1913-06-09 — Paul and Mirra Richard paid one last visit to 'Abdu'l-Bahá at His hotel arriving at 9:30PM. There were 19 documented encounters/visits of this couple with 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His stays in Paris, many of them alone with Him in the latter part of His day ending at midnight. On a number of occasions He asked her to speak, other times He would send her to a meeting as the speaker and on at least one occasion she spoke on His behalf when he was too ill to attend. This was remarkable considering that neither Mirra nor her husband considered themselves as Bahá'ís. [ABFsee index]
A short biography: Blance Rachel Mirra Alfassa (b. 21 February 1878, d. 17 November 1973 Pondicherrry, India). She was the daughter of Sephardic Jews from Turkey and Egypt. She studied art at the Academy des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1897 she married the French painter Henry François Morisott and they had a son (b.1898). They divorced in 1908 and she married the French lawyer Paul Antoine Richard. Around 1905 she became involved with the occult movement, first in France and from 1906-10907 in Algeria. In 1914 she and Paul left for India and met the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo at Pondicherry. They returned to France briefly 1915-1916 and from 1916 to 1920 she and Paul were in Japan. In 1920 they returned to Pondicherry and from then until the end of her life she was associated with Sri Aurobindo's ashram. After his passing in 1950 she became the head and was know as "the Mother". [ABF339n815]
Three of her books are:
Words of Long Ago by The Mother (Mirra Richard), Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publications 1994,
The Mother-Collected Works Vol 2-Words of Long Ago
and The Mother (Questions and Answers 1950-51.
Paul Richard's biographical book was called
Without Passport: The Life and Work of Paul Richard covers the period from his birth to 1919. He was a lawyer in the Paris Court of Appeals and it is likely that he learned of the Faith from Hippolyte Dreyfus.
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