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Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum (August 8, 1910 – January 19, 2000), born as Mary Sutherland Maxwell in New York but raised in Montreal, was the wife of Shoghi Effendi, who was the head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921–1957. She was appointed by him as a Hand of the Cause, and served an important role in the transfer of authority from 1957–1963. In 2004, CBC viewers voted her number 44 on the list of "greatest Canadians" on the television show ''The Greatest Canadian''. She was also a noted speaker from her teens and lectured frequently on the impacts of racism and prejudice. A prolific writer since her youth, Rúhíyyih Khánum was the author of several published books such as ''Prescription for Living'' and ''The Priceless Pearl''. After Shoghi Effendi died in 1957, for Bahá'ís she became the last remaining link to the family of `Abdu'l-Bahá, who headed the Faith from 1892 to 1921 and was the eldest son of the Faith's Founder, Bahá'u'lláh. ==Early life== Rúhíyyih Khánum was born in New York City on August 8, 1910 to William Sutherland Maxwell and May Maxwell,〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://www.ca.bahai.org/madame-rabbani )〕 and was raised in Montreal, Québec where her father was a prominent architect. Through her father, Mary was of Scottish ancestry.〔 The family originated from Aberdeen and Jedburgh. Through her mother, she was primarily of English stock. In 1912 `Abdu'l-Bahá visited Canada and stayed in the Maxwell's home. There he met Mary, aged two, and described her as the "essence of sweetness". `Abdu'l-Bahá showed much affection to baby Mary. Her mother wanted to give Mary an education that was free of the rigidity of the traditional educational methods in the country, and established the first Montessori school in Canada at their residence, and Mary attended the school.〔 Maxwell began reading and writing at a young age and her pastimes included writing poetry, novels and plays.〔 She spoke English, French, German and Persian fluently.〔 During her youth she twice traveled to the Bahá'í World Centre in Palestine for pilgrimage – the first with her mother and the second with her mother's friends aged sixteen. It was during these pilgrimages that she first met Shoghi Effendi, then head of the Bahá'í Faith. After her trips she also engaged in many youth activities in the Bahá'í community, and traveled around the world teaching the Bahá'í Faith.〔 In her youth Maxwell was engaged in many Bahá’í youth activities.〔 At the age of 15 she joined the ''Executive Committee of the Fellowship of Canadian Youth for Peace''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://www.onecountry.org/e114/e11401as_Rabbani_passing.htm )〕 She was also involved in local racial equality conventions including dances.〔 A spectator – one of the first African-American Bahá’ís〔 – Sadie Oglesby described her as "sixteen-year-old Mary Maxwell, a beautiful and most refreshing girl to know". By twenty-one she was elected to the local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Montreal, the local Bahá'í governing council there.〔 Rúhíyyih Khánum was heavily involved in ecology and environmental issues, being a co-founder of the organization Alliance of Religions and Conservation which is an interfaith organisation aimed at assisting the major religions of the world to develop environmental programmes based on their own core teachings, beliefs and practices. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rúhíyyih Khanum」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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