அன்னி வூட் 

பெசண்ட் 

(Annie Wood  

Besant

Annie Besant (1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a prominent British socialist, theosophist, women's rightsactivist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self-rule.

In 1867, Annie at age 20, married Frank Besant, a clergyman, and they had two children, but Annie's increasingly anti-religious views led to a legal separation in 1873.^[1] She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society (NSS) and writer and a close friend of Charles Bradlaugh. In 1877 they were prosecuted for publishing a book by birth control campaigner Charles Knowlton. The scandal made them famous, and Bradlaugh was elected M.P. for Northampton in 1880.

She became involved with union actions including the Bloody Sunday demonstration and the London matchgirls strike of 1888. She was a leading speaker for the Fabian Society and the Marxist Social Democratic Federation (SDF). She was elected to the London School Board for Tower Hamlets, topping the poll even though few women were qualified to vote at that time.

In 1890 Besant met Helena Blavatsky and over the next few years her interest in theosophy grew while her interest in secular matters waned. She became a member of the Theosophical Society and a prominent lecturer on the subject. As part of her theosophy-related work, she travelled to India. In 1898 she helped establish the Central Hindu Collegeand in 1922 she helped establish the Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate Board in Mumbai, India.^[2][3] In 1902, she established the first overseas Lodge of the International Order of Co-Freemasonry, Le Droit Humain. Over the next few years she established lodges in many parts of the British Empire. In 1907 she became president of the Theosophical Society, whose international headquarters were in Adyar, Madras, (Chennai).

She also became involved in politics in India, joining the Indian National Congress. When World War I broke out in 1914, she helped launch the Home Rule League to campaign for democracy in India and dominion status within the Empire. This led to her election as president of the India National Congress in late 1917. In the late 1920s, Besant travelled to the United States with her protégé and adopted son Jiddu Krishnamurti, whom she claimed was the new Messiah and incarnation of Buddha. Krishnamurti rejected these claims in 1929.^[1] After the war, she continued to campaign for Indian independence and for the causes of theosophy, until her death in 1933.

Early life[edit]

St. Margaret's church, Sibsey, where Frank Besant was vicar, 1871–1917

Annie Wood was born in 1847 in London into a middle-class family of Irish origin. She was proud of her heritage and supported the cause of Irish self-rule throughout her adult life. Her father died when she was five years old, leaving the family almost penniless. Her mother supported the family by running a boarding house for boys at Harrow School. However, she was unable to support Annie and persuaded her friend Ellen Marryat to care for her. Marryat made sure that Besant had a good education. She was given a strong sense of duty to society and an equally strong sense of what independent women could achieve.^[4] As a young woman, she was also able to travel widely in Europe. There she acquired a taste for Roman Catholic colour and ceremony that never left her.

In 1867, at age twenty, she married 26-year-old clergyman Frank Besant (1840–1917), younger brother of Walter Besant. He was an evangelical Anglican who seemed to share many of her concerns.^[5] On the eve of marriage, she had become more politicised through a visit to friends in Manchester, who brought her into contact with both English radicals and theManchester Martyrs of the Irish Republican Fenian Brotherhood,^[6] as well as with the conditions of the urban poor.

Annie Besant

Grave of Frank Besant at Sibsey, where he remained vicar until his death

Soon Frank became vicar of Sibsey in Lincolnshire. Annie moved to Sibsey with her husband, and within a few years they had two children, Arthur and Mabel; however, the marriage was a disaster. As Annie wrote im her Autobiography, "we were an ill-matched pair."^[7] The first conflict came over money and Annie's independence. Annie wrote short stories, books for children, and articles. As married women did not have the legal right to own property, Frank was able to take all the money she earned. Politics further divided the couple. Annie began to support farm workers who were fighting to unionise and to win better conditions. Frank was a Tory and sided with the landlords and farmers. The tension came to a head when Annie refused to attend Communion. In 1873 she left him and returned to London. They were legally separated and Annie took her daughter with her.

