October 28. On this date in 1904, Ali-Kuli Khan married Boston socialite Florence Breed, consummating the first marriage between an Iranian and a Western Bahá'í.

 

October 28. On this date in 1904, Ali-Kuli Khan married Boston socialite Florence Breed, consummating the first marriage between an Iranian and a Western Bahá'í.

Ali-Kuli Khan (also known as Nabílu'd-Dawlih) was an eminent Iranian Baha'i who served briefly as 'Abdu'l-Baha’s English-language secretary between 1899 and 1901, he was subsequently sent to America where he was the first to translate into English some of the most important works of Baha’u’llah, such as the Kitab-i-Iqan, The Seven Valleys and the Glad-Tidings. He also continued to translate 'Abdu'l-Baha’s correspondence with the American Baha'is. Ali Kuli Khan was appointed Iranian chargés d'affaires in Washington in 1910 and later served in various high-ranking diplomatic positions. On October 28, 1904, he married Boston socialite Florence Breed. The couple was the parents of Marzieh Gail.

On July 28, 1920, Shoghi Effendi wrote a letter to Florence Breed outlining his educational ambitions at Balliol College, to study with with eminent professors and Orientalists, noting alumni who were all Imperialists.

He was received there by the many devoted friends of 'Abdu'l-Bahá with genuine warmth and affection. Some of them he already knew personally, such as Dr J. E. Esslemont, who had recently been in Haifa and collaborated with him and other friends in the translation of an important Tablet of the Master; Major W. Tudor Pole, who had met 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His stay in London and had been in Palestine with the British Army of Occupation, rendering the believers every assistance within his power; and Lord Lamington.

Shoghi Effendi was the bearer of letters from this grandfather to some of His English friends, as is attested in a letter he wrote shortly after his arrival to the wife of Ali Kuli Khan in France:

July 28, 1920

My dearest Bahá'í sister:

I have been fearfully busy since I stepped on British soil and so far the progress of my work has been admirable. Equipped with the Tablets of the Master for Lady Blomfield, Lord Lamington and Major Tudor Pole, I have through them come in close touch with eminent professors and Orientalists whether at Oxford or London University. Having secured introductions and recommendations from Sir Denison Ross, and Professor Ker, to Sir Walter Raleigh - professor of and lecturer on English literature at Oxford - and Prof. Margoliouth - the remarkable Arabic scholar and Orientalist of the same University, I hastened to Oxford after a busy week stay in London. In fact before leaving for Oxford, I had a letter from Margoliouth saying that he would do all in his power to be of help to a relative of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. With this man and the Master of Balliol College - a College from which great men such as Lord Grey, Earl Curzon, Lord Milner, Mr. Asquith, Swinburne and Sir Herbert Samuel have graduated - I had the opportunity of speaking about the Cause and clearing up some points that to these busy scholars had hitherto been uncertain and confused.