the country. He wrote the following to the Greenland Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada:
"It is exciting and I pray that I will be able to light the fire of the love of God among the people there so that the unity and harmony of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh will be manifested also in that country"[4]
Palle requested that the Bahá'í community pray for him, and recited the Greatest Name 95 times at the front of the ship shortly before arriving in Greenland from Denmark.[5] He opened a ski school after retiring from managing the fishing stations, and lived in Greenland until 1954, when he returned to Denmark.
He served as Chairman of the 1956 Bahá'í Summer School of Moss, Norway.[6] In 1957 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Scandinavia and Finland as Vice-Chair, and he served on that Assembly until 1962.[7] In 1961 he was elected to the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Frederiksberg in Denmark.[8]
In 1964 he was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of Denmark, and he served on the Assembly, or as an Auxiliary Board Member, until 2000. He was also elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Søllerød in 1964 and served on it until 1998.
The Universal House of Justice noted his "outstanding services" that "earned him an imperishable place in the annals of the Danish Bahá'í community." after his passing.
References[edit]
- Obituary: Bahá'í World, Vol. 30, p 303
Notes[edit]
- ↑ http://www.bahai.dk/om-bahai/bahai-i-dk/troens-historie-i-dk/
- ↑ Baha'i News (1948). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 203, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 236, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1951). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 246, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1952). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 251, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1956). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 307, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 330, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 374, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
