In 1862 he had been appointed physician to the diplomatic delegation sent to Persia to establish relations between the newly created Kingdom of Italy and the Persian government. There in Tabriz, Lessona met Daud Khan, who told him about the new Revelation. He met often with Gobineau, who had then become the French Ambassador to Persia and the two became lifelong friends. Most of Lessona’s information on the Bábi Faith came from these two sources, especially the latter. He found it difficult to get any first-hand information about the Babis, but did recognize, in 1962, that the successor to the Báb was living in Baghdad.

Lessona organized two-part conference on the Bábi movement that was held in December of 1880. The following year he published the proceedings of the conference in a small monograph called I Bábi. It was the first Italian historical testimony on the Bábí - Bahá'í Faith. [Bahá'í Tributes; Bahá'í Teachings; BW12p900]

After defeating the Ottoman army they confiscated on large scale the lands of the Arab peasants on which Italian settlements were established and large numbers of Italian settlers were brought in for the cultivation of cash products. The war cost Italy 1.3 billion lire, nearly a billion more than Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti had estimated before the war. This ruined ten years of fiscal prudence.

This war is notable for the introduction of new military technologies including the use of the airplane for reconnaissance and bombing. It also included the first instance of an airplane being shot down by ground fire.

The Italians also used a wireless telegraph network established with the help of the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi.

This war is considered by historians as a precursor of the First World War. Members of the Balkan League, seeing how easily Italy defeated the Ottomans and motivated by incipient Balkan nationalism, attacked the Ottoman Empire in October 1912, starting the First Balkan War a few days before the end of the Italo-Turkish War. [Wikipedia]

The Battle of Benghazi was a preliminary to the fascist invasion of Ethiopia and Italy’s ambitions to establish its own colonial empire. [Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Baha’s Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p18]

'Abdul'-Bahá and His party embarked from Alexandria on the White Star Line Liner RMS Cedric for New York via Naples. They departed Naples on the 30th of March and made a call at Gibraltar. Three of His party were forced to leave the ship for supposed "medical' reasons. Among them was His grandson, Shoghi Effendi. [AB171; GPB281; ABF274; ABTM50-52; SYH50-51]

• Mrs. Edith Burr of Florence, made her home a centre for many years.
• Signora Maria Forni, who lived at Crevenna near Lake Como. was an ardent exponent from the time of her acceptance of the Teachings in 1899, and her social work among children was testimony of her sincere faith. [BN #43 Aug1930 p.8]

Pope John XXIII called the Council because he felt the Church needed “updating”. In order to connect with 20th century people in an increasingly secularized world, some of the Church's practices needed to be improved, and its teaching needed to be presented in a way that would appear relevant and understandable to them.

Roman Catholic bishops at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) called for outlawing war by international consent and creating a universal public authority that would safeguard security, justice, and human rights. In their encyclicals, Pope John XXIII, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis have stated that there is an urgent need for a true world political authority that would be regulated by law, observe the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, promote human development, manage globalization, and establish the common good. [Wikipedia; Black News 6FEB2022]

• Some Aspects of the Bahá'í Expressive Style World Order Winter 1978-79 p.36-43
• Islam in the History of Religions by Alessandro Bausani (1972)
• History of Religion from the Bahá'í Perspective by Alessandro Bausani and translated by Miguel Gil Santesteban

Attendees at the press conference included Hossein Amanat, who was selected by the Universal House of Justice as the architect for the project, Sohrab Youssefian, liaison between the project and Margraf, and two members of Italy’s Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly. The Italian marble company that will cut and chiseled the marble was represented by Silvio Xompero, president of Margraf, and by Alessandro Peotta, head of the Margraf Technical Office. This firm has a long record of service to the Faith [BWNS1569]