Besant began to question her own faith. She turned to leading churchmen for advice, going to see Edward Bouverie Pusey, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement within the Church of England. When she asked him to recommend books that would answer her questions, he told her she had read too many already.^[8] Besant returned to Frank to make a last unsuccessful effort to repair the marriage. She finally left for London.

Birkbeck[edit]

For a time she undertook part-time study at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution, where her religious and political activities caused alarm. At one point the Institution's governors sought to withhold the publication of her exam results.^[9]

Reformer and secularist[edit]

Annie Besant – 1880s

She fought for the causes she thought were right, starting with freedom of thought, women's rights, secularism, birth control,Fabian socialism and workers' rights.. She was a leading member of the National Secular Society alongside Charles Bradlaugh and the South Place Ethical Society.^[10]

Divorce was unthinkable for Frank, and was not really within the reach of even middle-class people. Annie was to remain Mrs Besant for the rest of her life. At first, she was able to keep contact with both children and to have Mabel live with her; she also got a small allowance from her husband.

Once free of Frank Besant and exposed to new currents of thought, she began to question not only her long-held religious beliefs but also the whole of conventional thinking. She began to write attacks on the churches and the way they controlled people's lives. In particular she attacked the status of the Church of England as a state-sponsored faith.

Soon she was earning a small weekly wage by writing a column for the National Reformer, the newspaper of the NSS. The NSS argued for a secular state and an end to the special status of Christianity, and allowed her to act as one of its public speakers. Public lectures were very popular entertainment in Victorian times. Besant was a brilliant speaker, and was soon in great demand. Using the railway, she criss-crossed the country, speaking on all of the most important issues of the day, always demanding improvement, reform and freedom.

For many years Besant was a friend of the National Secular Society's leader, Charles Bradlaugh. Bradlaugh, a former soldier, had long been separated from his wife; Besant lived with him and his daughters, and they worked together on many projects. He was an atheist and a republican; he was also trying to get elected as Member of Parliament (MP) forNorthampton.

Besant and Bradlaugh became household names in 1877 when they published a book by the American birth-control campaigner Charles Knowlton. It claimed that working-class families could never be happy until they were able to decide how many children they wanted. It suggested ways to limit the size of their families. The Knowlton book was highly controversial, and was vigorously opposed by the Church. Besant and Bradlaugh proclaimed in the National Reformer:

We intend to publish nothing we do not think we can morally defend. All that we publish we shall defend.^[11]

The pair were arrested and put on trial for publishing the Knowlton book. They were found guilty, but released pending appeal. As well as great opposition, Besant and Bradlaugh also received a great deal of support in the Liberal press. Arguments raged back and forth in the letters and comment columns as well as in the courtroom. Besant was instrumental in founding the Malthusian League during the trial, which would go on to advocate for the abolition of penalties for the promotion of contraception.^[12] For a time, it looked as though they would be sent to prison. The case was thrown out finally only on a technical point, the charges not having been properly drawn up.

The scandal cost Besant custody of her children. Her husband was able to persuade the court that she was unfit to look after them, and they were handed over to him permanently.

On 6 March 1881 she spoke at the opening of Leicester Secular Society's new Secular Hall in Humberstone Gate, Leicester. The other speakers were George Jacob Holyoake, Harriet Law and Charles Bradlaugh.^[13]

Bradlaugh's political prospects were not damaged by the Knowlton scandal and he was elected to Parliament in 1881. Because of his atheism, he asked to be allowed to affirm rather than swear the oath of loyalty. When the possibility of affirmation was refused, Bradlaugh stated his willingness to take the oath. But this option was also challenged. Although many Christians were shocked by Bradlaugh, others (like the Liberal leader Gladstone) spoke up for freedom of belief. It took more than six years before the matter was completely resolved (in Bradlaugh's favour) after a series of by-elections and court appearances.

Meanwhile Besant built close contacts with the Irish Home Rulers and supported them in her newspaper columns during what are considered crucial years, when the Irish nationalists were forming an alliance with Liberals and Radicals. Besant met the leaders of the Irish home rule movement. In particular, she got to knowMichael Davitt, who wanted to mobilise the Irish peasantry through a Land War, a direct struggle against the landowners. She spoke and wrote in favour of Davitt and his Land League many times over the coming decades.

