Annie Besant

British-Indian social reformer and feminist at the forefront of liberal movements for 60 years. Her family background was genteel, though her father was from an impoverished branch and died when Annie was only five. Deeply religious as a child, she longed to serve humanity with some sort of glorious martyrdom. She was married to a dour Anglican clergyman, Frank Besant, in 1867 which was apparently a type of martyrdom in itself; the marriage lasted for six years. Leaving him at age 27, she had an alimony income of 110 pounds per annum, a comfortable if not extreme fortune. Taking up the worthy cause of birth control, Annie was arrested and tried in 1877 on a morals charge for her publication written with Charles Bradlaugh, "The Fruits of Philosophy." The litigation cost her the custody of her two children and her alimony. An attractive, feminine woman, she held a fiery sword in her public demonstrations. Annie met Mme Blavatsky in the spring of 1889 and was greatly taken with her and with the doctrine of Theosophy. From 1907 until her death, Annie served as the President of the Theosophical Society in India. She took the young Krishnamurti under her wing in 1909 and nurtured him as the New Avatar, the Messiah, until he broke with the society in August 1929. Annie loved pomp and ritual and occult ceremonies, and kept opening new chapters and new societies within Theosophy. On 1/11/1911, she founded the Order of the Star in the East with the 16-year-old Krishnamurti as the official head. In spite of her living link with the Mahatmas, the society was fraught with intrigue, spiritual competition, power-struggles and scandals. In 1922, Besant arrived in Ojai, CA with Krishna and his brother Nitya, who had TB, believing the warm dry air would help the youth. It is written that Krishnamurti experienced a kundalini awakening in August 1922. He remained in Ojai when Annie went back to India but they retained a deep affection. When Krishna finally broke with the Theosophical society in 1929, Anne was nearly completely senile and never realized that her cultivation of the Matreya had been denied by the embodiment himself. When Krishna visited her for the last time, early in 1933, she hardly knew who he was, and she died on 9/20/1933, Adyar, India. After 27 years as president of the Society, she was succeeded by George Arundale. Link to Wikipedia biography