Madame Blavatsky

Scott Duchesne (University of Guelph)
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Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) was a prominent occultist and spiritualist of the 19th century. Known best as “Madame” Blavatsky, she was also one of the most enigmatic public figures of her time. Best known for co-founding the Theosophical movement in 1875 and for her close association with the American and European Spiritualist movements, Blavatsky was also a prolific writer, best known for her two-volume magnum opus

The Secret Doctrine

(1888), described by the original publisher as an account of “the creation of the universe, the evolution of humankind, and the primordial tradition underlying the various religions, mythologies and philosophies of the world” (

Secret Doctrine

, 1). Simultaneously hailed as a prophet and decried as a charlatan, the 1991 edition of the

New Age

1592 words

Citation: Duchesne, Scott. "Madame Blavatsky". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 July 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=442, accessed 19 March 2024.]

442 Madame Blavatsky 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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