Annie Besant
Annie Besant, 1847-1933, theosophist, educationist, and political worker. Born in London on 1 October 1847, she was the daughter of William Page Wood, a prosperous doctor, and his Irish wife, Emily Morris. Her father died when she was only five, and her mother, despite her reduced circumstances, arranged for her education at Harrow Public School. She also learnt to speak fluent German and French. In 1867 she married Rev. Frank Besant, but though there were two children, the marriage proved a failure, and they separated in 1873. ‘Reduced to dire straits, she took up a job as a governess and nurse in Folkstone. In 1874, she came in contact with the freethinker, Charles Bardlaugh, and later became the co-editor of his weekly National Reformer. She also became an active social worker and helped to start the first trade union in London. She was also a member of the Fabian Society which brought her in contact with people like Shaw, Lansbury, the Weobs, and Ramsay Macdonald. She became interested in theosophy in 1866, and joined the Theosophical Society in May 1889. After the death of Colonel Olcott in 1907, she was elected as the president of the Theosophical Society, which office she held till her death.
Annie Besant first came to India on 16 November 1893, and lectured extensively all over the country on theosophy, Indian religion and culture. In 1895 she made Varanasi her home and established the Central Hindu College there in 1898, which formed the nucleus of the great Banaras Hindu University.
After her election to the presidentship of the Theosophical Society, she made Adyar, near Madras, her home and the centre of her activities. She became interested in Indian independence in October 1913 and started a political weekly Commonweal to press her views. She also started a newspaper, New India, to propagate home rule for India, for which she gained enthusiastic supporters. A Home Rule League was started on 1 September 1916, and she became its first president. The same year, she was asked to leave India for her political activities, and on her refusal, she was briefly interned. On her release, she was elected the president of the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress, in August 1917. Though a bitter critic of the Montague-Chelmsford reforms, she still believed that they should be given a fair chance. She became a ‘moderate’ in her political views, later. At the Congress session in 1920, she opposed the non-cooperation movement of Mahatma Gandhi and the breaking of the laws, which led to much decline in her popularity. However, she still continued to be politically active, and in 1922-24 she drafted a Constitution for the Commonwealth of India to be presented to the British parliament, which fell through. She is the author of numerous pamphlets and books on theosophy and Indian political conditions, including How India Wrought for Freedom. Her claims on behalf of J. Krishnamurti as the new Messiah, involved her in a law suit with his father.
