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date	event	locations	tags	see also
1912 (In the year)	Margaret Stevenson was the first believer in New Zealand. [New Zealand Bahá'í News, May 1997] See 11 February, 1941 for biographical information. For a photo see Encyclopedia of New Zealand She was the first New Zealand Bahá'i, and for 10 years from 1912, the only one. When the first New Zealand Bahá'i group formed in 1924, Stevenson was elected its president. Her two sisters also joined the faith. Stevenson remained secretary of the Bahá'i Spiritual Assembly in New Zealand until her passing in 1941.	New Zealand	Margaret Stevenson; First Bahais by country or area
1862 – 1868	Hájí Mírzá Muhammad-‘Alí, a cousin of the Báb, lived in Shanghai during this period. This is the first record of a Bábí or Bahá'í living in China. [PH24] From 1870 he lived in Hong Kong dealing as a merchant and was joined by his brother, Hájí Mírzá Muhammad Husayn. [PH24; Video Early history of the Bahá'í Faith in China 2min56sec]	Shanghai; Hong Kong; China	Haji Mirza Muhammad-Ali (Afnan); Haji Mirza Muhammad Husayn (Afnan); Afnan; Bab, Family of; First Bahais by country or area
1868. 5 Sep	The ship that had delivered the exiles to 'Akká carried on and Mírzá Yahyá arrived in Cyprus with his entire family but without a single disciple or even a servant. [BBR306] Also exiled to Cyprus were four loyal Bahá'ís and they were: Mishkín-Qalam (Áqá Hussain Isfahání) Mirzá ‘Alíy-i-Sayyáh-i-Maraghih'í (Mullá Ádí-Guzal) Áqá ‘Abdu’l-Ghaffár Áqá Muḥammad-Báqir (Qahvih-chiy-i Mahallátí) (coffee-maker) With their arrival Cyprus became the first island in the Mediterranean to receive the Faith. See also GPB 182 and AB285, 523.	Famagusta; Cyprus	Mishkin-Qalam; Mirza Aliy-i-Sayyah-i-Maraghihi (Mulla Adi-Guzal); Aqa Abdul-Ghaffar; Aqa Muhammad-Baqir (Qahvih-chiy-i Mahallati); Mirza Yahya (Subh-i-Azal); Exile; Cyprus exiles; First Bahais by country or area; Islands
1873. 12 Apr	Birth of Hippolyte Dreyfus, the first French Bahá'í, in Paris. Named by Shoghi Effendi a Disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá.	Paris; France	Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; First Bahais by country or area; Births and deaths
1894 5 Jun	Thornton Chase became a Bahá'í in Chicago. [BBD53; BFA1:35–6] For some time before he heard of the Bahá'í Faith, he had been a follower of the noble and mystical teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. [SEBW3] He was designated by `Abdu'l-Bahá as the first American believer. [BBD53; GPB257] See BFA1:35 for his own account of how he became a Bahá'í. See BFA1:33–7 for other Americans who became Bahá'ís around the same time. He was given the name Thábit (Steadfast) by `Abdu'l-Bahá. [BBD53; GPB257] He had been invited to join the Hearst pilgrimage in 1898 but was unable to go to the Holy Land until 1907. [AY61]	Chicago; United States	Thornton Chase; First Bahais by country or area; Names and titles; Emanuel Swedenborg	Thornton Chase in the newspapers (series of mentions especially 1893-7)
1895 (In the year)	Mrs Kate C. Ives of Orleans, Cape Cod, Massachusetts became a Bahá'í, making her the first Western woman to have accepted the Bahá'í Faith. [BFA1:37]	Orleans; Cape Cod; Massachusetts; United States	First Bahais by country or area
1895. c. summer	Miss Marion Brown became a Bahá'í in London, the first European to accept the Bahá'í Faith. [BFA1:37]	London; United Kingdom	Marion Brown; First Bahais by country or area
1899 Summer	Ethel Jenner Rosenberg accepted the Bahá'í Faith, the first English woman to become a Bahá'í in her native land. [AB73–4; ER39; GPB260; SBR20, 33; SEBW55-64, SCU17] For her biography see Rob Weinberg's, Ethel Jenner Rosenberg. She visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá several times in the first decade of the century. [SCU17]	United Kingdom	Ethel Rosenberg; First Bahais by country or area
1901 summer	Thomas Breakwell, an Englishman living in the United States, learned of the Bahá'í Faith in Paris from May Bolles. Within three days he became a believer and immediately wrote to `Abdu'l-Bahá. [AB74–5; BW7:707] For May Bolles' own account see BW7:707–11. He is the first male British Bahá'í. [BFA2:154] He is designated by Shoghi Effendi the `first English believer'. [GPB259] He is the first Western Bahá'í to pay Huqúqu'lláh. [BW7:710] See also AB74–80; BFA2:154; SEBW6572.	Paris; France	Thomas Breakwell; May Maxwell (Bolles); Huququllah; First Bahais by country or area; Firsts, Other
1902 (In the year)	Bahá'í groups were established in Canada and in the Hawaiian Islands. [BBRSM:106-7; BFA2:160; SBBH1:135]	Canada; Hawaii	First Bahais by country or area
1905 (or 1904)	A Bahá'í group was established in Germany soon after the arrival of the first Bahá'í in the country, Dr. Edwin Fischer, in Stuttgart. He was dentist and a returned emigrant to the United States. German-born Alma Knobloch also became a Bahá'í in the United States 1903, before Fischer, but arrived in Germany in 1907. [BBRSM:107, 219; BWNS390] The German Baha'i Community under National Socialism: by Harry Liedtke says he arrived in 1904.	Stuttgart; Germany	Edwin Fischer; Alma Knobloch; First Bahais by country or area
