Samiheh Banání
Samiheh Banání | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December, 1907 Tehran, Iran |
| Died | May 8, 1995 Toronto, Canada |
| Spouse(s) | Músá m. 1925 |
| Children | Amín, Violette, Farshid, and 3 others. |
Samiheh Banání (December 1907 - May 8, 1995) was a Persian Bahá’í. She was an active member of the Bahá’í community of Iran and pioneered to Africa in the early 1950's with her family.
Biography[edit]
Banání was born Samiheh Ardistání in Tehran in 1908. Her father Siyyid ‘Abdu’l Husayn was a second generation Bahá’í descended from the Prophet Muhammad and her mother ‘Atiyyih was the daughter of a Bábí who was imprisoned in the Siyah-Chal alongside Bahá’u’lláh. While her mother was pregnant her father asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for a name and He suggested Samih if she was a boy and Samiheh if she was a girl.[1]
In Banání's childhood her family moved to Ardistán and she was raised there until 1917 when she was sent to live with her maternal grandmother in Tehran so she could receive an education. She attended the Bahá’í run Tarbíyat school and worked at it as a teacher for a short time after graduating. In December 1925 she married Músá Banání, an Iraqi Bahá’í of Jewish descent, and the marriage caused some controversy due to their different backgrounds.[1] In 1934 she and her husband went on pilgrimage with their eldest child Amín and met Shoghi Effendi and after returning to Iran she served on the National Committee for the Advancement of Women up until 1950.[2]
In 1951 the Banání's settled their business commitments and sold many of their belongings and moved from Tehran to Kampala, Uganda, in Africa with their daughter Violette and her husband Alí Nakhjavání. In February 1952 they went on pilgrimage again and Shoghi Effendi appointed her husband a Hand of the Cause on the last day before they returned to Africa. She was active in supporting the work of the Faith and the development of Bahá’í institutions across Africa.[2]
In 1971 Banání's husband passed away and the political situation in Uganda deteriorated throughout the 1970's and she moved to the Canary Islands in 1974 where her mother and sister were living. She later moved to the United States and live with a granddaughter and Canada where she lived with a son. She was an active member of each community she lived in often cooking to raise money for the Fund.[2]
In 1995 Banání passed away in Toronto survived by five of her six children, eleven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.[3] The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after her passing:
DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING DEARLY LOVED SAMIHEH BANANI. RECALL WITH PROFOUND AFFECTION HER DEVOTED SERVICES CRADLE FAITH, HER INDEFATIGABLE PIONEER ENDEAVOURS AFRICA IN SUPPORT ACTIVITIES HER ILLUSTRIOUS HUSBAND, FOLLOWED BY HER VALUED EFFORTS IN PROMOTION INTERESTS BELOVED CANADIAN COMMUNITY. FERVENTLY PRAYING SHRINES PROGRESS HER RADIANT SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. ADVISING UGANDA NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERING MOTHER TEMPLE AFRICA. CONVEY HEARTFELT SYMPATHY HER CHILDREN, MEMBERS FAMILY.[4]
