Tove Deleuran
Tove Deleuran | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1927 |
| Died | December 16, 1996 |
| NSA member | Pakistan ???? - ???? Denmark ???? - ???? |
| ABM | Europe 1954 - 1957 |
Tove Deleuran (1927 - December 16, 1996) was a Danish Bahá’í who served as an Auxiliary Board member for Europe and pioneered within Denmark and to Spain, Bangladesh, and France. In Spain she lived in the Balearic Islands and was name a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for helping open them to the Bahá’í Faith and while in Bangladesh she became the first woman to be elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Pakistan.
Biography[edit]
Deleuran was born Tove Lillian Alice Adrian Larsen into a Protestant family in Denmark in 1927.[1] Her parents were Carl and Thyra Larsen and the family lived in Frederiksberg in her youth where her father worked for the Royal Danish Post. In her youth Deleuran was diagnosed with rapidly deterioating eyesight and was advise to avoid reading, so she instead focused on painting and drawing an was enrolled into an academy of fine art. After graduating she became the first Danish woman to work in the film industry as an animator.[2]
In 1944 Tove married Jean Deleuran and they settled in Hellerup.[2] When Tove had to travel for work they decide to rent out their flat and it was rented to two Bahá’í pioneers, Dagmar Dole and Eleanor Hollibaugh. The pioneers gave Tove some Bahá’í literature and after six months when the Deleuran's returned to Hellerup they both declared as Bahá’ís.[3]
After becoming a Bahá’í Deleuran established the first Bahá’í children's class in Denmark attened by her daughter, Lillen, and her friends and cousins. In 1953 she and her husband attended the Stockholm Intercontinental Teaching Conference held to launch the Ten Year Crusade and they volunteered to pioneer to any goal post and they pioneered to Mallorca, Spain, arriving in December, 1953, for which they were both named Knights of Bahá’u’lláh. She was appointed to the newly formed Auxiliary Board for Europe in 1954 and in 1956 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Mallorca was established.[3]
Deleuran's husband, Jean, was unable to practice as an architect in Mallorca and due to concerns that he would be unable to continue his career if they remained longer the Deleuran's decided to move to another post in 1957. They pioneered to Dhaka in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, where Tove found work as an artist and art teacher with the President of Pakistan purchasing one of her paintings. Both she and her husband were elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Pakistan after pioneering and she was the first woman to serve on the institution.[4]
In 1963 the Deleuran's participated in the First International Convention voting in the election of the Universal House of Justice as members of the Pakistan Assembly. They also attended the First Bahá’í World Congress in London, England, then returned to Denmark. After settling back in Denmark Tove served on the National Spiritual Assembly and several committees and began teaching courses on comparative religion. She also pioneered eighteen times within Denmark to support struggling Local Spiritual Assemblies.[4]
Deleuran's husband, Jean, had suffered polio in his youth and in later life he required the use of a wheelchair and the Deleuran's then pioneered to southern France where they helped establish the Local Spiritual Assembly of Ales. As of the late 1980's they moved to Le Mousteiret where they established a Bahá’í Association despite both suffering age related ill health. Tove passed away in December 1996 and was the first Bahá’í to be buried in the Alps, being laid to rest in the cemetery of the village of Mongardin.[4] The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after her passing:
GRIEVED LEARN OF PASSING OF MRS. TOVE DELEURAN. IMMEDIATE AND WHOLEHEARTED RESPONSE OF MRS. DELEURAN AND HUSBAND, MR. JEAN DELEURAN, TO NEEDS OF TEN YEAR CRUSADE WON THEM IMMORTAL DISTINCTION KNIGHTS OF BAHA’U’LLAH FOR BALEARIC ISLANDS. HER SERVICES TO CAUSE GOD AS ARDENT TEACHER FAITH, DEDICATED OVERSEAS PIONEER, MEMBER OF INSTITUTIONS IN MALLORCA, EAST PAKISTAN, DENMARK AND FRANCE WILL BE LONG REMEMBERED. ASSURED OUR FERVENT PRAYERS IN HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS OF HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. KINDLY EXTEND SYMPATHY TO DEAR HUSBAND, JEAN.[2]
References[edit]
- ↑ Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press: London, 2017, p 348
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Paul Vreeland, Bahá’í World: In Memoriam 1992-1997, Bahá’í World Centre, 2010, p 368
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Paul Vreeland, Bahá’í World: In Memoriam 1992-1997, Bahá’í World Centre, 2010, p 369
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Paul Vreeland, Bahá’í World: In Memoriam 1992-1997, Bahá’í World Centre, 2010, p 370
