June 1. On this date in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had his first sitting for his portrait painted by Juliet Thompson in her New York studio. While pictures, sketches, and photographs of 'Abdu'l-Bahá are ubiquitous in Bahá'í homes, those of Bahá'u'lláh are less so although the prohibition is equally applicable to both.
June 1. On this date in 1955, Shoghi Effendi wrote, "The all-important thing of course is that every activity ... is for the purpose of teaching the Faith and confirming people. Therefore you and the other Bahá'ís should watch the situation very closely. You should study those who attend the meetings, and when you find one who you feel would become a strong and active Bahá'í, then you should concentrate on teaching him. Thus, if you are able to confirm some souls, you will have rendered distinguished and outstanding service. Actually this is the goal of all such activities in all of the universities."
1992. The all-important thing of course is that every activity ... is for the purpose of teaching the Faith and confirming people. Therefore you and the other Bahá'ís should watch the situation very closely. You should study those who attend the meetings, and when you find one who you feel would become a strong and active Bahá'í, then you should concentrate on teaching him. Thus, if you are able to confirm some souls, you will have rendered distinguished and outstanding service. Actually this is the goal of all such activities in all of the universities.
(From a letter dated 1 June 1955 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer)
June 1. On this date in 1983, the Universal House of Justice wrote "Huqúqu’lláh is payable only once on a given property, whether personal or real, but should this property pass from one person to another, such as through inheritance, it becomes again subject to the payment of Huqúqu’lláh."
As to the question raised by Mr. …, kindly inform him that in a letter to an individual believer the beloved Guardian explained that Huqúqu’lláh is payable only once on a given property, whether personal or real, but should this property pass from one person to another, such as through inheritance, it becomes again subject to the payment of Huqúqu’lláh. This in effect means that heirs receiving a share of their inheritance from an estate must pay Huqúqu’lláh, if the share they are receiving increases their wealth to a level calling for the discharge of this sacred obligation.
(1 June 1983, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly)
May 17. On this date in 1962, Carl Scheffler died. An American Bahá'í who served on the NSA of the U.S. & Canada, serving as Treasurer from 1926 to 1930, as Financial Secretary from 1930 to 1934, and as Vice-Chairman from 1934 to 1938. He also traveled America to teach the Faith, particularly to youth. In his career he was an artist, and he served as owner and Director of the Evanston Academy of Fine Arts and as Director of Art in North Evanston Public Schools.
Carl Scheffler heard of the Faith in 1897, being introduced by a cousin who had attended Ibrahim Kheiralla's class on the religion. Carl and his family attended lectures by Kheiralla, and Carl became a Bahá'í in Chicago in 1899, the 665th individual to accept the Faith in the city. He was mentored in his studies of the religion by Thornton Chase, Albert Windust, Albert Greenleaf, and others, and remained a Bahá'í after Kheiralla attempted to usurp control of the religion in the West from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which caused many early believers to leave the Faith. He studied art at Smith Academy and the Chicago Art Institute in Chicago.
In 1907 Carl went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Thornton Chase and Arthur S. Agnew and met with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who instructed them to take steps towards constructing a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in the United States. After returning home he was elected to the first Chicago House of Justice, and he served as Treasurer of the body for many years. On April 9, 1908, some lots at the site of the House of Worship were purchased by the Bahá'ís in Carl's name.
From 1911 to 1912 Carl was in Europe studying at art academies, and he served as a teacher at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and established the Evanston Academy of Fine Arts after returning to America. He served as teacher at the Chicago Academy for fourteen years.
In 1915, Carl married May Thurn. She was also a Bahá'í and served on the Archives and History Committee of the United States and Canada for many years.
Carl was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada when it was established in 1925, and served on the body until 1938. As of 1925 he was Secretary of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár. In 1926 he was elected as Treasurer of the National Spiritual Assembly, succeeding Florence Morton, and he began preparing quarterly reports of the National Fund. As of 1927 he was serving on the Assemblies Temple Committee, as well as continuing to serve as Treasurer. As of 1928 he was no longer serving on the Temple Committee, instead serving on the Temple Maintenance Committee, the Legal Committee, and the Plan for Unified Action Committee. In 1929 he began serving on the Temple Committee again, which was then known as the Bahá'í Temple Unity
In 1930 Carl was elected to the new position of Financial Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, which was established to assume responsibility for interpreting the needs and policies of the National Fund, and deepening the Bahá'ís on its significance. In 1931 he was appointed to the Temple Program Committee. By 1933 he was serving as Chairman of the Publicity Committee. By early 1934 he was assisting the National Spiritual Assemblies Treasurer Roy Wilhelm as Assistant Treasurer. He was elected as Vice-Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly in 1934.
