Serbia
 Serbia |
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 Celebration of the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb in Belgrade, 2019.
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| Location of Serbia
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| National Assembly | N/A | |
| Statistics: | ||
| Total Population | ||
| - | UN 2021[1] | 7,296,769 |
| Bahá'í pop. | ||
| - | Bahá'í source | |
| - | Non-Bahá'í source | 1,084 |
| History: Firsts |
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| - | Bahá'í to visit | 1926, Martha Root |
| - | Local Assembly | 1990, Belgrade |
 Related media
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| Categories: Serbia • People | ||
The Republic of Serbia is a country in the Balkans in Europe. Serbian is the official language and Christianity is the predominant religion.
The area was annexed into the Ottoman Empire in the 16th Century. In 1918 Serbia became part of Yugoslavia following the end of the First World War and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. In 1992 Yugoslavia disbanded and Serbia and Montenegro formed a united state remaining joined administratively until 2006 when they became independent nations.
The Bahá’í Faith was first proclaimed in Serbia in the 1920's and a small community was established in the 1930's and re-established in the late 1980's.
History[edit]
In January 1926 Martha Root briefly visited Belgrade spending two days in the city during which she donated a Bahá’í book to the National Library and met with an Esperantist group and editor of the largest newspaper in the city.[2] In 1932 she visited Belgrade again and was granted an audience with members of the royal family.[3] In the 1930's the Hidden Words and a prayer book were translated into Serbian.[4]
In 1935 Louise Gregory visited the area reporting that Draga Illic, who had translated Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era into Serbian, had become a Bahá’í with some others being interested in the Faith in Belgrade,[5] and there was a small Bahá’í group in Belgrade by 1939.[6]
Efforts to establish the Faith in Serbia began to be limited by governmental restrictions from the 1940's up until the late 1980's and as of 1963 there was only one isolated Bahá’í in the region of Yugoslavia living in Belgrade.[7]
In 1989 a Bahá’í Committee for Eastern Literature held a book fair in Belgrade at which over four thousand copies of a Bahá’í booklet were distributed,[8] and in November, 1990, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Belgrade was established.[7] In 1991 a Regional Teaching Committee was established which was responsible for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.[9]
In 1993 the Universal House of Justice tasked the National Spiritual Assembly of Austria with assisting to efforts to establish the Faith in Serbia and Montenegro,[10] and on October 18, 1994, the government of Serbia officially recognized the Bahá’í Faith as a religion.[11]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
- ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold, Bahá’í Publishing Trust: Wilmette, 1983, p 238
- ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold, Bahá’í Publishing Trust: Wilmette, 1983, p 390
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1937). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 6 (1934-1936), Pg(s) 545. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1935). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 90, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1942). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 8 (1938-1940), Pg(s) 853. View as PDF.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Seena Fazel & Graham Hassall, 1998, 100 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in Europe, Baha'i Studies Review, 8, 35-44
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 211. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 220. View as PDF.
- ↑ 30 June 1993 letter from the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1996). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 23 (1994-1995), Pg(s) 132. View as PDF.