However, Bradlaugh's parliamentary work gradually alienated Besant. Women had no part in parliamentary politics. Besant was searching for a real political outlet, where her skills as a speaker, writer and organiser could do some real good.

Political activism[edit]

For Besant, politics, friendship and love were always closely intertwined. Her decision in favour of Socialism came about through a close relationship with George Bernard Shaw, a struggling young Irish author living in London, and a leading light of the Fabian Society. Annie was impressed by his work and grew very close to him too in the early 1880s. It was Besant who made the first move, by inviting Shaw to live with her. This he refused, but it was Shaw who sponsored Besant to join the Fabian Society. In its early days, the society was a gathering of people exploring spiritual, rather than political, alternatives to the capitalist system.^[14] Besant began to write for the Fabians. This new commitment – and her relationship with Shaw – deepened the split between Besant and Bradlaugh, who was an individualist and opposed to Socialism of any sort. While he defended free speech at any cost, he was very cautious about encouraging working-class militancy.^[15]

Unemployment was a central issue of the time, and in 1887 some of the London unemployed started to hold protests in Trafalgar Square. Besant agreed to appear as a speaker at a meeting on 13 November. The police tried to stop the assembly, fighting broke out, and troops were called. Many were hurt, one man died, and hundreds were arrested; Besant offered herself for arrest, an offer disregarded by the police.^[16]

The events created a great sensation, and became known as Bloody Sunday. Besant was widely blamed – or credited – for it. She threw herself into organising legal aid for the jailed workers and support for their families.^[17] Bradlaugh finally broke with her because he felt she should have asked his advice before going ahead with the meeting.

Another activity in this period was her involvement in the London matchgirls strike of 1888. She was drawn into this battle of the "New Unionism" by a young socialist, Herbert Burrows. He had made contact with workers at Bryant and May's match factory in Bow, London, who were mainly young women and were very poorly paid. They were also prey to industrial illnesses, like the bone-rotting Phossy jaw, which was caused by the chemicals used in match manufacture.^[18] Some of the match workers asked for help from Burrows and Besant in setting up a union.

Besant met the women and set up a committee, which led the women into a strike for better pay and conditions, an action that won public support. Besant led demonstrations by "match-girls", who were cheered in the streets, and prominent churchmen wrote in their support. In just over a week they forced the firm to improve pay and conditions. Besant then helped them to set up a proper union and a social centre.

At the time, the matchstick industry was a very powerful lobby, since electric light was not yet widely available, and matches were an essential commodity; in 1872, lobbyists from the match industry had persuaded the British government to change its planned tax policy. Besant's campaign was the first time anyone had successfully challenged the match manufacturers on a major issue, and was seen as a landmark victory of the early years of British Socialism.

During 1884, Besant had developed a very close friendship with Edward Aveling, a young socialist teacher who lived in her house for a time. Aveling was a scholarly figure and it was he who first translated the important works of Marx into English. He eventually went to live with Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl Marx. Aveling was a great influence on Besant's thinking and she supported his work, yet she moved towards the rival Fabians at that time. Aveling and Eleanor Marx had joined the Marxist Social Democratic Federation and then the Socialist League, a small Marxist splinter group which formed around the artist William Morris.

It seems that Morris played a large part in converting Besant to Marxism, but it was to the SDF, not his Socialist League, that she turned in 1888. She remained a member for a number of years and became one of its best speakers. She was still a member of the Fabian Society; neither she nor anyone else seemed to think the two movements incompatible at the time.

Soon after joining the Marxists, Besant was elected to the London School Board in 1888.^[19] Women at that time were not able to take part in parliamentary politics, but had been brought into the local electorate in 1881.

