Leonora Armstrong

Leonora Stirling Holsapple Armstrong (June 23, 1895 – October 17, 1980) was the first person of the Baháʼí faith to live in Brazil. She went as a Baháʼí pioneer to Brazil in 1921 when she was 25 years old. Later, in recognition of her efforts and services for the Baháʼí Faith in Brazil and across Latin America she was named the 'Spiritual Mother of the Baháʼís of South America'.

Early life Leonora Stirling Holsapple was born on June 23, 1895, in the City of Hudson, New York. Her father was businessman Samuel Norris Holsapple and her mother was Grace Heathcote Stirling, who served actively in civic work and had taught school. However, Grace had serious health problems [what would later be known as diabetes], and died soon after Leonora turned five years old. This created a profound effect upon Leonora and her younger sister Alethe during their childhood and adolescence. Their father was devastated at the loss and often left the two little girls in the care of their grandmothers and a housekeeper.

Leonora was a very talented child. She read the entire Bible as a child, a secret she only disclosed later in life, and was high school valedictorian. She entered Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on a full four-year scholarship and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year. Leonora graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell, where she had studied Latin, Greek, Physics, Botany, Astronomy and Chemistry. After that, she taught Latin in high schools for two years in Boston and was active in social work, just as her mother and grandmother had been before her.

Introduction to the Baháʼí Faith

When Leonora was about eleven years old, her maternal grandmother found the Baháʼí Faith after years of searching and declared herself a Baháʼí [circa 1906]. She began to instruct her granddaughters in the Baháʼí Faith, teaching them to sing Baháʼí "hymns" and read and memorize passages and prayers from Hidden Words and the Baháʼí Writings. Later, Leonora would share the Baháʼí teachings with her classmates and friends.

Interest in Pioneering The desire to pioneer first came in Leonora's mind when ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan were unveiled at the Baháʼí Convention held in New York City in April 1919. She immediately wrote to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, offering herself in service and His reply to her was:Thou hadst expressed thy great wish to be of service to the Divine Threshold and to heal the infirm with the Divine Panacea--the infirm who is afflicted with passion and self. Spiritual malady is more severe than physical illness for it may be that the latter may be converted by the least remedy into health and vigor, while the former will not be cured by a thousand well-known remedies ... My hope is that thou mayest become a spiritual physician. In July 1930 she traveled to Madrid to take university courses. However, she soon fell seriously ill for a time and was unable to begin her studies. Shortly thereafter, she went on Baháʼí pilgrimage and then returned to South America.

Formation of the Baháʼí Institution in Brazil In 1940 at Salvador — after 19 years of her dedicated work of education, translations and social services — Leonora was thrilled to witness the formation of the first official Baháʼí Institution in Brazil: the Local Spiritual Assembly (LSA) of the Baháʼís of Salvador. The Assembly has nine members that are elected each April for an annual term by the Baháʼí community in Ridván. She was one of the first members, together with some Brazilians who had converted to the Bahá'í faith. Later, a second LSA was formed in Rio de Janeiro and in 1946, a third one in the city of São Paulo. In 1961, the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Brazil was founded. In 1973 Leonora was appointed a Continental Counsellor, the highest appointed position of service in the religion, by the Universal House of Justice, now the head of the Baháʼí Faith. The Counsellors dedicate their time fully to the Baháʼí Cause. They are an extension of the Hands of the Cause of God, appointments to service made by Baháʼuʼlláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi during their lifetimes.

Marriage In August 1941, at age 46, Leonora married an Englishman, Harold V. Armstrong, a widower whom she had known for several years. Leonora and her husband lived in many places in Brazil. Though they never had children of their own they adopted and raised about twenty over the course of the years, or provided others with financial assistance.

Defender of Women's Rights Leonora was a notable defender of women's rights, emphasizing their role as educators and servants for the cause of world peace. Her message, recorded on a tape in Salvador, Bahia days before her death in October 1980, was addressed to hundreds of women gathered in the Centre of Conventions of Brasília, participants of the first Women's Latin-American Baháʼí Conference. Here are some excerpts from her message:

Last Years Leonora spent her last years in Minas Gerais, in the city of Juiz de Fora, and died on October 17, 1980, at the age of 85 in the city of Salvador. That same day, hundreds of Baháʼís from several communities of Latin America were gathered in Brasília, participating in the first Women's Latin-American Baháʼí Conference. The climax of this meeting for promotion of the condition of women was the moment her words of greeting to the participants of the event were played for the assembly.