David Hofman

David George Ronald Hofman (23 September 1908 – 9 May 2003) served as a member of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Bahá'í Faith, between 1963 and 1988. He worked as the world's first television presenter for the British Broadcasting Corporation and later founded the publishing company George Ronald.

Early life and career

Mr. Hofman was born in 1908 in Poona, India where his father served in the British Army. Educated in England, as a young man he set out to see the world. While in Canada during the 1930s, he encountered the Bahá'í Faith at the home of May and William Sutherland Maxwell in Montreal. He embraced the religion and continued his travels, living for a time in Hollywood, United States, and appearing in a number of silent movies. Back in England he earned several acting roles in the West End of London and in 1937 became the world's only television announcer on the BBC's first television transmissions. His voice was also heard on the radio, on the BBC Empire Service.

In 1943 Hofman founded the Bahá'í publishing company George Ronald. Its first title was The Renewal of Civilization, a book he wrote as an introduction to the Bahá'í Faith. Years later he authored a biography of Hand of the Cause George Townshend.

Following World War II he married former US Olympic athlete Marion Holley, who predeceased him. They had two children. The Hofmans were active members of the Bahá'í community, establishing Bahá'í communities in Northampton, Birmingham, Oxford, Cardiff and Watford. Mr. Hofman served for 27 years as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom.