Annie Besant- Short Note for Students

Introduction & Early Life

Annie Besant was a well-known Theosophist, Social reformer, Political figurehead, activist for women's issues, Author, and Public Speaker. She was Irish by birth and considered India to be her second home. She was the first woman to lead the Indian National Congress and worked for Indian rights.

Annie Besant-Short Note

On October 1, 1847, Annie Besant was born in London to a middle-class family as Annie Wood. She had Irish ancestry. She was only five when her father passed away. In order to support her family, Annie's mother ran a boarding school for boys in Harrow. Her perspective was broadened by her extensive travels throughout Europe. Annie was instilled with a strong feeling of obligation toward society as well as an understanding of the potential of autonomous women.

Besant's political and religious activities raised concerns while she was a student at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution. in 1867 When she was 19 years old, she married Frank Besant. The couple had two children but eventually separated due to a religious difference. The Bloody Sunday rally and the London matchgirls strike of 1888 were two subsequent union activities in which Besant became active. She was a prominent speaker for both the Marxist Social Democratic Federation and the Fabian Society (SDF).

Theosophist, Social activist, and Political Leader

In 1890, she met Helena Blavatsky and developed an interest in Theosophy. She later joined the Society and had success as a Theosophical lecturer. She later became known as a writer and speaker for the National Secular Society (NSS) and Charles Bradlaugh's close friend. The following years revealed Annie's amazing Abilities and Vigour. She Authored numerous pamphlets and publications on progressive subjects and served as the founding secretary of the Malthusian League, an organisation (the Family Planning Association). The Law of Population, her own birth control brochure, sold 175,000 copies.

After Col. H. S. Olcott passed away in 1907, Annie Besant was elected to the position of second International President of the Theosophical Society, while engaged in Theosophical study, In the course of her Theosophical activity, Mrs. Besant visited practically every country in Europe more than once, and she also made numerous trips to the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Her excellent organisational skills were put to use to "make theosophy realistic," and taking action became her "Tagline." Once She visited India. She travelled the whole of India. It provided her knowledge of India and middle-class Indians who were more impacted by British rule and its Educational system. She joined the Indian freedom movement as well. Besant founded a new boys' school in Banaras called the Central Hindu College (CHC), which had many eminent theosophists on its faculty and staff and was founded on fundamental theosophical principles. Its goal was to create new Indian leadership. The pupils studied modern science in addition to studying religious scriptures for 90 minutes each day. After some time, she was able to start additional lodges across the British Empire.

Besant also got active in politics in India. She participated in the founding of the Home Rule League, an organisation that fought for Indian democracy and dominion status inside the British Empire, when World War I started out in 1914. She was elected President of the Theosophical Society in the year 1907. As a result of her involvement in Indian politics, she quickly joined the Indian National Congress. In 1917, she was elected president of the Indian National Congress. It was the first time a woman held that position. She started "New India," a newspaper that questioned British control, and she was imprisoned for rebellion. Differences between Mahatma Gandhi and Annie Besant developed once Gandhiji entered the Indian National arena. She gradually stopped participating in politics .

Besant became ill in 1931 and passed away at the age of 85 in Adyar, Madras Presidency, on September 20, 1933. On October 1, 1963, the Indian Government also released a postage stamp in her honour, a neighbourhood in Chennai close to the Theosophical Society is called Besant Nagar. numerous streets are named after her.