Ursula Samandari
Ursula Samandarí | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 29, 1909 Mitcham, Surrey, England |
| Died | June 20, 2003 Buea, Cameroon[1] |
| NSA member | British Isles 1945 - 1951 North East Africa 1961 - 1970 Cameroon 1972 - 1974 1975 - 1980 |
Ursula Samandari (December 29, 1909 - June 20, 2003) was an English Bahá’í who pioneered to Africa, becoming a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh, assisting with the development of Bahá’í institutions.
Biography[edit]
Samandari was born Ursula Newman in Surrey in 1909. She was educated at home by a governess for her early schooling and then enrolled in Wimbledon High School and the Swanley Horticultural College in Kent where she became a lecturer in the field of botany.[2] Her family were members of the Church of England but she was introduced the Bahá’í Faith in 1936 when she began attending meetings due to an interest in Persian culture. She learnt about the religion from Richard St. Barbe Baker, Hasan Balyuzi, and alongside Dorothy and John Ferraby and she declared in 1938.[3]
In 1945 Samandari pioneered within the United Kingdom to St. Ives and she was also elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles. She later returned to London where she served on the Local Spiritual Assembly and established a decorative flower business until pioneering to Dublin, Ireland, in 1948 where she helped establish the Local Spiritual Assembly and became secretary to George Townshend.[3]
In 1949 she pioneered to Belfast where she was elected to the Local Assembly and met Mehdi Samandari who she married in 1951. They pioneered to Nairobi, Kenya in 1953 and in November they pioneered again to Italian Somaliland for which they were named Knights of Bahá’u’lláh.[3] She worked as an english teacher in Somalia.[2] In February 1957 she went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and met Shoghi Effendi and she was the only other pilgrim present when Enoch Olinga arrived on pilgrimage.[4]
In 1961 she was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of North East Africa when it was established and served until 1970. The Samandari's pioneered to Cameroon in 1971, settling in Buea,[4] and she served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Cameroon from 1972 to 1986.[3]
Samandari passed away at her pioneer post in Buea in 2003.[3]
References[edit]
- ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169881210/ursula-samandari
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://news.bahai.org/story/230/
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press, London. p 48
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Baha'i News (1984). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 638, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
