February 1. On this date in 1921, Leonora Holsapple Armstrong, the first Bahá’í to permanently settle in Brazil and the "Spiritual Mother of the Bahá’ís of Latin America," arrived in Rio de Janeiro. She would die in Salvador, Bahia some 60 years later, in 1980. 'Abdu'l-Bahá had previously linked the name "Bahia" to "Bahai".

 

February 1. On this date in 1921, Leonora Holsapple Armstrong, the first Bahá’í to permanently settle in Brazil and the "Spiritual Mother of the Bahá’ís of Latin America," arrived in Rio de Janeiro. She would die in Salvador, Bahia some 60 years later, in 1980. 'Abdu'l-Bahá had previously linked the name "Bahia" to "Bahai".

Leonora Holsapple Armstrong, was born in Hudson, New York, on June 23, 1895. She arrived in Rio de Janeiro on February 1, 1921, becoming the first Bahá’í to permanently settle in Brazil. She would earn the titled "Spiritual Mother of the Bahá’ís of Latin America."

On October 17, 1980, Leonora Holsapple Armstrong, died in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. 

'Abdu'l-Bahá had previously linked the name "Bahia" to "Bahai".

On April 8, 1916, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote his Tablet to the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada, which is the 6th part of his Tablets of the Divine Plan, in the garden adjacent to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, and addressed to the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Included in multiple books, the first five tablets were printed in America in Star of the West - Vol. VII, No. 10, September 8, 1916, and all the tablets again after World War I in Vol. IX, No. 14, November 23, 1918. The Tablet to the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada refers to the city of Bahia.

In a similar way, the republics of the continent of South America—Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, British Guiana, Dutch Guiana, French Guiana, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela; also the islands to the north, east and west of South America, such as Falkland Islands, the Galapagòs, Juan Fernandez, Tobago and Trinidad. Likewise the city of Bahia, situated on the eastern shore of Brazil. Because it is some time that it has become known by this name, its efficacy will be most potent.