Herbert Whyte

H.P. Blavatsky, an outline of her life Herbert Whyte

The powerful, strongly-marked face of the cofounder of the Theosophical Society must be familiar to many, as her portrait is to be found in most of the Society's meeting-rooms, and has been printed in many places. But how few know the story of her arduous life? No one knows it fully, nor is it anywhere completely recorded, save in the imperishable memory of nature, wherein the history of every life is preserved. Several books have, however, been written about Madame Blavatsky, and from them the following outline of her life is compiled. Helena Petrovna Hahn was born at Ekaterinoslow in the South of Russia, in 1831. Her father, Col. Hahn, was an officer in the Russian army, who belonged to a noble family coming from Mecklenburg, Germany, and her mother, Helene Fadeef, who attained some fame as an authoress, was the daughter of Princess Dolgorouky, and so came of one of the oldest Russian aristocratic families.