Madame Blavatsky

She was born at Ekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk), Ukraine, the daughter of Col. Peter Alexeivich von Hahn and Elena Fadeev. Her mother, also known as Helena Andreyvna Fadeyev, was a novelist.

She married, in 1849, Nikifor Vassilievitch Blavatsky. Her second husband was Michael C. Betanelly. She maintained that neither marriage was consummated.

Madame Blavatsky traveled throughout the world, and resided in New York City from 1873 to 1878.

She then founded, with Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge and others, the Theosophical Society, a new religious movement of the late nineteenth century that took its inspiration from Hinduism and Buddhism. Blavatsky claimed to have been given access to what she called a 'secret doctrine' that had been passed down the ages from ancient sages. In this respect Blavatsky's ideas followed in the tradition of Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism. The difference was that Blavatsky's esoteric wisdom was supposed to be derived from Eastern sages, rather than from Egyptian or Judaic traditions. Furthermore, Blavatsy claimed that the ancient wisdom to which she had access was consistent with modern science, in particular with physics and evolutionary biology. This claim that esoteric spiritual knowledge is consistent with new science may be considered to be the first instance of what is now called New Age thinking. In fact, many researchers feel that much of New Age-thought started with Blavatsky.

She died at London, England.

Her books included:

• Isis Unveiled - 1877
• The Secret Doctrine - 1888
• The Voice of the Silence -1889
• The Key to Theosophy - 1889

Books about her include:

• Madame Blavatsky's Baboon, by Peter Washington
• The Esoteric World of Madame Blavatsky by Daniel Caldwell