- 1916-06-00 — Mr Vasily Eroshenko, a young blind Russian, visited Thailand, the first Bahá'í to do so.
- 1924-00-00 —
Miss Nora Lee, who became a Bahá'í in New Zealand, was the first Bahá'í to travel to Fiji, working as a nanny in Labasa from 1924 to about 1930.
- Gretta Lamprill became the first Bahá'í in Tasmania in the latter part of the year. [SBR162]
- In 1924 Clara and Hyde Dunn spent three months in Hobart together with two Melbourne Baha'is. Their visit attracted a small number of individuals to the Bahá'í Faith, the first of whom was a nurse, Gretta Lamprill. She was gradually joined by others in Hobart, Launceston and Devonport. The first Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Hobart was established in 1949, providing the basis for the effective functioning of the Baha'i community since that time. [Australian Baha'i Community site]
- 1936-08-00 — Mrs Randolph Bolles and her daughter Jeanne, two American Bahá'ís, (aunt and cousin of Mary Maxwell respectively), were sent to Budapest by Shoghi Effendi to open Hungary to the Faith. At the time of their departure there were seven Bahá'ís in Budapest, mostly of Jewish background. [Rebirth: Memoirs of Renée Szanto-Felbermann p103-5]
- 1939-05-08 — Philip and Laili June Marangella arrived in Cuba, the first Bahá'í pioneers to the country.
- 1939-09-18 — John and Rosa Shaw arrived in Kingston, Jamaica, from San Francisco, the first Bahá'ís to visit the country.
- 1940-00-00 — The first Bahá'ís to reside in the Belgian Congo (Zaire) were Mr Rajah Ali Vahdat and Mme Marthe Molitor.
- 1940-00-00 — Marcia Atwater, from the United States, arrived in Santiago, Chile, as the first long-term pioneer. [The Beginnings of the Bahá'í Faith in Latin America:
Some Remembrances by Artemus Lamb]
- 1940-12-28 — Elizabeth Cheney, the 'spiritual mother of Paraguay', arrived in Paraguay, the first pioneer to the country. [Bahaipedia; The Beginnings of the Bahá'í Faith in Latin America: Some Remembrances by Artemus Lamb]]
- 1948-00-08 — Pauline Campbell arrived in Bermuda, where her husband was stationed at the United States Air Force Base. She was the only Bahá'í in Bermuda until 1951.
- 1951-00-01 — Portuguese Bahá'ís Mr António and Mrs Ema Rocha, Mrs Guedes DeMelo Rocha and Mrs D. Laura Rodriquez, the first pioneers to Angola, took up residence in Luanda.
- 1952-02-01 —
Eric Manton and his son Terry arrived in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), the first Bahá'ís to settle in the country. They settled in the Copperbelt region from where he was able to raise a number of native believers who took the Faith to other parts of Zambia. [A Brief Account of the Bahá'í Faith in Africa Since 1953 by Nance Ororo-Robarts and Selam Ahderrom p2]
- The first local convert was Christopher Mwitumwa in 1954. [Wikipedia]
- 1953-00-00 — Bahiyyih and Harry Ford were the first pioneers to establish themselves permanently in Johannesburg, Harry died within the first year of their arrival. His story is told in BW13p824.
Bahiyyih developed a career in African arts and crafts, becoming a sought after lecturer as an authority on the subject at lunches and functions held by church groups and other organizations such as Rotarians, Lions and Women's Institutes. Bahiyyih was named Margaret at birth and was given the name Bahiyyih by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during a visit to Haifa at the age of twelve with her father, Harry Randall who was an Apostle of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [PHBFp15] - 1953-03-25 —
Enayat Sohaili, an Iranian, arrived in Mozambique from India, the first Bahá'í pioneer to the country. [BW13:290]
- He was imprisoned and deported in June 1953. [BW13:290]
- 1953-08-08 — Bishop and Ruth Brown arrived in Durban. [PHBF15]
Ruth Randall Brown's story is told in BW15p463-465. - 1953-12-05 — The Miller family arrived in South Africa from the United States. They pioneered to Johannesburg and to Durban. [PHBF16]
- 1954-02-18 —
Shirin Fozdar arrived in Saigon, the first pioneer to Vietnam.