1906 (In the year)	The first Bahá'í of Hungarian origin, Countess Aurelia Bethien, declares her faith in the USA. [http://www.bahai.hu]	Hungary; United States	First Bahais by country or area
1909 (In the year)	Karl Kruttner, a professor in Bohemia, became a Bahá'í, the first person to do so in the Austro-Hungarian empire.	Bohemia; Germany	Karl Kruttner; First Bahais by country or area	find reference
1916 (in the year)	Anthony Yuen Seto and his wife Mamie Lorettta O'Connor became Bahá'ís in Hawaii. Mr Seto was the first Chinese Bahá'í in the Hawaiian Islands and the first Chinese-American Bahá'í in the United States. [PH30; BW13p886-889]	Hawaii	First bahais by country or area
1916 Apr or May	The first Chinese Bahá'í in China, Chen Hai An (Harold A. Chen), became a Bahá'í while studying at the University of Chicago through the efforts of Dr Zia Baghdádí. He returned to Shanghai that same year. [PH29-30; Video Early history of the Bahá'í Faith in China 6min40sec] PH30 says this was 1919 but this is clearly a typographical error. He returned to China in December 1916.	China; Chicago; United States	First Bahais by country or area; Zia Bagdadi
1919 (In the year)	The first Norwegian to accept the Faith, Johanna Christensen-Schubarth, `the mother of the Norwegian Bahá'í Community', became a Bahá'í in the United States. [BW12:694-696].	Norway	First Bahais by country or area
1919 20 Sep	Martha Root arrived in Argentina, the first recorded visit of a Bahá'í to this country. [MR101] She remained in Buenos Aires until 4 October. [MR101] See MR101-2 and MRHK61-5 for her teaching work in Argentina. See MR103-6 and MRHK66-9 for her journey over the Andes on a mule.	Buenos Aires; Argentina; Andes	Martha Root; First Bahais by country or area
1920 (in the year)	Hyde and Clara Dunn arrived in Samoa enroute to Australia, the first Bahá'ís to visit the islands.	Samoa	Hyde Dunn; Clara Dunn; Islands; First Bahais by country or area
1920 After Jul	The first Argentineans to become Bahá'ís, Hermann Grossmann and his sister Elsa Grossman, accepted the Faith in Leipzig in 1920. They were born in Argentina and emigrated to Germany in 1909. Dr Grossman heard of the Faith at a public meeting given by Harlan and Grace Ober at the Theosophical Society. [BW13:869]	Leipzig; Germany	Hermann Grossman; Elsa Grossmann; Harlan and Grace Ober; Theosophical Society; First Bahais by country or area
1922 (In the year)	Oswald Whitaker, a Sydney optometrist, and Euphemia Eleanor `Effie' Baker, a photographer, become Bahá'ís, the first Australians to accept the Faith. [BW14:320; SBR160-1, BW2p129] In the 1930s Effie Baker travelled to Persia to take photographs of historical sites. [BW14:320] See SETPE1p105-107 for her contribution while serving in Haifa. For Effie Baker's obituary see BW14:320-1.	Australia; Iran	Oswald Whitaker; Effie Baker; Photography; First Bahais by country or area
1924 (In the year)	Miss Nora Lee, who became a Bahá'í in New Zealand, was the first Bahá'í to travel to Fiji, working as a nanny in Labasa from 1924 to about 1930. Gretta Lamprill became the first Bahá'í in Tasmania in the latter part of the year. [SBR162] In 1924 Clara and Hyde Dunn spent three months in Hobart together with two Melbourne Baha’is. Their visit attracted a small number of individuals to the Bahá'í Faith, the first of whom was a nurse, Gretta Lamprill. She was gradually joined by others in Hobart, Launceston and Devonport. The first Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Hobart was established in 1949, providing the basis for the effective functioning of the Baha’i community since that time. [Australian Baha'i Community site]	Fiji; Tasmania; Hobart; Launceston; Devonport, Australia	First Bahais by country or area; First travel teachers and pioneers; Clara Dunn; Hyde Dunn
1926 Jan	Orcella Rexford and her husband Dr Gayne Gregory (the first to accept the Faith in Alaska) went to Haifa on pilgrimage and were technically the first from Alaska to do so. They were in the process of moving from Alaska to the Continental USA. [SETPE1p112-113 ] See BW11p495-498 for for details of the life of Orella Rexford.	Haifa; Alaska; United States	First Bahais by country or area; Orcella Rexford
1928 Jun	Martha Root visited the parents of Milosh Wurm in Brno. He had been the first to become a Bahá'í in Czechoslovakia and the first to have translated a book into Czech when he was only seventeen years of age. He lost his life in the Great War. [BW3p44, Bahá'í Historical Facts 26 March, 2018]	Brno; Czechoslovakia	Martha Root; Milosh Wurm; First Bahais by country or area
1931 28 Apr	Mr Refo Capari (Chapary), the first Albanian Bahá’í, arrived in Tirana, Albania from New York where his family had immigrated. He became a Bahá’í in America some time before 1931. In 1983 account were found in the International Archives of the pioneering work done by Mr. Capari. He had stayed in Albania and died alone and of starvation. [BW20p198]	Tirana; Albania	First Bahais by country or area; Refo Capari; Refo Chapary
