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Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 1933, descending sort earliest first

date event tags firsts
1933 (Near the end of the year)
193-
Mr Sabri Effendi Elias had come to Ethiopia from Alexandria in Egypt at the behest of the National Spiritual Assembly who had been asked by Shoghi Effendi to send a pioneer to that country. He printed one thousand pamphlets in Amharic, and translated Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era. The same work was later printed in Abyssinian.
  • In 1935 when Ethiopia was invaded by the Italians he was forced to return to Egypt, he immediately set off for the Holy Land so see Shoghi Effendi taking with him 18 copies of these translated works. Upon arrival Shoghi Effendi greeted him with, "You have returned victorious and triumphant - because you were the cause of linking the north of Africa to the south".
  • Mr Elias brought with him an an animal skin as a personal gift to Shoghi Effendi who accepted it as a gift from Ethiopia to the Bahá'í World Centre and had Sabri himself place it in the Archives which was at the back of the Shrine of the Báb at the time. This gift was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 18:7. [KoB58] Note: The reference said it was a "gorzia skin but no reference to such an animal could be found. Perhaps an Abyssinian black-and-white colobus.
  • In 1944 he pioneered to Ethiopia again, this time with his wife Fahima and their children Husayn and Safá. [Bahá'í Communities by Country: Research Notes by Graham Hassall; KoB58-61]
  • For more details on his life of service see The Bahá'í World: In Memoriam 1992-1997 p255-257.
  • Knight of Bahá'u'lláh; Ethiopia
    1933 23 Oct-4 Nov
    193-
    The 24th session of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations was held in Geneva at which the case of the possession of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád was again raised. [BW5:354–5] League of Nations; House of Bahá'u'lláh (Baghdad); Geneva, Switzerland; Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq
    1933 23 Oct
    193-
    Keith Ransom-Kehler died of smallpox in Isfahán after a year of intensive travel around Iran. [BW5:24, 398; BN No 80 January 1934 p11]
  • For her obituary see BW5:389–410.
  • She was buried near the grave of the King of Martyrs. [BW5:398]
  • For a picture of her grave see BW5:399.
  • Shoghi Effendi named her America's 'first and distinguished martyr'. [BW5:398]
  • Shoghi Effendi elevated her to the rank of Hand of the Cause on 28 October, 1933. [BW5:398, MoCxxii]
  • See message from the Guardian dated 30 October 1933.
  • For her mission in Iran see BW5:23–7.
  • See also PP306–7.
  • See Other People Other Places by Marzieh Gail (pages 176-181) for a pen portrait of Keith Ransom-Kehler.
  • See FMH51-52]
  • See Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • Photo of her grave. [BW9p68]
  • Keith Ransom-Kehler; * Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; Hands appointed posthumously by Shoghi Effendi; Hands of the Cause, Activities; Cemeteries and graves; Names and titles; Firsts, other; Isfahan, Iran; Iran first American martyr
    1933 9 or 13 Sep (or possibly mid-November)
    193-
    Louise Gregory sailed from Boston to Europe on the SS Sinai. She spent some time in Salzburg and met with Miss Steffi Fürth whom she had met a year earlier. She had become, perhaps, the first believer in Salzburg [SYH180-181]
  • By October she was settled in Varna, Bulgaria where there was a small group of active believers. [SYG181]
  • On the instructions of the Guardian she left Varna for Belgrade to help Martha Root with the teaching work. Louise arrived on the 14th of March 1934. [SYH186]
  • Louise Gregory; Steffi Fürth; Martha Root; Salzburg, Germany; Varna, Bulgaria; Belgrade, Serbia; Yugoslavia the first believer in Salzburg
    1933 21 Apr
    193-
    In his letter titled "America and the Most Great Peace written this day, Shoghi Effendi described the progress of the growth of the Faith in America as falling into four distinct periods:
  • (1893–1903), characterized by a process of slow and steady fermentation, may be said to have culminated in the historic pilgrimages undertaken by 'Abdu'l‑Bahá's American disciples to the shrine of Bahá'u'lláh.
  • (1903–1913), so full of the tests and trials which agitated, cleansed and energized the body of the earliest pioneers of the Faith in that land, had as their happy climax 'Abdu'l‑Bahá's memorable visit to America.
  • (1913–1923), a period of quiet and uninterrupted consolidation, had as its inevitable result the birth of that divinely-appointed Administration, the foundations of which the Will of a departed Master had unmistakably established.
  • (1923–1933), distinguished throughout by further internal development, as well as by a notable expansion of the international activities of a growing community, witnessed the completion of the superstructure of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár—the Administration's mighty bulwark, the symbol of its strength and the sign of its future glory. [WOB80]