In 1936 Carl spoke at a public meeting held to promote the Faith at Fisk University in Nashville, alongside Mountfort Mills and Allen B. McDaniel. In February 1937 Carl spoke at the 25th Anniversary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's visit to America in New York. He taught the Faith through public talks on the Ohio-Indiana circuit throughout 1937. He began serving on the Teaching and Training Children Committee of the National Assembly in 1937. In 1938 he spoke at Louhelen Summer School, and he was appointed to the Louhelen Summer School Committee. In 1939 Carl, Allen McDaniel, and Rex and Mary Collison were appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly to design Bahá'í exhibits for the 1939 World Fairs, and Carl designed a portable exhibit. In October 1939 he spoke at a Memorial for Martha Root at the House of Worship.
As of 1942 Carl was serving as Chairman of the Bahá'í Exhibits Committee. In 1943 he was appointed to the Centenary Committee, responsible for organizing the celebration of the Bahá'í Centenary in 1944, and he was assigned responsibility for preparing the Temple and preparing decorations. He was also appointed as Chairman of the newly formed Committee on Elementary Education. In 1946 he assisted in a National North American Teaching Campaign, attending a meeting regarding the campaign in New Orleans and speaking at public meetings, and also giving talks in Jackson, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, when returning to Evanston from the meeting. He spoke at a public meeting held in Denver as part of the Campaign in March 1946. In October 1946 he spoke in Minneapolis. In 1947 he spoke on the Faith at the First Presbyterian Church in his hometown of Evanston, as part of a program on Comparative Religions. In 1948 Carl established an art studio in Chicago with his son, Harlan, which produced scratchboard drawings for advertising agencies.
In 1950 Carl was appointed to a Committee responsible for organizing the commemoration of the Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Báb. In 1953 a Bahá'í Calendar featuring illustrations of the Temple grounds by Carl was published. In August 1953 Carl recited a prayer at a memorial for Siegfried Schopflocher at the House of Worship. In 1954 another Calendar featuring Carl's illustrations of Mt. Carmel avenue was published. In 1955 a book for children featuring stories from The Dawn-Breakers and illustrations by Carl was published. In 1957 another Calendar featuring illustrations of the House of Worship by Carl was published.
Carl Scheffler died on May 17, 1962, and the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land issued the following statement:
"Grieved passing much loved Carl Scheffler steadfast devoted tireless servant Master early days Faith America stop Outstanding services Temple Teaching administrative fields period beloved Guardian's ministry unforgettable stop Convey deepest sympathy family assure ardent prayers Holy Shrines."
Carl was survived by his wife, May Thurn, who died on February 19, 1970, and their two children, Harlan C. and Betty (later de Araujo), both of whom were active Bahá'ís.
May 17. On this date in 2017, Firuz Kazemzadeh, retired professor emeritus of history at Yale University who served on the NSA of the US from 1963 to 2000, died at the age of 92. He was born in Moscow, USSR, to a Russian mother and Iranian father employed at the Iranian embassy in Moscow.
Firuz Kazemzadeh was born in Moscow on October 27, 1924, to an Iranian father and a Russian mother. His father served in the Iranian embassy in Moscow. After completing his primary and secondary education in Moscow, Kazemzadeh (then aged 16) and his family moved to Iran. In 1944, during World War II, he travelled from Tehran to the United States and entered Stanford University, graduating in 1946 and obtaining an MA in 1947. In 1950 Kazemzadeh received a Ph.D. in Russian history from Harvard University.
Kazemzadeh taught at Harvard from 1954 to 1956, then moved to Yale where he was professor of history until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1992. While at Yale, he also served as Master of Davenport College. He was the author and co-author of a number of books on the history of Russia and Iran, as well as numerous articles and reviews for authoritative scholarly publications.
