Mrs. Victoria Bedikian was one of seven sisters of the SchnabeI family and was born in Boise, Idaho, February 9, 1879. All seven sisters were educated in art and music, both in the United States and in Germany. While still young, she became deaf. This affliction caused her to abandon her musical career and to devote herself entirely to art. Her husband, Madris Bedikian, a native of Armenia, was an ardent admirer of Abraham Lincoln and, in accordance with her husband's wishes, Mrs. Bedikian painted many portraits of Lincoln which were given as gifts to the mayors of various cities in New Jersey for the city halls.
In 1912 when 'Abdu'l-Bahii was in the United States He sometimes visited the oriental art shop of Mr. Bedikian in Montciair, New Jersey. There Mrs. Bedikian had a memorable meeting with Him. 'Abdu'l-Baha with Whom she later corresponded, asked her to devote her art to the Faith, and this service was rendered gloriously and uninterruptedly to the very last day of her life.
At one time Mrs. Bedikian cared for as many as forty orphans in her own home. ' Abdu'l-Baha at that time wrote to her : "None is more in the Abha Kingdom than thee far the work thou hast done for the children. . ." It was this group of children who first called Mrs. Bedikian "Auntie Victoria" the name which she cherished and was lovingly known by for the rest of her life. Having had no children of her own, she adopted one son. Auntie Victoria never missed an opportunity to give the Message. She had a very keen sense of humor. She detached herself from everything save God. Her only material possessions were a tiny typewriter and her art materials and the little black books containing names and addresses of Baha’is all over the world which she guarded with her life.
In 1927 Auntec Victoria spent three months in Haifa with the family of 'Abdu'l-Baha as a guest of the Guardian, having traveled there with Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler, Her meeting with 'Abdu'l-Baha in the United States, and the Guardian and tee Greatest Holy Leaf (sister of 'Abdu'l-Baha) in Haifa, were the highlights of her life. Many were the times that these experiences were told with great fervor to the friends wherever she traveled.
After Mr. Bedikian's passing, Auntie Victoria made an extended trip, in 1945, from the east coast to the west coast and the south to the north of the United States, by Greyhound bus. She traveled four times around the entire country after she had reached the age of seventy years, visiting various groups and communities and encouraging them in their Baha'i activities. ln August 1952, she suffered a severe heart attack. She was obliged to settle down and spent the last three years of her life in Atlanta, Georgia. She lived with Doris Ebbert and Olga Finke when she got sick. They took care of her and she is buried in the next plot (three graves away) from Olga.
Auntie Victoria's inspirational letters with Baha’i quotations and her own artistically spiritual drawings continued to go out to all parts of the world, to the very end of her earthly life which came on the evening of July 3, 1955.
~Baha'i World, Vol. 13 (1954-1963)
In 1912 when 'Abdu'l-Bahii was in the United States He sometimes visited the oriental art shop of Mr. Bedikian in Montciair, New Jersey. There Mrs. Bedikian had a memorable meeting with Him. 'Abdu'l-Baha with Whom she later corresponded, asked her to devote her art to the Faith, and this service was rendered gloriously and uninterruptedly to the very last day of her life.
At one time Mrs. Bedikian cared for as many as forty orphans in her own home. ' Abdu'l-Baha at that time wrote to her : "None is more in the Abha Kingdom than thee far the work thou hast done for the children. . ." It was this group of children who first called Mrs. Bedikian "Auntie Victoria" the name which she cherished and was lovingly known by for the rest of her life. Having had no children of her own, she adopted one son. Auntie Victoria never missed an opportunity to give the Message. She had a very keen sense of humor. She detached herself from everything save God. Her only material possessions were a tiny typewriter and her art materials and the little black books containing names and addresses of Baha’is all over the world which she guarded with her life.
In 1927 Auntec Victoria spent three months in Haifa with the family of 'Abdu'l-Baha as a guest of the Guardian, having traveled there with Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler, Her meeting with 'Abdu'l-Baha in the United States, and the Guardian and tee Greatest Holy Leaf (sister of 'Abdu'l-Baha) in Haifa, were the highlights of her life. Many were the times that these experiences were told with great fervor to the friends wherever she traveled.
After Mr. Bedikian's passing, Auntie Victoria made an extended trip, in 1945, from the east coast to the west coast and the south to the north of the United States, by Greyhound bus. She traveled four times around the entire country after she had reached the age of seventy years, visiting various groups and communities and encouraging them in their Baha'i activities. ln August 1952, she suffered a severe heart attack. She was obliged to settle down and spent the last three years of her life in Atlanta, Georgia. She lived with Doris Ebbert and Olga Finke when she got sick. They took care of her and she is buried in the next plot (three graves away) from Olga.
Auntie Victoria's inspirational letters with Baha’i quotations and her own artistically spiritual drawings continued to go out to all parts of the world, to the very end of her earthly life which came on the evening of July 3, 1955.