    "In 1933 he gave the North American Bahá'ís America and the Most Great Peace, which dealt largely with the role this part of the world has been destined by God to play during this period in history, recalled the self-sacrificing journeys and services of the Master in the West and recapitulated the victories already won for the Faith by this favoured Community." [PP213]

    "In America and the Most Great Peace written in 1933, Shoghi Effendi states America's position in unmistakable terms: out of the anguish following the Master's passing, he wrote, "the Administration of Bahá'u'lláh's invincible Faith was born". The ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá released "potent energies" which "crystallized into this supreme, this infallible Organ for the accomplishment of a Divine Purpose." The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá had set forth its character and provisions, America had espoused the cause of the Administration: "It was given to her, and to her alone,...to become the fearless champion of that Administration, the pivot of its new-born institutions and the leading promoter of its influence." [PP340-341]

  • World Order of Bahá'u'lláh (book); United States (USA); Canada
    1933 End Mar
    193-
    The 50 Bahá'ís imprisoned in Adana were released. [BBR475] Persecution, Turkey; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; Adana, Turkey; Turkey
    1933 18 Mar
    193-
    After five years of deliberations and intervention from the League of Nations, the Iraqi government decided to protect the house as part of an urban improvement plan. The property was originally designated for destruction. [BIC History page 18 Mar 1933] House of Bahá'u'lláh (Baghdad); Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq
    1933 6 Feb
    193-
    By this date there were about 50 Bahá'ís under arrest in Adana, Turkey. [BBR475; PP317] Persecution, Turkey; - Persecution, Arrests; - Persecution; Adana, Turkey; Turkey
    1933 Jan
    193-
    The National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma incorporated in Lahore, in the state of Punjab under the provisions of the Societies Registration Act of 1960. [GPB336] Recognition (legal); India; Lahore, India; Punjab, India; Pakistan; Myanmar
    1933 (In the year)
    193-
    On the initiative of Martha Root, Mr. György Steiner, an Esperantist in the city of Győr translated J.E. Esslemont's Bahá'u'lláh and The New Era into Hungarian between 1931-33. This was the first major work published in Hungarian about the Bahá'í Faith. The Preface of the book was written by Mr. Rusztem Vámbéry, son of Arminius Vámbéry. [www.bahai.hu] [BW5p377, 609] Gyorgy Steiner; Esperanto; Rusztem Vambery; Arminius Vambery; Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era (book); Esslemont; First translations; * Translation; * Publications; Hungary First Bahá'í publication in Hungarian
    1933 (In the year)
    193-
    The Tavakkul Bahá'í School in Qazvín, Iran, was closed. [BW18:388] - Bahá'í inspired schools; Persecution, Iran; - Persecution; Qazvin, Iran; Iran
    1933 (In the year)
    193-
    Bahá'ís in Gulpáygán, Iran, were refused admission to the public baths. Shaykh Ja'far Hidáyat was beaten and expelled from the town. [BW18:388] Persecution, Iran; - Persecution; Gulpaygan, Iran; Iran
    1933 (In the year)
    193-
    The construction of the Akka-Haifa highway. The town of Haifa was taking on a greater importance with the opening of the deep-water port on 31 October 1933. By 1936 there were over 100,000 inhabitants. [Sunburst p99; Wikipedia Statistics; Akka, Israel; Israel; Palestine; Haifa, Israel; Palestine
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