Secretary for Shoghi Effendi

Shoghi Effendi had several Secretaries who assisted him in maintaining correspondence with the Baháʼí world as Guardian. He had secretaries for the West and secretaries for the East.

He would open all letters personally in order to determine if they contained confidential information, and would then decide whether to compose an answer personally or delegate a secretary to write a response on his behalf. He would give instructions to the secretary, and read and approve their letters before they were mailed, with the exception of some letters written by Leroy Ioas specific to monitoring goals of the Ten Year Crusade.[1] If he did not approve a letter written on his behalf it would be returned to the secretary with further instructions.

In a 1951 letter written on behalf of the Guardian it is stated that while letters written on his behalf were authoritative and conveyed his thoughts, they are not equivalent to the Guardian's words themselves.[2]

List of Western Secretaries[edit]

Name Served
Ruhi Afnan 1922 - 1936[3]
‘Azízu’lláh Bahádur 1923 - 1924[4]
Soheil Afnan 1924 - 1930[5]
John Esslemont 1925
Ethel Rosenberg 1926 - 1927[6]
Rúhangiz Rabbání c. 1926[7]
Husayn Rabbání 1931 - 1940[8]
Mehrangiz Rabbání 1932[9]
Rúḥíyyih Khánum 1940 - 1957[10]
Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land:
Rúḥíyyih Khánum, Leroy Ioas, Amelia Collins, and Charles Mason Remey		 1951 - 1957
International Bahá’í Council 1951 - 1957
Leroy Ioas 1952 - 1957

List of Eastern Secretaries[edit]

Name Served
‘Alí-Asghar Qazvíní 1921 - 1945
Mírzá Mahmúd 1921 - ????
'Azizu'llah Bahadur ???? - ????
Mírzá Nuru’d-Din-i-Zayn ???? - ????
Luṭfu’lláh Ḥakím 1951 - 1957

References[edit]

  • Nakhjavani, Ali', Shoghi Effendi: The Range and Power of his Pen, p 224.

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ Letters Written on Behalf of the Guardian, published in Lights of Irfan, Volume 8, p 397 Wilmette, IL: Irfan Colloquia, 2007
  2. ↑ Letters Written on Behalf of the Guardian, published in Lights of Irfan, Volume 8, p 398 Wilmette, IL: Irfan Colloquia, 2007
  3. ↑ Johnson, Vernon Elvin, An Historical Analysis of Critical Transformations in the Evolution of the Baha'i World Faith, Baylor University, PhD, 1974, p 319
  4. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#preface
  5. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#preface
  6. ↑ Redman, E., Shoghi Effendi: Through the Pilgrim's Eye, Vol. 1, p 139-140
  7. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#1926
  8. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#preface
  9. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#preface
  10. ↑ Introduction to Dear Co-Worker: Messages from Shoghi Effendi to the Benelux Countries
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