1935 (In the year)	Husayn Uskuli, a Bahá’í resident in Shanghai, traveled to Taiwan, the first Bahá’í known to visit the island. [PH28; The Taiwan Bahá'í Chronicle by Barbara R. Sims p3]	Taiwan	Husayn Uskuli; First Bahais by country or area
1936 (In the year)	Mr E. R. and Mrs Loulie Mathews arrived in Guatemala, the first Bahá’í teachers to visit the country.	Guatemala	E. R. Mathews; Loulie A. Mathews (Loulie Mathews); Travel teaching; First Bahais by country or area
1936 Nov	Renée Szanto-Felbermann became a Bahá’í, the first to accept the Faith in Hungary. She was considered the first person to accept the Faith by some notwithstanding the events of 1913. [BW19:633] See also Renée Szanto-Felbermann, Rebirth: The Memoirs of Szanto-Felbermann p104. This document prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Community of Hungary says that Mr. Arminius Vámbéry is the first believer in Hungary. See www.bahai.hu See BW5p329 for the testament written by Professor Vámbéry and published in the Egyptian Gazette September 24th, 1913.	Hungary; Budapest	First Bahais by country or area; Arminius Vambéry
1938 (In the year)	William DeForge became the first Bahá’í to visit the Dominican Republic. He made a one-day trip from Puerto Rico.	Dominican Republic; Central America	First Bahais by country or area	find reference
1938 (In the year)	The first Bahá’í to be resident in Finland, Aminda Josephine Kruka, an American nurse, arrived in the country.	Finland	First Bahais by country or area	find reference
1938 Jul	The first Finnish Bahá’í, Pastor Väinö Rissanen, accepted the Faith. He was taught by Miss Josephine Kruka [BW8:935; BW17:129] For a letter from him about Finland see BW8:936.	Finland	First Bahais by country or area
1939 27 Aug	The first Bahá’í resident in Guatemala, Gerrard Sluter-Schlutius, arrived in the country from Toronto. [OBCC228]	Guatemala	First Bahais by country or area
1939 Oct	Antonio Roca, the first Bahá’í in Honduras, entered the country.	Honduras	First Bahais by country or area
1939 Nov	F. Ferrari became a Bahá’í, the first to accept the Faith in Honduras.	Honduras	First Bahais by country or area
1939 2 Nov	The first people to become Bahá’ís in El Salvador, Luis O. Pérez, Emilio Bermudez and José Manuel Vela, accepted the Faith in San Salvador.	San Salvador; El Salvador	First Bahais by country or area
1939 (Late in the year)	Sr. Perfecto Perez Toledo, the first Cuban Bahá’í, accepted the Faith.	Cuba	First Bahais by country or area
1940 (In the decade)	By the mid-1940s Corporal Thomas Bereford Macauley became a Bahá’í in Nigeria, the first Bahá’í in the country.	Nigeria	First Bahais by country or area
1940 13 Jan	María Teressa Martín de López (Irizarry), from Puerto Rico, became a Bahá’í in the Dominican Republic while on a visit. She was the first Puerto Rican Bahá’í and the first person to become a Bahá’í in the Dominican Republic. For the story of her life see BW8:631–42.	Dominican Republic	First Bahais by country or area
1940 1 Mar	May Bolles Maxwell (b. 14 January 1940 in Englewood, NJ) passed away in Buenos Aires. [BBD153; TG49] Shoghi Effendi called her "the spiritual mother of Canada" and Montreal the "mother city of Canada". [OBCC35] Shoghi Effendi awarded her the honour of a ‘martyr’s death’ and designated her as a Disciple of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [BW8:631; MA38] She was the first Bahá'í on European soil and the "mother" of both the French and the Canadian Bahá'í communities. [PP149] For her "In Memoriam" and tribute written by Marion Holley see BW8p631-642. Hooper Dunbar quoted Shoghi Effendi in his cable to the friends in Iran announcing her passing: May Maxwell, the severed teacher firebrand of the love of God and spreader of the fragrances of God Mrs Maxwell, forsook her native land and hastened to the most distant countries out of love for her Master and yearning to sound the call to the Cause of her Lord and her inspiration, until she ascended to the highest summit attaining the rank of martyrdom in the capital of the Argentine. The furthermost boundary the countenances of paradise invoke blessings upon her in the glorious apex saying, may she enjoy with healthy relish the cup that is full and brimming over with the wine of the love of God for the like of this should the travaillers travail. Inform all the friends of the announcement of this mighty victory. [A talk] given by Mr Dunbar 28:08] Shoghi Effendi asked her husband, Sutherland Maxwell, to design her tomb, which was to be a ‘historic centre’ for ‘pioneer Bahá’í activity’. [BW8:642] For an account of the erection of the monument to her see PSBW83–6.	Buenos Aires; Argentina	May Maxwell (Bolles); Births and deaths; Names and titles; Sutherland Maxwell; Architecture; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; First Bahais by country or area
1940 1 Aug	The first four people to become Bahá’ís in Costa Rica accepted the Faith after Gayle Woolson and Amelia Ford from the United States arrived in Puerto Limón on 29 March 1940. The first to enrol was Raul Contreras, followed by his cousin Guido Contreras, and by José Joaquin Ulloa and then Felipe Madrigal.	Costa Rica; Central America	First Bahais by country or area