~Baha'i World, Vol. 13 (1954-1963)
Mrs. Victoria Bedikian was one of seven sisters of the SchnabeI family and was born in Boise, Idaho, February 9, 1879. All seven sisters were educated in art and music, both in the United States and in Germany. While still young, she became deaf. This affliction caused her to abandon her musical career and to devote herself entirely to art. Her husband, Madris Bedikian, a native of Armenia, was an ardent admirer of Abraham Lincoln and, in accordance with her husband's wishes, Mrs. Bedikian painted many portraits of Lincoln which were given as gifts to the mayors of various cities in New Jersey for the city halls.
In 1912 when 'Abdu'l-Bahii was in the United States He sometimes visited the oriental art shop of Mr. Bedikian in Montciair, New Jersey. There Mrs. Bedikian had a memorable meeting with Him. 'Abdu'l-Baha with Whom she later corresponded, asked her to devote her art to the Faith, and this service was rendered gloriously and uninterruptedly to the very last day of her life.
At one time Mrs. Bedikian cared for as many as forty orphans in her own home. ' Abdu'l-Baha at that time wrote to her : "None is more in the Abha Kingdom than thee far the work thou hast done for the children. . ." It was this group of children who first called Mrs. Bedikian "Auntie Victoria" the name which she cherished and was lovingly known by for the rest of her life. Having had no children of her own, she adopted one son. Auntie Victoria never missed an opportunity to give the Message. She had a very keen sense of humor. She detached herself from everything save God. Her only material possessions were a tiny typewriter and her art materials and the little black books containing names and addresses of Baha’is all over the world which she guarded with her life.
In 1927 Auntec Victoria spent three months in Haifa with the family of 'Abdu'l-Baha as a guest of the Guardian, having traveled there with Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler, Her meeting with 'Abdu'l-Baha in the United States, and the Guardian and tee Greatest Holy Leaf (sister of 'Abdu'l-Baha) in Haifa, were the highlights of her life. Many were the times that these experiences were told with great fervor to the friends wherever she traveled.
After Mr. Bedikian's passing, Auntie Victoria made an extended trip, in 1945, from the east coast to the west coast and the south to the north of the United States, by Greyhound bus. She traveled four times around the entire country after she had reached the age of seventy years, visiting various groups and communities and encouraging them in their Baha'i activities. ln August 1952, she suffered a severe heart attack. She was obliged to settle down and spent the last three years of her life in Atlanta, Georgia. She lived with Doris Ebbert and Olga Finke when she got sick. They took care of her and she is buried in the next plot (three graves away) from Olga.
Auntie Victoria's inspirational letters with Baha’i quotations and her own artistically spiritual drawings continued to go out to all parts of the world, to the very end of her earthly life which came on the evening of July 3, 1955.
~Baha'i World, Vol. 13 (1954-1963)
In 1912 when 'Abdu'l-Bahii was in the United States He sometimes visited the oriental art shop of Mr. Bedikian in Montciair, New Jersey. There Mrs. Bedikian had a memorable meeting with Him. 'Abdu'l-Baha with Whom she later corresponded, asked her to devote her art to the Faith, and this service was rendered gloriously and uninterruptedly to the very last day of her life.
At one time Mrs. Bedikian cared for as many as forty orphans in her own home. ' Abdu'l-Baha at that time wrote to her : "None is more in the Abha Kingdom than thee far the work thou hast done for the children. . ." It was this group of children who first called Mrs. Bedikian "Auntie Victoria" the name which she cherished and was lovingly known by for the rest of her life. Having had no children of her own, she adopted one son. Auntie Victoria never missed an opportunity to give the Message. She had a very keen sense of humor. She detached herself from everything save God. Her only material possessions were a tiny typewriter and her art materials and the little black books containing names and addresses of Baha’is all over the world which she guarded with her life.
In 1927 Auntec Victoria spent three months in Haifa with the family of 'Abdu'l-Baha as a guest of the Guardian, having traveled there with Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler, Her meeting with 'Abdu'l-Baha in the United States, and the Guardian and tee Greatest Holy Leaf (sister of 'Abdu'l-Baha) in Haifa, were the highlights of her life. Many were the times that these experiences were told with great fervor to the friends wherever she traveled.
After Mr. Bedikian's passing, Auntie Victoria made an extended trip, in 1945, from the east coast to the west coast and the south to the north of the United States, by Greyhound bus. She traveled four times around the entire country after she had reached the age of seventy years, visiting various groups and communities and encouraging them in their Baha'i activities. ln August 1952, she suffered a severe heart attack. She was obliged to settle down and spent the last three years of her life in Atlanta, Georgia. She lived with Doris Ebbert and Olga Finke when she got sick. They took care of her and she is buried in the next plot (three graves away) from Olga.
Auntie Victoria's inspirational letters with Baha’i quotations and her own artistically spiritual drawings continued to go out to all parts of the world, to the very end of her earthly life which came on the evening of July 3, 1955.
~Baha'i World, Vol. 13 (1954-1963)
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