Laura Clifford Barney
Encyclopedia
Laura Clifford Barney married name Laura Dreyfus-Barney (b. Cincinnati, O., 30 November 1879, d. Paris, 18 August 1974) became a leading American Bahá'í teacher and philanthropist. The daughter of Albert and Alice Pike Barney. Albert Clifford Barney was the son of a manufacturer of railway cars and was of English descent. Alice, of French Dutch and German ancestry and was a socially prominent artist from Washington, D.C., she and her elder sister Natalie Clifford Barney
were educated by private tutors. Laura became a leading American Bahá'í teacher and philanthropist. She is best known for having compiled the Bahá'í
text Some Answered Questions
from her interviews with `Abdu'l-Bahá
during her visit to Acca between 1904 and 1906.
. While continuing her studies in Paris Laura met May Bolles
(later Maxwell), a Canadian Bahá'í, and was converted to the faith in about 1900. Her mother converted soon afterward. In 1911 she married Hippolyte Dreyfus (married name Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney).
Laura Barney financed the visit of the Persian Bahai scholar Mīrzā Abu’l-Fażl Golpāyagānī (q.v.) to the United States in 1901-04, in order to propagate the faith there, and helped to publish the translation of his Ḥojaj al-bahīya (Cairo, 1342/1925; tr. Ali-Kuli Khan as The Bahá’í Proofs, New York, 1902; 2nd ed., ed. J. R. I. Cole, Wilmette, Ill., 1983). In 1904 she visited `Abdu'l-Bahá
in ʿAkkāʾ, Palestine, where she remained about two years, acquiring a working knowledge of Persian and becoming an intimate of his household. During that time she arranged to have `Abdu'l-Bahá
’s answers to her questions, mainly on philosophy and Christian theology, recorded by his secretaries. She collaborated with her future husband, Hippolyte Dreyfus, on the editing and translation of this work (al-Nūr al-abhā fīmofāważāt `Abdu'l-Bahá
, Leiden, 1908; tr. L. C. Barney and H. Dreyfus as Some Answered Questions, London, 1908; tr. H. Dreyfus as Les leçons de Saint Jean d’Acre, Paris, 1909). In 1905-06 she visited Persia, the Caucasus, and Russia with Dreyfus. After their marriage in April 1911, when they both adopted the surname Dreyfus-Barney, she traveled extensively with him.
Both Laura and Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney played a vital role in `Abdu'l-Bahá
’s successful visits to the West. Their intimate and personal relationship with him is unquestioned. Even thought Hippolyte accompanied `Abdu'l-Bahá
more so than Laura and translated many of his speeches to French. Nonetheless, Laura’s role is unique in her special bond she developed through her travels to Akka during her youth and later as his host in Paris. Her proficiency in Persian language is another aspect that was unique at the time for a woman. `Abdu'l-Bahá
’s first visit to Paris in September 1911 was hosted by Laura and her husband. They also traveled to London and acted as his interpreters. They were his “confidantes.” `Abdu'l-Bahá
’s next visit to the west and the US took place in 1912. Laura was in present again in New York. New Jersey and Washington, DC. Upon his return to London, both Laura and Hippolyte were present. Their last visit to Akka to visit `Abdu'l-Bahá
was in 1921, the same year that he passed away.
Laura was active in social causes including world peace, women’s rights, education. She was a member of different committees with the League of Nations and latter UNESCO.
During World War I Laura Dreyfus-Barney served in the American Ambulance Corps (1914-15) and the American Red Cross (1916-18) in France and helped to establish the first children’s hospital in Avignon (1918). The remainder of her life was devoted to international humanitarian and philanthropic activities, most connected with the League of Nations and the United Nations. For her services she was named chevalier (1925) and officer (1937) of the French Légion d’Honneur. There is a copy of her unpublished memoirs in the Bahai national archives in France.
Bibliography: Bahá’í International Community, United Nations Office, Report to the United Nations and Public Information Policy Committee, New York, 21 July 1988 (on celebration of the centennial of the International Council of Women in honor of the memory of Laura Dreyfus-Barney). A. Fāżel Māzandarānī, Ẓohūr al-ḥaqq VIII/2, Tehran, 132 B.E./1975. U. R. Giachery, “Laura Clifford Dreyfus-Barney, 1879-1974” in The Bahá’í World 16, 1978, pp. 535-38. R. Meḥrāb-Ḵānī, Zendagī-e Mīrzā Abu’l-Fażl Golpāyagānī, Langenhain, Germany, 1988, p. 277. Who Was Who in America, 1897-1942 I, Chicago, 1968, p. 59.