1940 20 Oct	Ralph Laltoo, the first Trinidadian to become a Bahá’í, accepted the Faith in Halifax, Nova Scotia.	Halifax; Nova Scotia	First Bahais by country or area
1940 Dec	Luis Carlo Nieto became the first Bahá’í in Colombia. He soon left the Faith and Aura Sanchez, who became a Bahá’í in 1941, is considered the first Colombian believer.	Colombia	First Bahais by country or area
1940 Dec	Gerald and Vivian MacBeans, a Jamaican couple, and their niece, Miss May Johnson, became the first people to accept the Faith in Haiti.	Haiti	First Bahais by country or area
1941 (In the year)	Aura Sanchez became a Bahá’í in Colombia, considered the first Bahá’í of the country.	Colombia	First Bahais by country or area
1941 18 May	Yvonne Cuellar, a French woman, became a Bahá’í in Bolivia. Although Marina del Prado was the first to become a Bahá’í, on 2 February 1941, she did not remain active, so Yvonne Cuellar is recognized as the first Bahá’í in Bolivia. She was called by Shoghi Effendi ‘Mother of Bolivia’. For the story of her life see BW19:619–22.	Bolivia	First Bahais by country or area
1942 (In the year)	Dr Malcolm King, a Jamaican who had become a Bahá'í in the United States, introduced the Faith to his homeland. [SDSCp425 note 2] He held meetings at 190 Orange Street in Kingston. By 1943, the people he had taught founded a spiritual assembly in Kingston. [The Gleaner]	Jamaica	First Bahais by country or area
1942 16 Nov	Manuel Bergés Chupani, of Sánchez, Dominican Republic, became a Bahá’í, perhaps the first native Dominican person to accept the Faith.	Dominican Republic	First Bahais by country or area
1946 Jun	Rita Marshall, the first person native to St Vincent in the Caribbean to become a Bahá’í, accepted the Faith while in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her husband, Ernest Marshall, became a Bahá’í in November 1946.	St Vincent; Halifax; Nova Scotia; Canada	First Bahais by country or area
1947 May	Clarence Iverson visited the Bahamas, the first recorded visit to the islands by a Bahá’í.	Bahamas	First Bahais by country or area; Islands
1947 5 Jul	Manuel Garcia Vasquez became a Bahá’í in Spain, the first believer in the country.	Spain	First Bahais by country or area
1947 Sep	Léa Nys became a Bahá’í in Belgium, the first Belgian to accept the Faith after World War Two. She is considered the first Belgian Bahá’í.	Belgium	First Bahais by country or area
1947 12 Dec	The first pioneer to Portugal, Valeria Lamb Nicols, arrived from a pioneer post in Denmark.	Portugal	First Bahais by country or area
1947 31 Dec	Suzette Hipp became a Bahá’í in Luxembourg, the second Luxembourger to accept the Faith and the first to do so in Luxembourg.	Luxembourg	First Bahais by country or area
1948 Dec	Amjad Ali arriveed in East Pakistan, from Chapra in Bihar, northern India, the first pioneer in the country.	Bangladesh; Asia	First Bahais by country or area
1949 (In the year)	Agnes Harrison (née Parent), an Athabascan, became a Bahá’í in Alaska, the first Native Alaskan to accept the Faith in the country.	Alaska; United States	First Bahais by country or area
1950 23 Oct	Nur Ali, a well-known and respected public servant in Suva, became a Bahá’í, the first to accept the Faith in Fiji.	Fiji	First Bahais by country or area
1950 Nov	Brian Burland, the first Bermudian to become a Bahá’í, accepted the Faith in Canada.	Canada; Bermuda	First Bahais by country or area
1951 (In the year)	By this year the first Canadian Inuit had become a Bahá’í.	Canada	First Bahais by country or area; First believers by background; Inuit
1951 23 May	Jamshed and Parvati Fozdar arrived in Kuching with their son, Vijay, and became the first Bahá’ís to settle in Sarawak.	Kuching; Sarawak; Malaysia	Jamshed Fozdar; First Bahais by country or area
1951 Jul	Mr P. K. Gopalakrishnan Nayer, an Indian, became a Bahá’í in Dar-es-Salaam, the first person to accept the Faith in Tanganyika. [BW12:53]	Dar-es-Salaam; Tanganyika (Tanzania); Tanzania	First Bahais by country or area
1951 Dec	Brothers-in-law Fred Bigabwa, a Mutoro, and Crispin Kajubi, a Muganda, became Bahá’ís in Uganda, the first to accept the Faith in that country.	Uganda	First Bahais by country or area
1952 (In the year)	Mr Narain Das, a textile salesman from India working in Singapore, became a Bahá’í, the first person in the country to accept the Faith. A few months later Mr Teo Geok Leng, a Chinese Singaporean, became a Bahá’í, the first native of Singapore to accept the Faith.	Singapore	First Bahais by country or area
1952 (In the year)	Walli Khan, a Fiji Indian, became a Bahá’í, the first person in Fiji to accept the Faith.	Fiji	First Bahais by country or area
1952 Mar	Mariette Bolton of Australia visited New Caledonia, the first Bahá’í to visit the islands. [BW15p437] During her visit Mlle Françoise Feminier became a Bahá’í, the first person in New Caledonia to accept the Faith.	New Caledonia	First Bahais by country or area; Islands
1952 Jun or Jul	Mr C. C. Cheng, a newspaper reporter; Professor L. S. Tso, a professor of engineering; and Miss Rosie Du (Ruthy Tu) became Bahá’ís in Taiwan, the first people to accept the Faith in the country.	Taiwan; Asia	First Bahais by country or area