- In June 1954, her daughter-in-law, Parvati Fozdar (wife of Jamshed Fozdar's) and their young son, Vilay, came to Saigon from the United States to help Ms. Shirin Fozdar. Jamshed Fozdar arrived on July 18, 1954. A month later. In August Ms. Shirin Fozdar returned to New Zealand. Mr. Jamshed Fozdar found employment and the family lived for a long time in a small apartment at 88 Le Loi Street (the old Bonard).
- Pham Huu Chu was the first person to accept the Bahá'í Faith in Vietnam. [Bahá'í Religion in Community Education in Vietnam by Vu Van Chung]
- 1954-04-19 — John and Valera Allen arrived in Swaziland from the United States and became the second and third Knights of Bahá'u'lláh for that country. Later that summer they were later joined by sons Dale and Kenton and Valera's 82 year old mother, Maude Fisher.
John, Dale, and Valera served on the National Assembly of South and West Africa for several years before the National Spiritual Assembly of Swaziland was formed. [PHBR16; KoB112-114]
For John Allens story see BW18p725.
For Maude Fisher's story see BW13p902. - 1954-07-16 — Emeric and Rosemary Sala from Canada pioneered in Zululand and Port Elizabeth (currently Gqeberha) where they were instrumental in establishing the Faith. Rosemary established and international library at Cowan High School in New Brighton.
Rosemary's story can be found in BW18p713.
Emeric's at BW20p993.
Their biography Tending the Garden was written by Ilona Sala Weinstein.
- 1954-12-25 — Edythe MacArthur, already a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Queen Charlotte Islands, (now Haida Gwaii), arrived from Canada. She pioneered to Zululand and Cape Town where she worked as a nurse. [KoBp272-273]
Her story was told in the above reference and in Memoriam 1992-1997 p143 and in CBN No. 175 August 1966 p4. - 1955-06-02 — The first pioneer to settle in Laos, Dr Heshmat Ta'eed, arrived in the country from Thailand.
- 1956-00-00 — Kedarnath Pradhan, from neighbouring Sikkim, arrived in Nepal, the first pioneer to the country. [Bahá'í Faith In Nepal by Prof. Anil Sarwal]
- 1956-01-01 — The first Bahá'í pioneer in what is now the Central African Republic, Samson Nkeng, arrived in Bangui from the British Cameroons1
- 1956-02-21 — The first Bahá'í pioneer, Marguerite Allman, (later Miners), formerly of Hamilton and her pioneer post in the Queen Charlotte Islands (now Haida Gwaii), arrived in February 1956. She taught the second Icelandic Bahá'í, Erica Petursson. [BN No 487 October 1971 p20; BN303 May 1956 p13]
She was followed by Glen and Ruth Eyford and in 1961 the Grindlays pioneered to Iceland along with Kirsten Bonnavie. Joh and Lynn (nee Echevarria) Spencer came in March of 1965.[UC133] - 1965-00-00 — The first pioneer to the San Andrés and Providencia Islands settled there briefly.
- 1965-08-01 — Mrs Ridván Sadeghzadeh and Mrs Parvine Djoneidi and their children arrived in Niamey, Niger, from Tihrán, the first Bahá'ís to settle in the country.
- 1966-09-29 — Frances A. Foss, the first pioneer on St Maarten, arrived in Philipsburg.
- 1967-00-00 — Egbert Barrett arrived on Carriacou from Grenada, the first pioneer to the island.
- 1967-00-00 — Mr O. T. Shelton arrived on St Eustatius in the West Leeward Islands, the first pioneer to the island.
- 1967-00-00 — Rhoda Vaughn arrived on Bonaire and remained for nine months, the first Bahá'í to visit the island.
- 1968-09-09 — Gerald (Jerry) Van Deusen, a 24-year-old American Bahá'í from the Windward, Leeward and Virgin Islands and the first pioneer to Upper Volta, arrived in Ouagadougou.
- 1972-00-01 — Derek and Sally Dacey, the first resident pioneers on Montserrat in the East Leeward Islands, arrived at their pioneer post.
- 1974-08-00 — The first Bahá'í to settle on Christmas Island, Stanley Foo, arrived from Malaysia.
- 1977-05-02 — Paul and Jane Jensen arrived on Andros Island in the Bahamas, the first Bahá'ís to reside on the island.
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