Besant, Annie

(1847–1933)

   Educator and Sect Founder.

   Besant was born in London, and was educated at the University of London. Her marriage to a clergyman of the Church of England ended in divorce and she moved from Anglicanism to atheism, through spiritualism to Theosophy. She succeeded Mme blavatsky as president of the Theosophical Society and proclaimed her adopted son, Jidder Krishnamurti, the new Messiah. He was said to be a reincarnation of the Supreme World Teacher. After 1889 she spent most of her life in India where she founded various educational institutions. As a result of her efforts, Theosophy became very fashionable in the West in the early years of the twentieth century, even among professing Christians. However, it received a severe blow when Krishnamurti repudiated the role assigned to him. Besant herself was the author of several works including Esoteric Christianity, The Basis of Morality and India: Bond or Free?

   M. Gomes, The Dawning of the Theosophical Movement (1987);

   A. Taylor, Annie Besant: A Biography (1992).