1952 Jun	Aaron (‘Arthur’) B. Wellesley Cole, a Sierra Leonean barrister, returned to Sierra Leone from England, the first Bahá’í to enter the country.	Sierra Leone	First Bahais by country or area
1953 (In the year)	Alfred Amisi (Maragoli), Jacob Kisombe (Mtaita), Laurence Ouna (Mluhya), Labi Mathew (Zulu), and Zablon Bob (Luo) were among the first Kenyans to become Bahá’ís.	Kenya	First Bahais by country or area	find reference
1953 Ridván	Mrs Meherangiz Munsiff, the wife of an Indian diplomat in London, arrived in Madagascar and was acknowledged as the first Bahá’í in the country. [BWNS288] There was one other Bahá’í in Madagascar before Mrs Munsiff but he was not a Bahá’í in good standing. Suffering ill health, Mrs. Munsiff left in January 1954 a day after Danile Randrianarivo, 29, accepted the Faith, becoming the first Malagasy Bahá'í.	Madagascar	Meherangiz Munsiff; Danile Randrianarivo; First Bahais by country or area
1953 Oct	Enoch Olinga arrived in Victoria (Limbé) and was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for the British Cameroons. [BW13:449] The first Cameroonian to become a Bahá’í in British Cameroon was a youth, Jacob Tabot Awo. The first Cameroonian adult to become a Bahá’í was Enoch Ngompek of the Bassa tribe. The first Cameroonian woman to become a Bahá’í was Esther Obeu, the wife of David Tanyi.	Victoria (Limbe); British Cameroon; Cameroon; Nigeria	Enoch Olinga; Knights of Bahaullah; First Bahais by country or area
1953 Oct	Albert Nyarko Buapiah became a Bahá’í in Ghana, the first Ghanaian to become a Bahá’í in the country.	Ghana	First Bahais by country or area; Albert Nyarko Buapiah	find reference
1953 Late in the year	‘Abdu’l-Karím Amín Khawja became a Bahá’í in Algeria, the first person to accept the Faith in that country.	Algeria; Africa	First Bahais by country or area	find reference
1953 19 Dec	Yan Kee Leong became a Bahá’í, the first person to accept the Faith in Malaya.	Malaya; Malaysia	Yan Kee Leong; First Bahais by country or area
1954 (In the year)	The first native Fijian, the first Pygmy, the first Berber and the first Greenlander to accept the Bahá’í Faith enrolled. [MBW262]		First Bahais by country or area; First believers by background
1954 (In the year)	The first Tlinget from Alaska to become a Bahá’í, Eugene King, enrolled.	Alaska; United States	First Bahais by country or area	find reference
1954 (In the year)	The first person to become a Bahá’í in the Balearic Islands, C. Miguel, enrolled.	Balearic Islands	First Bahais by country or area; Islands
1954 (In the year)	Mr and Mrs Sandikonda, Eliam Chisengalumbwe, Mr Musonda, Peter Chitindi and Elias Kanayenda became Bahá’ís, the first African Bahá’ís to enrol in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). BANANI BULLETIN, 1 AUG 1954]	Zambia	First Bahais by country or area
1954 (In the year)	José Mingorance Fernandez and his wife, Carmen Tost, a Spanish couple, accepted the Bahá’í Faith; they were the first to enrol in Andorra.	Andorra	First Bahais by country or area
1954 4 Mar	The arrival of Knights of Bahá'u'lláh Elena (Marsella) and Roy Fernie in Kiribati (Gilbert Islands). They had come from the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama. [BWNS301, BW13:452] They had left their home in Panama and their service on the National Spiritual Assembly of Panama to pioneer. They arrived on the island of Abaiang (aka Charlotte Island, of the Gilbert Islands), on March 4, 1954 and for this service they were named Knights of Baha'u'llah. About the first of June 1954, former Catholic seminarian and mission teacher Peter Kanere Koru became the first convert on the island. Their teaching work brought opposition from the Roman Catholic priest who told his congregation not to attend the Bahá'í meetings. He began to criticize them in the Roman Catholic newsletter and actually contributed to the knowledge of the Faith because the newsletter had a wide distribution. The priest persisted in his opposition by informing his bishop who asked the government to send the Fernies away and to send Peter Kanere, a native Bahá'í, back to his native island of Tabiteuea. At the time, to be a registered religious organization required a membership of at least 100 believers so the government-approved sending the Fernies away however, in a single night some 300 people registered. A certificate of registration was issued on the 24th of September, 1955, but not before they managed to exile Roy Fernie. Elena continued the teaching work on her own and was responsible for firmly establishing the Faith on Abaiang. Meanwhile, Peter Kanere, back on his home island, managed to teach a Protestant minister who was under discipline of his church at the time. Together they spread the Faith on Tabiteuea. [Island Churches: Challenge and Change by Makisi Finau page 101] For more details on the life of Roy Fernie see Bahaipedia. See also The Origins of the Bahá’í Faith in the Pacific Islands: The Case of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands by Graham Hassall. And Bahá'í Faith in the Asia Pacific: Issues and Prospects also by Graham Hassall. Elena Maria Marsella published The Quest for Eden in 1966.	Tabiteuea; Kiribati; Gilbert Islands	Knights of Bahaullah; First Bahais by country or area; Islands; BWNS
