Svalbard

Svalbard
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History:
Firsts
 -  Pioneers Paul Adams 
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Categories: Svalbard • People

Svalbard is a Norwegian island group located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. The islands were formerly known as Spitsbergen (or Spitzbergen), after the largest and only populated island of the group. The largest settlement in the islands is Longyearbyen. Although a 1920 treaty gave sovereignty of the islands to Norway, the same treaty granted mineral rights to various other countries on an equal basis. Only Norway and Russia currently exercise these rights. Essentially all economic activity on the islands consists of mining, hunting and trapping.[1]

Known for their isolation and extreme winters, the islands were a particularly difficult goal of the Ten Year Crusade.[2][3] British Bahá’í Paul Adams was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh after he pioneered to the islands in 1958, staying for five years.[4] The pioneer post was filled intermittently throughout the coming decades.

History[edit]

Among the first Bahá’ís to visit the islands were Stuart and Nellie French, who distributed Bahá’í literature during a stop on a cruise ship tour in 1936.[5] When the Ten Year Crusade was launched in 1953, opening Spitsbergen to the Faith was assigned as a goal to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States.[6] Norwegian Bahá’í Else Jörgensen and her husband expressed interest in pioneering during that year's Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Stockholm, but they were not able to meet residence requirements; Else later travelled to the islands with Mildred Clark to explore further possibilities, but her efforts failed to bear fruit.[7] By Riḍván 1954, the Guardian reported the opening of "all the islands of the North Sea, with the exception of Spitzbergen".[8] The situation remained the same through Riḍván 1958, when the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land reported that the goal remained unmet;[9] they later described Spitsbergen as "the last and one of the most difficult of all the virgin territories to be opened during the Crusade".[3]

Paul Adams in Spitsbergen.

British Bahá’í Paul Adams eventually made an offer to pioneer to Spitsbergen; the Guardian was aware of the offer in 1957, before his passing.[10] After Adams tried unsuccessfully to find work in Spitsbergen while in England, he moved to Tromsø, a city in northern Norway, to facilitate his search. While there, he learned of an apprenticeship opportunity with a hunter from Spitsbergen, seemingly the only job available. Adams accepted the job, and was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for pioneering to the islands, arriving in Longyearbyen on June 27, 1958. He was able to stay at his post for five years. The islands were the last goal territory remaining outside of the orbit of the Soviet Union to be opened to the Faith.[4]

Adams was later joined by American Bahá’í Kent Lansing, who arrived in the summer of 1960. Following Lansing's arrival, he and Adams were interviewed by a Norwegian journalist while on their way to Spitsbergen, who was impressed that they were heading to the islands "not to make money as most youth did, but to share their faith".[11] The next year, Adams was joined by Dutch Bahá’í Arnold Zonneveld.[11] In its annual report at Riḍván 1962, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States reported that holding the pioneer post open remained "a very serious problem", noted the service of Adams, Lansing and Zonneveld and stated that efforts were underway to find a pioneer who could secure stable employment.[12] At the Norwegian National Convention in the same year, delegates discussed "the advisability of providing a Norwegian pioneer to Spitzbergen".[13]

Zonneveld remained for a time after Adams eventually left, but as of 1966 the goal was left empty.[14] The next pioneers to arrive were Gunnar and Edel Lange-Nielsen of Trondheim, who settled in Longyearbyen in 1970 while Gunnar wrote his thesis for a degree from Norwegian Technical University. Edel, meanwhile, worked at the local office of the Norwegian Coal Company while pursuing long-distance studies for a teaching degree. The couple arranged to offer classes on a variety of subjects while in Spitsbergen, including English, painting, photography and music.[11][14]

As of July 1976, Spitsbergen was once again left empty of Bahá’ís, and the Universal House of Justice called on attendees at the International Teaching Conference in Helsinki to direct their attention to re-opening the islands.[15] In 1980, Norwegian Bahá’í Bjørg Issaksen was present and teaching the Faith in the islands.[16] In 1992, it was reported that fifteen people had become Bahá’ís in the town of Barentsburg.[17] As of 1994, Spitzbergen was noted as a territory in which the Faith was established, but to which pioneers were needed to stimulate growth.[18]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ "Svalbard". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  2. ↑ Redman 2017, p. 318.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "A message from the Hands of the Cause to the Bahá’ís of East and West". Published as an insert to Bahá’í News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 335, Pg 1. View as PDF.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Redman 2017, p. 317-318.
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1936). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 104, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 271, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 428. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 280, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ "Message to the Annual Conventions of the Bahá’í World 1958 from the Hands of the Faith in the Holy Land". Published as an insert to Bahá’í News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 327, Pg 3. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ "Appeal Is Made for Spitzbergen Pioneer". U.S. Supplement to Bahá’í News. No 41, Pg 4. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Redman 2017, p. 319.
  12. ↑ "Bahá’í Annual Reports: 1961–1962". National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Pg 6. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 378, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Baha'i News (1971). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 479, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1981). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 17 (1976-1979), Pg(s) 130. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1980). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 588, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ Bahá’í International News Service, No 271, Pgs 4–5.
  18. ↑ The American Bahá’í (1994). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 25, Issue 12, pg(s) 4. View as PDF.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Redman, Earl (2017). The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh.
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