ANNIE BESANT
Gallery of
Great Theosophists
___________________________
Annie Besant
1847 – 1933
President of the Theosophical Society 1907-1933
Biography
Of
Annie Besant
Annie Besant, the daughter of William Wood and Emily Morris, was
born in 1847. Annie's father, a doctor, died when she was only five years old.
Without any savings, Annie's mother found work looking after boarders at
In 1866 Annie met the Rev. Frank Besant. Although only nineteen,
Annie agreed to marry the young clergyman. By the time she was twenty-three
Annie had two children. However, Annie was deeply unhappy because her independent
sprit clashed with the traditional views of her husband. Annie also began to
question her religious beliefs. When Annie refused to attend communion, Frank
Besant ordered her to leave the family home. A legal separation was arranged
and Digby, the son, stayed with his father, and Mabel
went to live with Annie in London.
After leaving her husband Annie Besant completely rejected
Christianity and in 1874 joined the Secular Society. Annie soon developed a
close relationship with Charles Bradlaugh, editor of
the radical National Reformer and leader of the secular movement in Britain. Bradlaugh gave Annie a job working for the National
Reformer and during the next few years wrote many articles on issues such as
marriage and women's rights. In 1877 Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh decided to publish The Fruits of Philosophy,
Charles Knowlton's book advocating birth control. Besant and Bradlaugh were charged with publishing material that was
"likely to deprave or corrupt those whose minds are open to immoral influences".
In court they argued that "we think it more moral to prevent conception of
children than, after they are born, to murder them by want of food, air and
clothing." Besant and Bradlaugh were both found
guilty of publishing an "obscene libel" and sentenced to six months
in prison. At the Court of Appeal the sentence was quashed.
After the court-case Besant wrote and published her own book
advocating birth control entitled The Laws of Population. The idea of a woman
advocating birth-control received wide-publicity. Newspapers like The Times
accused Besant of writing "an indecent, lewd, filthy, bawdy and obscene
book". Rev. Besant used the publicity of the case to persuade the courts
that he, rather than Annie Besant, should have custody of their daughter Mabel.
In 1880 Charles Bradlaugh was elected
MP for Northampton, but as he was not a Christian he refused to take the oath,
and was expelled from the House of Commons. As well as working with Bradlaugh, Besant also became friends with socialists such
as Walter Crane, Edward Aveling and George Bernard
Shaw.
After joining the Social Democratic Federation, Annie started
her own campaigning newspaper called The Link. Like Catherine Booth of the
Salvation Army, Annie was concerned about the health of young women workers at
the Bryant & May match factory. On 23rd June, 1888, Annie published an
article White Slavery in London where she drew attention to the dangers of
phosphorus fumes and complained about the low wages paid to the women who
worked at Bryant & May.
Three women who provided information for
Annie's article were sacked. Annie responded by helping the women at Bryant
& May to form a Matchgirls Union. After a three
week strike, the company was forced to make significant concessions including
the re-employment the three victimized women.
Besant also join the socialist group, the Fabian Society, and in
1889 contributed to the influencial book, Fabian
Essays. As well as Besant, the book included articles by George Bernard Shaw,
Sydney Webb, Sydney Olivier, Graham Wallas, William
Clarke and Hubert Bland. Edited by Shaw, the book sold 27,000 copies in two
years.
In 1889 Annie Besant was elected to the
London School Board. After heading the poll with a fifteen thousand majority
over the next candidate, Besant argued that she had been given a mandate for
large-scale reform of local schools. Some of her many achievements included a
programme of free meals for undernourished children and free medical
examinations for all those in elementary schools.
In the 1890s Annie Besant became a supporter of Theosophy, a
religious movement founded by Madame Blavatsky in 1875. Theosophy was based on
Hindu ideas of karma and reincarnation with nirvana as the eventual aim. Annie
Besant went to live in India but she remained interested in the subject of
women's rights.
She founded the Central Hindu College at Benares
(Varanasi) in 1898. And herself received a degree in
Sanskrit literature, English literature and Indian history from this
institution.
She continued to write letters to British newspapers arguing the
case for women's suffrage (i.e. voting rights) and in 1911 was one of the main
speakers at an important Suffrage rally in London.
While in India, Annie joined the struggle for Indian Home Rule,
and in 1916 established the Indian Home Rule League and became its president.
She was president of the Indian National Congress in 1917, but later split with
Gandhi. At times during the First World War was interned by the British
authorities.
President of the Theosophical Society from 1907, she wrote an
enormous number of books and pamphlets on theosophy. She traveled (1926-27) in
England and the United States with her protégé Jiddu
Krishnamurti, whom she announced as the new Messiah. However, by 1929 the young
man himself denounced all claims about himself as the World Teacher. Annie
Besant died in India in 1933 at the age of 86.
More on the Life of Annie Besant
1875 – 1891
A fragment of Autobiography
History of the Theosophical Society
Welsh Theosophists protest against the Internment of Annie
Besant 1917
Annie Besant visits Cardiff 1924
The Theosophical Order of Service
Writings of Annie Besant
Series of
Articles Published 1898 -1913
Writings by Annie Besant on the Great War
The Theosophical Society and the War
St George for England – and Why
East and West-The destinies of Nations
Britain's Place in the Great Plan
Lectures delivered in 1921 with a positive message for the future in the aftermath of the Great War
Annie
Besant and Indian Home Rule
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