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Definition: Besant from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

Annie Besant 1847–1933 née Wood Eng. theosophist


Besant, Annie

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
English socialist and feminist activist, born in India. She was associated with the radical atheist Charles Bradlaugh (1833–1891) and the socialist Fabian Society . In 1888 she highlighted the terrible conditions of the London match girls in an article entitled ‘White Slavery in London’, and led them in their subsequent successful strike. In 1889 she became a disciple of the Russian spiritualist and mystic Madame Blavatsky . Thereafter she went to India where she founded the Central Hindu College in 1898 and became president of the Theosophical Society in 1907, a post she held until her death. She also became involved in the Indian independence movement, established the Indian Home Rule League in 1916, and became the only British woman to serve as president of the Indian National Congress in 1917. The sister-in-law of the English writer Walter Besant (1836–1901), she was separated from her clerical husband in 1873 because of her freethinking views. She and Bradlaugh published a…
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Full text Article Besant, Annie

From The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography
English socialist and religious enthusiast. Born in London of Anglo-Irish descent, Annie Wood married the Reverend Frank Besant in 1867 and was legally separated from him in 1873. With Charles Bradlaugh she became the co-editor of the National Reformer and following her public declaration of atheism…
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Full text Article Besant, Annie (1847–1933).

From The Oxford Companion to British History
Secularist, socialist, and theosophist. Born in London of Irish descent, Annie Wood married the Revd Frank Besant in 1867, but the marriage broke up in 1873 over her religious doubts. She moved to London where in 1874 she made her first public speech, on ‘The Political Status of Women’, and joined…
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Full text Article Besant, Annie (1847 to 1933)

From Chambers Dictionary of World History
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Full text Article Besant

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary Full text Article Biographical Names
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Full text Article Fabius

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
Quintus Fabius Maximus (d.203  bc ), surnamed cunctator . According to Ennius ( Annals (xii, 2nd century)): Unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem. (One man by delaying saved the state for us.) A society founded in 1884 by a small group of middle-class intellectuals with the aim of gradually…
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Full text Article Theosophical Society

From Religious Holidays & Calendars
Founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-91) and Henry Olcott (1832-1907), the Theosophical Society combined ancient European and Egyptian thought with Hindu and Buddhist elements. Blavatsky, a Russian born aristocrat, developed a belief about the nature of the universe based on her participation…
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Full text Article Besant, Annie Wood

From Encyclopedia of World Religions: Encyclopedia of Hinduism
(b. 1847–d. 1933) British political activist Annie Besant was an English socialist reformer who converted to Theosophy after reading the works of H. P. Blavatsky. She became an influential figure in the growth of Theosophy as a worldwide movement and helped spread appreciation of Hinduism in the…
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Also known as: Pandit Motilal (b. 1861–d. 1931) Indian political leader Motilal Nehru was one of the prominent leaders of the Indian National Congress (INC) and father of India's first premier, Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964). Descended from a Kashmir Brahmin family, Motilal was born on May 6, 1861, to…
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Full text Article Theosophy

From The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Religion
Modern Theosophy refers to a set of ideas and organizations originating with the activities of Russian-born occultist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891). Embodied in the Theosophical Society, which was established in New York City in 1875 by Blavatsky, the American military officer and lawyer…
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Full text Article Besant, Annie

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
(born Oct. 1, 1847, London, Eng.—died Sept. 20, 1933, Adyar, Madras) British social reformer. She was a prominent Fabian socialist in the 1880s before becoming an adherent of theosophy in 1889. She served as international president of the Theosophical Society from 1907 until her death, and her…
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