Natalie Clifford Barney
Natalie Clifford Barney was an American playwright, poet and novelist who lived as an expatriate in Paris....
were educated by private tutors. Laura became a leading American Bahá'í teacher and philanthropist. She is best known for having compiled the Bahá'í
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
text Some Answered Questions
Some Answered Questions
Some Answered Questions was first published in 1908. It contains questions asked to `Abdu'l-Bahá, son of the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, by Laura Clifford Barney, during several of her visits to Haifa between 1904 and 1906, and `Abdu'l-Bahá's answers to these questions.Prominent among the topics...
from her interviews with `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
during her visit to Acca between 1904 and 1906.
Schooling
She attended Les Ruches, a French boarding school founded by feminist Marie SouvestreMarie Souvestre
Marie Souvestre was a feminist educator who sought to develop independent minds in young women.-Biography:Souvestre was born on April 28, 1830, in Brest, France, the daughter of French novelist Émile Souvestre....
. While continuing her studies in Paris Laura met May Bolles
May Maxwell
Mary "May" Maxwell , an early American member of the Bahá'í Faith.-Early life:...
(later Maxwell), a Canadian Bahá'í, and was converted to the faith in about 1900. Her mother converted soon afterward. In 1911 she married Hippolyte Dreyfus (married name Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney).
Laura Barney financed the visit of the Persian Bahai scholar Mīrzā Abu’l-Fażl Golpāyagānī (q.v.) to the United States in 1901-04, in order to propagate the faith there, and helped to publish the translation of his Ḥojaj al-bahīya (Cairo, 1342/1925; tr. Ali-Kuli Khan as The Bahá’í Proofs, New York, 1902; 2nd ed., ed. J. R. I. Cole, Wilmette, Ill., 1983). In 1904 she visited `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
in ʿAkkāʾ, Palestine, where she remained about two years, acquiring a working knowledge of Persian and becoming an intimate of his household. During that time she arranged to have `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
’s answers to her questions, mainly on philosophy and Christian theology, recorded by his secretaries. She collaborated with her future husband, Hippolyte Dreyfus, on the editing and translation of this work (al-Nūr al-abhā fīmofāważāt `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
, Leiden, 1908; tr. L. C. Barney and H. Dreyfus as Some Answered Questions, London, 1908; tr. H. Dreyfus as Les leçons de Saint Jean d’Acre, Paris, 1909). In 1905-06 she visited Persia, the Caucasus, and Russia with Dreyfus. After their marriage in April 1911, when they both adopted the surname Dreyfus-Barney, she traveled extensively with him.
Both Laura and Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney played a vital role in `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
’s successful visits to the West. Their intimate and personal relationship with him is unquestioned. Even thought Hippolyte accompanied `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
more so than Laura and translated many of his speeches to French. Nonetheless, Laura’s role is unique in her special bond she developed through her travels to Akka during her youth and later as his host in Paris. Her proficiency in Persian language is another aspect that was unique at the time for a woman. `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
’s first visit to Paris in September 1911 was hosted by Laura and her husband. They also traveled to London and acted as his interpreters. They were his “confidantes.” `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
’s next visit to the west and the US took place in 1912. Laura was in present again in New York. New Jersey and Washington, DC. Upon his return to London, both Laura and Hippolyte were present. Their last visit to Akka to visit `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
was in 1921, the same year that he passed away.
Laura was active in social causes including world peace, women’s rights, education. She was a member of different committees with the League of Nations and latter UNESCO.
During World War I Laura Dreyfus-Barney served in the American Ambulance Corps (1914-15) and the American Red Cross (1916-18) in France and helped to establish the first children’s hospital in Avignon (1918). The remainder of her life was devoted to international humanitarian and philanthropic activities, most connected with the League of Nations and the United Nations. For her services she was named chevalier (1925) and officer (1937) of the French Légion d’Honneur. There is a copy of her unpublished memoirs in the Bahai national archives in France.
Bibliography: Bahá’í International Community, United Nations Office, Report to the United Nations and Public Information Policy Committee, New York, 21 July 1988 (on celebration of the centennial of the International Council of Women in honor of the memory of Laura Dreyfus-Barney). A. Fāżel Māzandarānī, Ẓohūr al-ḥaqq VIII/2, Tehran, 132 B.E./1975. U. R. Giachery, “Laura Clifford Dreyfus-Barney, 1879-1974” in The Bahá’í World 16, 1978, pp. 535-38. R. Meḥrāb-Ḵānī, Zendagī-e Mīrzā Abu’l-Fażl Golpāyagānī, Langenhain, Germany, 1988, p. 277. Who Was Who in America, 1897-1942 I, Chicago, 1968, p. 59.