1954 18 Jun	The first islander to become a Bahá’í in the Seychelles, Marshall Delcy, a local school teacher, enrolled.	Seychelles	First Bahais by country or area; Islands
1954 19 Jun	The first Canary Islander to become a Bahá’í, Sr. José Jacinto Castillo y Gonzalez, enrolled.	Canary Islands	First Bahais by country or area
1954 Jul	Reginald Stone and Allan Delph became Bahá’ís in British Guiana, the first two people to accept the Faith in that country.	British Guiana; Latin America	First Bahais by country or area
1954 Second half of the year	The first Somali to become a Bahá’í in Djibouti, ‘Alí ‘Abdu’lláh, a 21-year old employee of a commercial firm, enrolled.	Djibouti; Somalia; Africa	First Bahais by country or area	find reference
1954. 12 Jul	The first South African to become a Bahá'í enrolled in the Faith on this day. [That Promising Continent 20]	Pretoria; South Africa	First Bahais by country or area
1954 Oct	The first person to become a Bahá’í in Nassau, Bahamas, Winfield Small, a young police officer from Barbados, enrolled. Mr Small opened Barbados to the Faith.	Nassau; Bahamas; Barbados	First Bahais by country or area
1954 20 Nov	The first person to become a Bahá’í in Tonga, Harry Terepo, born in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, enrolled. He was a teacher, interpreter and guide living in Ohonua on the island of Eua.	Tonga	First Bahais by country or area
1955 (In the year)	The first person to become a Bahá’í in The Gambia, Mr Nichola Banna, a Lebanese merchant, enrolled.	Gambia, The	First Bahais by country or area
1955 (In the year)	The first indigenous Samoan to become a Bahá’í, Sa’ialala Tamasese, enrolled. He was a member of one of the three royal families of Samoa. [BINS, No. 100, 1 MARCH 1979, p. 1]	Samoa	First Bahais by country or area; Bahai royalty; Royalty
1955 (In the year)	Labíb Isfahání arrived in Abidjan, French West Africa, from Dakar, the first Bahá’í to settle in what is now the Ivory Coast.	Abidjan; French West Africa	Habib Isfahani; First Bahais by country or area
1955 (In the year)	The first person to become a Bahá’í in Spanish Sahara, ‘Abdu’l-Salam Salím Al-Sbintí, enrolled.	Spanish Sahara (Western Sahara)	First Bahais by country or area
1955 Feb	The first local person to become a Bahá’í in Mauritius, Mr Yam-Lim, a Chinese Catholic, enrolled.	Mauritius	First Bahais by country or area
1955 8–15 Feb	The first people to become Bahá’ís in Réunion, Paul and Françoise Tayllamin (8 Feb) and Jean Donat and Julien Araye (15 Feb), enrolled.	Reunion; France	First Bahais by country or area
1955 Mar	The first person to become a Bahá’í in the Solomon Islands, William Gina, a 43-year-old Solomon Islander from the Western Solomon Islands, enrolled.	Solomon Islands; Oceania	First Bahais by country or area
1955 4 Mar	The first Tongan to become a Bahá’í in Tonga, Tevita Ngalo’afe, enrolled.	Tonga	First believers by background; First Bahais by country or area
1955 14 Mar	The first person to become a Bahá’í in Guam, Charles T. Mackey, a United States civil service employee, enrolled.	Guam	First Bahais by country or area
1955 Apr	The first person to become a Bahá’í in the Bahamas, Molly Newbold, enrolled. As she did not remain a Bahá’í, Arnold Wells, a tinsmith who became a Bahá’í on 20 April, is regarded as the first Bahá’í. Christine Thompson, who owned a small fruit and vegetable shop, and Frank Ferguson, who owned a gas station, also enrolled on 20 April.	Bahamas	First Bahais by country or area; Islands
1956 (In the year)	The first Tlinget to become a Bahá’í in Alaska, Joyce Anderson Combs, enrolled.	Alaska; United States	First Bahais by country or area
1956 (In the year)	The first people to become Bahá’ís in Cape Verde enrolled.	Cape Verde	First Bahais by country or area; Islands
1956 c.	The first person in Tibet to become a Bahá’í, Chiten Tashi, a young businessman from the village of Chombethan, enrolled.	Tibet	First Bahais by country or area
1956 12 Feb	The first four people to become Bahá’ís in Hong Kong, Nari Sherwani, Ng Ying Kay, Chan Lie Kun and Chan Lie Fun, enrolled. [PH75]	Hong Kong	First Bahais by country or area
1957 (In the year)	Charles Winfield Small, a native of Barbados and the first to become a Bahá’í in the Bahamas, returned to Barbados, the first Bahá’í to settle in the country.	Barbados; Central America	First Bahais by country or area
1958 (In the year)	The first Aleut to become a Bahá’í, Vassa Lekanoff, enrolled in Unalaska.	Unalaska; Alaska; United States	First Bahais by country or area
1959 (In the year)	The first Inuit in Alaska to become a Bahá’í, William Wiloya, enrolled in Nome.	Nome; Alaska; United States	First Bahais by country or area; First believers by background; Inuit
1960 (In the year)	The first Côte d’Ivorian to become a Bahá’í, Mr Un Bodo, a Bété from the region of Gagnoa working as a policeman in Abidjan, enrolled.	Ivory Coast	First Bahais by country or area
1961 (In the year)	Knud Jensen (of mixed Danish, St Thomanian parentage), the first local person to become a Bahá’í in the Virgin Islands, enrolled.	Virgin Islands; United States	First Bahais by country or area
