`Alí-Akbar Furútan
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`Alí-Akbar Furútan (29 April 1905—26 November 2003) was a prominent Iranian Bahá'í activist, author and elder statesman who served in a number of important leadership positions between 1934 and 1963.
A native of Sabzivár in what was, at the time, Iran's province of Khurásán, `Alí-Akbar Furútan was stiil a child when he witnessed the persecution of his family and others for their beliefs. Seeking safety, the family moved in 1914 from Sabzivár to Ashkhabad in Turkestan, which was then a part of Tsarist Russia. In 1926, nine years after the Russian Revolution, 21-year-old Furútan won a scholarship to the University of Moscow, where he studied education and child psychology. Within four years, as a result of his Bahá'í activities, he was expelled from the Soviet Union and, in 1930, returned to Iran.
Shortly after his return, `Alí-Akbar Furútan began his lengthy leadership role and, by 1934, was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, serving as its secretary until 1957. In December 1951 he was appointed a Hand of the Cause of God by Shoghi Effendi. From 1959 to 1963 he served as one of the nine Custodians at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel.
`Ali-Akbar Furútan died in Haifa five months before his 99th birthday.
[edit] Works
- Bahá'í Education for Children (6 volumes; originally Kitab-i-Dars-i-Akhlagh [Books for Moral Education])
- Furútan, `Alí-Akbar (1980). Mothers, Fathers and Children: Practical Advice to Parents. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 978-0-85398-095-0.
- Furútan, `Alí-Akbar (editor) (1986). Stories of Bahá'u'lláh. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0853982430.
- Furútan, `Alí-Akbar (1977, 1984). The Story of My Heart. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 978-0-85398-115-9.
- Several books in Persian
[edit] References
- "Hand of the Cause Mr. `Alí-Akbar Furútan, 1905-2003" (bio on the site of the Furútan Academy)
- High-ranking member of the Baha'i Faith passes away
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