HAIFA, Israel - Mr. Adib Taherzadeh, member of the Universal House of Justice, passed away on 26 January 2000 after some months of illness. He was 78.
Born in Yazd, Iran, Mr. Taherzadeh studied electrical engineering at Teheran University and then pursued advanced studies in the United Kingdom. During the 1960s and 1970s, he served on various national governing councils for the Bahá'í communities of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1976, he was appointed to the Continental Board of Counsellors for Europe, a high level Bahá'í advisory body.
An accomplished author, Mr. Taherzadeh published a number of books on Bahá'í history, including a four-volume series on the life and writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, entitled The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh.
In 1988, he was elected to the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Bahá'í Faith, which is headquartered in Haifa, Israel.
"We recall with admiration his devoted and unremitting services to the Cause of God for over half a century," wrote the Universal House of Justice in a message about his passing. "[A]s a member of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the British Isles and of the Republic of Ireland, as a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors in Europe, and as a member of the Universal House of Justice, he evinced complete consecration, unshakeable faith, and unyielding resolve."
Members of Mr. Taherzadeh's immediate family, who had been able to spend time with him in the days prior to his passing, attended the funeral, which was held in the central hall of the International Teaching Centre on the morning of Sunday, 30 January.
Some 700 people, including the staff at the Bahá'í World Centre, were present at his funeral. He is survived by his wife, four children and six grandchildren. Memorial services have been held in Bahá'í Houses of Worship and communities throughout the world.