1962 Mar	Aboubacar Kâ, a school teacher and the first Senegalese known to become a Bahá’í, enrolled.	Senegal; Africa	First Bahais by country or area
1962 22 May	The first Athabascan Indian north of the Arctic Circle to become a Bahá’í, Charley Roberts, enrolled. [BW15:455]	Canada	First Bahais by country or area; Native Americans
1963 1 Nov	The first person on Saipan to become a Bahá’í, Patience Robinson, enrolled.	Saipan; Northern Mariana Islands	First Bahais by country or area
1964 22 Mar	The Faith was brought to St Vincent for the first time by Shirley Jackson, who returned to the island the day after having become a Bahá’í while on a visit to her native home in Grenada. Later in the year she enrolled the first Bahá’ís on St Vincent.	St Vincent	First Bahais by country or area
1965 (In the year)	Emma Reinert, the first Faroese to become a Bahá’í, enrolled.	Faroe Islands	First Bahais by country or area
1965 Feb	Jean and Ivanie Désert and their three children arrived in Guadeloupe from Haiti, the first Bahá’ís to settle on the island. [Guadeloupe by Daniel Caillaud]	Guadeloupe	First Bahais by country or area
1965 Apr	Franklin Bozor, an agricultural labourer, and Pierre Defoe were the first persons to become Bahá’ís in Guadeloupe. [Guadeloupe by Daniel Caillaud]	Guadeloupe	First Bahais by country or area
1965 15 Jul	Hendrik Olsen, the first indigenous Greenlander to become a Bahá’í, enrolled.	Greenland	Hendrik Olsen; First Bahais by country or area
1965 Aug	Thaddeus Smith, Clara Smith, Nando Valle, Evert Scott, Gloria Scott, Thomas Seymour and Lawrence Jebbers, the first to become Bahá’ís in the Cayman Islands, enrolled in George Town owing to the efforts of Ivan A. Graham, a Jamaican Bahá’í.	George Town; Cayman Islands	First Bahais by country or area; Islands
1965 19 Sep	Walter Garland and Miss Annie Lourie Williams, the first to become Bahá’ís on Grand Turk Island, enrolled.	Grand Turk Island; Central America	First Bahais by country or area
1966 (In the year)	Tommy Kabu, a prominent person from the village of Ara’ava in the Gulf Province and the first in the Territory of Papua to become a Bahá’í, enrolled. [BW15:459–60]	Papua New Guinea	First Bahais by country or area
1966 17 April	Ivor Ellard, a British resident of the United States, arrived Dominica, the first pioneer to the island. Two days later William Nedden settled on the island.	Dominica	First Bahais by country or area
1967 – 1968	Cleophas Koko Vava, a Togolese employed at the American Cultural Centre as a librarian to the United States Information Service and the first person to become a Bahá’í in Chad, enrolled.	Chad	First Bahais by country or area
1967 3 May	Patsy Vincent, a youth from Castries and the first St Lucian to become a Bahá’í, enrolled.	St Lucian	First Bahais by country or area
1968 Jul	Christian and Elanzo Callwood, Norris Duport and Ethien Chinnery, the first people to become Bahá’ís on the island of Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, enrolled.	Jost Van Dyke; British Virgin Islands	First Bahais by country or area; Islands
1968 Jul	Louis Joseph, the first Bahá’í indigenous to Dominica, enrolled in Roseau.	Roseau; Dominica	First Bahais by country or area
1969 Aug	The first 12 new Bahá’ís enrolled on Union Island in the Grenadines during a visit of Patricia Paccassi and her daughter Judith.	Union Island; Grenadines	First Bahais by country or area
1970 25 Jan	Valde Nyman, the first full Gypsy in Finland to become a Bahá’í, enrolled in Helsinki.	Finland	First Bahais by country or area; Gypsies
1971 (In the year)	The first three people to become Bahá’ís in Guinea enrolled. [BINS45]	Guinea	First Bahais by country or area
1975 1 Jan	Shidan and Susan Kouchekzadeh, an Iranian-British couple pioneering in Sierra Leone, arrived in Conakry, the first Bahá’ís to settle in Guinea.	Conakry; Guinea; Sierra Leone	First Bahais by country or area
1978 4 Mar	Christaline Francis, the first woman of the Caribs to become a Bahá’í, enrolled in Dominica.	Dominica	First Bahais by country or area
1980 (In the year)	Yee Wah Sing, the first Fiji-born person to become a Bahá’í in Fiji, enrolled. [BN596:14]	Fiji	First Bahais by country or area
1982 Aug	Shakontala (‘Shaku’) Aswani, the first Gibraltarian to become a Bahá’í, enrolled in Northern Ireland, shortly afterwards returning to Gibraltar.	Northern Ireland; Gibraltar	First Bahais by country or area
1984 28 Feb	The passing of Renée Szanto-Felbermann (b 21 June, 1900, d. 28 February, 1984) in Freiburg, Germany. She is considered the first to declare her faith in Hungary. [BW19p633] She is the author of The Memoirs of Renée Szanto-Felbermann, published in London by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust. It is the autobiography of a woman of Jewish heritage who was the first Hungarian Bahá'í. Particularly interesting is the period as Jewish-Bahá'í in Hungary during the Nazi era. [BEL7.2521]	Freiburg; Germany; Hungary	First Bahais by country or area; In memoriam; Births and deaths
