- 1924-00-00 — In 1924 Amelia Collins became the first to visit Iceland when she and her husband had a two-days stopover while on a cruise. During the time spent in Reykjavik she became friends with Hólmfríôur Árnadóttir with whom she corresponded about the Faith for many years. This same lady was then able to open many doors for Martha Root who followed in July of 1935. Hólmfríôur is considered the first believer in Iceland. [Bahá'í News No 417 10 December 1965 p10-11]
- 1935-07-12 — When Martha Root landed in Iceland in 1935 she immediately made contact with Hólmfríôur Árnadóttir, with whom Amelia Collins had struck up a friendship during her short visit in 1924. The following year Hólmfríôur had visited Milly and stayed in her home for nine days while she was attending an International Congress at Columbia University. The two had also exchanged notes of greeting over the decade since that time.
Hólmfríôur facilitated Martha's teaching efforts with her knowledge of the language and local contacts. During her stay in Iceland she gave lectures and did radio interviews. In one of her radio appearances she did a review of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era and left copies of this book in the libraries. The first ever article on the Bahá'í Faith in the Icelandic language was published in a newspaper. An editor interviewed her for an article and wrote another explaining the basics of the Faith. As she usually did, Martha made contact with the Theosophists and the Esperanto Society and presented a lecture in Esperanto. [The Soul of Iceland-A Bahá'í Saga by Martha Root; BW6p684]
- 1936-07-00 — While on a a cruise, on the way to Norway, Mrs French made a stop in Iceland where she distributed some Bahá'í literature. [BN No 104 December 1936 p8]
- 1939-00-00 — Amelia Collins continued to support the spread of the religion in Iceland as she supported the publication of the first translation of Baháʼí literature, John Esslemont's Baháʼu'lláh and the New Era, in Icelandic in 1939. [CBN No 93 Oct 1957 p2Collins, Amelia:
The Fulfilled Hope of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
by Richard Francis]
- 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 1956. She taught the second Icelandic Bahá'í, Erica Petursson. [BN No 487 October 1971 p20; BN303 May 1956 p13]
- 1965-04-21 —
The first local spiritual assembly in Iceland was formed in Reykjavik. Its members were Asgeir Einarsson, Kirsten Bonnevie, Florence Grindlay, Jessie Echevarria, Carl John Spencer, Charles Grindlay, Liesel Becker, Barbel Thinat and Nicholas Echevarria. [Bahá'í News No 417 10 December 1965 p10]
- See Bahá'í Historical Facts for a photo.
- 1966-09-29 —
The Bahá'í Faith was officially recognized as a religious organization by the Icelandic government which gave it the right to legally perform marriages and other ceremonies as well as entitled it to a share of the church tax in proportion to its number of adult members. [Wikipedia]
- The first marriage ceremony was performed in Árbæjarkirkja in a church belonging to the Lutheran Church of Iceland. The choice of the location for the marriage caused some controversy among church leaders. [Wikipedia]
- 1970-12-00 —
One of the goals of the Canadian Bahá'í Community was to prepare its "daughter" community, Iceland, to achieve National Assembly status by Ridván 1972 with incorporation by 1973. To facilitate these goals the National Spiritual Assembly assigned Douglas and Elizabeth Martin to the project with Elizabeth as the principal executive. The opening phase of the proclamation was launched at a Victory Conference which resulted in the enrollment of thirty people in January 1971 thus doubling the numbers in Iceland.
- In January/February 1971 Continental Board of Counsellor Betty Reed visited and there were 130 declarations and of these, eight were adults. [BN No 487 October 1971 p20]
- In addition six Icelandic believers, three of them youth, were invited to attend the Canadian National Convention in Halifax at Ridván. They were: Gudmundur Bardarson, Anna Maggy Palsdottir, Baldur B. Bragason, Margret Bardardottir, Svana Einarsdottir, and Janina Njalsdottir. [BN485 6 August, 1971 pg 6]
- The Icelandic community organized a team to undertake a summer teaching project in the Faroes Islands in cooperation with the UK Bahá'ís. [BW15335-336]
- Three additional local assemblies were formed in Iceland in August 1971 and they were in Keflavik, Hafnarfjordur and Kopavogur. [HNWE26; BN485 6 August, 1971 pg 6]
- 1971-09-03 —
The Oceanic Conference of the North Atlantic was held in Reykjavik, Iceland attended by some 800 people from 36 countries. [BW15:322–3; VV6; BN 488 November 1971 p24]
- For pictures see BW15:309–12.
- During the conference three believers from Canada-Florence Springgay, an Inuit; Hugette James, a French Canadian; Mary Ann Crow, from the Blackfoot First Nations flew to Greenland during the Conference to proclaim the Cause, and returned to report the results of their efforts. [BW20p310]
- 1972-04-21 —
The National Spiritual Assembly of Iceland was formed with its seat in Reykjavik. Its members were: Liesel Becker, Svana Einarsdottir, Barbara Thinat, Carl John Spencer, Petur Magnusson, Johannes Stefansson, Roger Lutley, Baldur Bragasson and Larry Clarke. [BW15:225, 281]
- For picture see BW15:153.
- 1974-06-09 — In a letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Iceland, the Universal House of Justice reiterated the laws not yet binding on the Bahá'ís of the West in the Kitab-i-Aqdas.
[9 June 1974]
- 1975-04-20 —
Michael Cooper, a Bahá'í from Northampton, U.K., who had never had a passport, never been out of his country , and never been on an airplane, volunteered to pioneer to Iceland. He on April 20th, just in time to become the ninth member of a Spiritual Assembly. [BN No 544 July 1975 p17]
- 1975-07-09 — The first International Bahá'í Youth Conference of Iceland took place in Njardvik with youth from nine countries. [BW16:301]
- 1975-10-00 — The Icelandic Bahá'í community proclaimed the Faith to the leaders of Iceland, presenting them with literature, including The Bahá'í World,Vol. XIV.
Presentations were made to the president of the Republic of Iceland, the Bishop of Iceland and the Rev. Arelius Nielsson, who was described as " the best beloved priest in this country and surely the most renown. [BN No 537 December 1975 p15]
- 2000-10-29 — The President of the Republic of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimmson, and his family visited the Bahá'í House of Worship. He was the first head of state to visit the famous "Lotus Temple" during an official state visit. The President's visit began with a briefing in the library on Bahá'í social and economic development efforts in India, with an emphasis on recent efforts to contribute to a moral education curriculum for Indian schools. The delegation then visited the House of Worship's main hall for a brief prayer service. The entire visit lasted about 40 minutes. President Grimmson was presented with "Forever in Bloom," a book of photographs about the House of Worship. [BWNS72]
- 2020-09-28 — The Kitáb-i-Aqdas was translated and published in Icelandic. The effort to produce the Icelandic translation was a significant undertaking requiring a dedicated team a year and a half to complete the work. [BWNS1536]
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