Between May 15, 1998 and May 14, 2003, Kazemzadehserved as a Commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, first appointed to this position in 1998 by President Bill Clinton, and in 2001, reappointed by US Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle.
Kazemzadeh was an adherent of the Bahá'í Faith and, from 1963 to 2000, served as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States.
Firuz Kazemzadeh died, aged 92, on May 17, 2017.
May 17. On this date in 1953, Shoghi Effendi addressed a cablegram to the Bahá'ís of the word, condemning his one-time close companion, secretary, and first cousin as "treacherous Ruhi Afnan."
Treacherous Ruhi Afnan, not content with previous disobedience, correspondence with Ahmad Sohrab, contact with old Covenant-breakers, sale, in conjunction with other members of family, of sacred property purchased by Founder of Faith, and allowing his sister to marry son of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's enemy, is now openly lecturing on Bahá'í movement, claiming to be its exponent and is misrepresenting the teachings and deliberately causing confusion in minds of authorities and the local population. Inform National Assemblies.
--Shoghi
[Cablegram, May 17, 1953]
April 5. On this date in 1922, some four months after returning to Haifa subsequent to the death of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi left Haifa with his eldest cousin and close friend, Ruhi Afnan who he would later declare a Covenant-breaker, for rest and relaxation in the Bernese Oberland in the Swiss Alps. In his absence, Shoghi Effendi placed Bahíyyih Khánum as Head of the Cause, and later that month the "Star of the West" magazine would publish letters from Shoghi Effendi and Bahíyyih Khánum explaining the situation. Ruhi Afnan would be declared a Covenant-breaker in a series of cablegrams in the 1950's.
The cablegrams concerning the declaration of Ruhi Afnan a Covenant-breaker include one from December 13, 1951 titled "Old and New Covenant-Breakers"where Shoghi Effendi says, "Evidences multiplying attesting Ruhi's increasing rebelliousness, efforts exerted my eldest sister pave way fourth alliance members family Siyyid 'Alí involving marriage his granddaughter with Ruha's son and personal contact recently established my own treacherous, despicable brother Riaz with Majdi'd-Din, redoubtable enemy Faith, former henchman Muhammad-'Ali, Archbreaker Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant.
May 17. On this date in 2008, Brigitte Lundblade, who had pioneered to Sweden, Denmark and Estonia and been named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Shetland Islands, died.
Brigitte Hasselblatt was born on January 21, 1923, into a Baltic German family in Tallinn, Estonia. During World War II, the Hasselblatt family was evacuated to Germany, and after the war Brigitte moved to England, where she became a Bahá’í at a summer school in 1950.
In 1953 Brigitte settled in the Shetland Islands, a territory named by Shoghi Effendi in connection with the Ten Year Crusade, and in doing so became a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh.
In 1956 Brigitte went on Pilgrimage and met Shoghi Effendi, who told her to introduce the Bahá’ís Faith to Estonia. Because it was impossible to go to the Soviet Union at that time, Brigitte chose to pioneer to Finland instead.
While in Finland Brigitte married Milton Lundblade, an American Bahá’í of Swedish descent. In 1961 they pioneered again, this time to Denmark, where there son Laurence was born. Because Milton was unable to find work there they soon had to move to the United States. For the next several years Brigitte worked as a school nurse in California. In 1963, their daughter Luise was born in Downey, California.
After her children were grown and her husband had died, Brigitte moved back to Finland as a pioneer in 1984, still waiting for an opportunity to return to Estonia in accordance with Shoghi Effendi's wishes. Her chance finally came in 1988.
Although a handful of people, predominantly Esperantists, had become Bahá’ís in Estonia prior to Brigitte's arrival, her flat in Tallinn quickly became the center of Bahá’í activity in the country. She was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baltic States in 1993 and remained a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Estonia after it was formed as a separate body in 1999.
On the advice of the Universal House of Justice, she retired in 2006 after many years of service.
Brigitte devoted her final years to writing her memoirs with assistance from a friend, Susanne Pfaff-Grossman. "The Life of a Pioneer" was originally published in German and was then translated into English by Brigitte herself.
Brigitte died on May 17, 2008 and is buried in her native Tallinn.