1984 4 Jun	Vladimir Malai, the first Moldovan to become a Bahá’í in Moldova, enrolled. [Candle 9]	Moldova	First Bahais by country or area
1989 Aug	The first Mongolian to become a Bahá’í, Ms Oyundelger, a 22-year-old English-language pupil of Sean Hinton, enrolled in Ulaan Baator. [VV101]	Ulaan Baatar; Mongolia	First Bahais by country or area; Sean Hinton
1989 3 Aug	The first Latvian resident in Latvia to become a Bahá’í, Lilita Postaza, a renowned tapestry artist, enrolled after visiting the Bahá’í temple in India.	Latvia	Lilita Postaza; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Delhi; Lotus temple; First Bahais by country or area
1990. 1 Mar	Fourteen-year-old Olga Anatolevna Kirushkin (Olga Kiryushkina) from Bobruisk became the first known native person to become a Bahá’í in Belarus. [Helmut Winkelbach website]	Minsk; Belarus	First Bahais by country or area; Olga Kiryushkina; Olga Kirushkin
1993 Ridván	The first person resident on Norfolk Island to become a Bahá'í enrolled. [BINS293:8]	Norfolk Island	First Bahais by country or area
1999 21 Jun	The passing of Meherangiz Munsiff in London (b. 23 November, 1923 Bombay, India) Born into a Bahá'í family she travelled in India with Martha Root at the age of 14 years. She was appointed Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the French Cameroons. In addition she visited more than 150 countries to teach and assist in the development of Bahá'í communities and was known as a lecturer and an activist among the international humanitarian community. [BW99-00p308-309] An autobiography Lifeline:A Life of Prayer and Service as Experienced by Meherangiz Munsiff, Knight of Baha’u’llah, was published by George Ronald Publishers in October of 2022. It was written by Meherangiz Munsiff, Jyoti Munsiff (her daughter), and Pixie MacCallum.	London; United Kingdom	Meherangiz Munsiff; First Bahais by country or area
2003 25 Jul	The passing of Elisabeth Charlotte (Lottie) Tobias. She was described by the National Spiritual Assembly as being the "mother" of the Netherlands Bahá'í community. [BW03-04p238]	Netherlands	First Bahais by country or area; Lottie Tobias

from the chronology of Canada

date	event	locations	tags	see also
1940. 1 Mar	May Bolles Maxwell (b. 14 January 1940 in Englewood, NJ) passed away in Buenos Aires. [BBD153; TG49] Shoghi Effendi called her "the spiritual mother of Canada" Montreal "the mother city of Canada. [OBCC35] Shoghi Effendi awarded her the honour of a ‘martyr’s death’ and designated her as a Disciple of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [BW8:631; MA38] She was the first Bahá'í on European soil and the "mother" of both the French and the Canadian Bahá'í communities. [PP149] For her "In Memoriam" and tribute written by Marion Holley see BW8p631-642. Hooper Dunbar quoted Shoghi Effendi in his cable to the friends in Iran announcing her passing: May Maxwell, the severed teacher firebrand of the love of God and spreader of the fragrances of God Mrs Maxwell, forsook her native land and hastened to the most distant countries out of love for her Master and yearning to sound the call to the Cause of her Lord and her inspiration, until she ascended to the highest summit attaining the rank of martyrdom in the capital of the Argentine. The furthermost boundary the countenances of paradise invoke blessings upon her in the glorious apex saying, may she enjoy with healthy relish the cup that is full and brimming over with the wine of the love of God for the like of this should the travaillers travail. Inform all the friends of the announcement of this mighty victory. [A talk] given by Mr Dunbar 28:08] Shoghi Effendi asked her husband, Sutherland Maxwell, to design her tomb, which was to be a ‘historic centre’ for ‘pioneer Bahá’í activity’. [BW8:642] For an account of the erection of the monument to her see PSBW83–6.	Montreal, QC	May Maxwell (Bolles); Sutherland Maxwell; Architecture; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; First Bahais by country or area.

from the main catalogue

Chase, Thornton, by Robert Stockman (1995). [about]
Chase, Thornton, by Robert Stockman, in The Bahá'í Encyclopedia (2009). On the first person in the West to become a steadfast Bahá’í, one of the founders of the Chicago Bahá’í community, included by Shoghi Effendi among a number of prominent early Bahá’ís he designated "Disciples of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá." [about]
Cyprus Exiles, The, by Moojan Momen, in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, 5:3-6:1 (1991). History of Mirza Yahya's family and the four followers of Bahá'u'lláh exiled with them in Cyprus. Includes genealogies. [about]
Religious Chic, by Zuo Xuan, in Global Times (2010). A portrait of the Bahá'ís in contemporary China. [about]
Secret of Divine Civilization Translation, Capital Punishment, and Other Questions, by Universal House of Justice (1991). On the capitalization of pronouns, reference to "we Muslims," works of Abdu'l-Bahá revealed during the time of Bahá'u'lláh, the first person to recognize Bahá'u'lláh, and designer of the temple in Ishqabad. Includes a compilation on capital punishment. [about]

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