Besant drove about with a red ribbon in her hair, speaking at meetings. "No more hungry children," her manifesto proclaimed. She combined her socialist principles with feminism: "I ask the electors to vote for me, and the non-electors to work for me because women are wanted on the Board and there are too few women candidates." Besant came out on top of the poll in Tower Hamlets, with over 15,000 votes. She wrote in the National Reformer: "Ten years ago, under a cruel law, Christian bigotry robbed me of my little child. Now the care of the 763,680 children of London is placed partly in my hands."^[20]

Besant was also involved in the London Dock Strike, in which the dockers, who were employed by the day, were led by Ben Tillett in a struggle for the "Dockers' Tanner". Besant helped Tillett draw up the union's rules and played an important part in the meetings and agitation which built up the organisation. She spoke for the dockers at public meetings and on street corners. Like the match-girls, the dockers won public support for their struggle, and the strike was won.^[21]

Theosophy[edit]

Besant was a prolific writer and a powerful orator.^[22] In 1889, she was asked to write a review for the Pall Mall Gazette^[23] on The Secret Doctrine, a book by H. P. Blavatsky. After reading it, she sought an interview with its author, meeting Blavatsky in Paris. In this way she was converted to Theosophy. Besant's intellectual journey had always involved a spiritual dimension, a quest for transformation of the whole person. As her interest in theosophy deepened, she allowed her membership of the Fabian Society to lapse (1890) and broke her links with the Marxists. In her Autobiography, Besant follows her chapter on "Socialism" with "Through Storm to Peace," the peace of Theosophy. In 1888, she described herself as "marching toward the Theosophy" that would be the "glory" of her life. Besant had found the economic side of life lacking, so she searched for a belief based on "Love". She found this in Theosophy, so she joined the Theosophical Society, a move that distanced her from Bradlaugh and other former activist co-workers.^[24] When Blavatsky died in 1891, Besant was left as one of the leading figures in theosophy and in 1893 she represented it at the Chicago World Fair.^[25]

In 1893, soon after becoming a member of the Theosophical Society she went to India for the first time.^[26] After a dispute the American section split away into an independent organisation. The original society, then led by Henry Steel Olcott and Besant, is today based in Chennai, India, and is known as the Theosophical Society Adyar. Following the split Besant devoted much of her energy not only to the society, but also to India's freedom and progress. Besant Nagar, a neighbourhood near the Theosophical Society in Chennai, is named in her honour.

Co-freemasonry[edit]

Besant saw freemasonry, in particular Co-Freemasonry, as an extension of her interest in the rights of women and the greater brotherhood of man and saw co-freemasonry as a "movement which practised true brotherhood, in which women and men worked side by side for the perfecting of humanity. She immediately wanted to be admitted to this organisation", known now as The International Order of Co-Freemasonry, Le Droit Humain.

The link was made in 1902 by the theosophist Francesca Arundale, who accompanied Besant to Paris, along with six friends. "They were all initiated, passed and raised into the first three degrees and Annie returned to England, bearing a Charter and founded there the first Lodge of International Mixed Masonry, Le Droit Humain." Besant eventually became the Order's Most Puissant Grand Commander, and was a major influence in the international growth of the Order.^[27]

President of Theosophical Society[edit]

Annie Besant with Henry Olcott (left) and Charles Leadbeater (right) inAdyar, Madras in December 1905

Besant met fellow theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater in London in April 1894. They became close co-workers in the theosophical movement and would remain so for the rest of their lives. Leadbeater claimed clairvoyance and reputedly helped Besant become clairvoyant herself in the following year. In a letter dated 25 August 1895 to Francisca Arundale, Leadbeater narrates how Besant became clairvoyant. Together they clairvoyantly investigated the universe, matter, thought-forms, and the history of mankind, and co-authored a book called Occult Chemistry.

In 1906 Leadbeater became the centre of controversy when it emerged that he had advised the practice of masturbation to some boys under his care and spiritual instruction. Leadbeater stated he had encouraged the practice to keep the boys celibate, which was considered a prerequisite for advancement on the spiritual path.^[28] Due to the controversy, he offered to resign from the Theosophical Society in 1906, which was accepted. The next year Besant became president of the society and in 1908, with her express support, Leadbeater was readmitted to the society. Leadbeater went on to face accusations of improper relations with boys, but none of the accusations were ever proven and Besant never deserted him.^[29]

Until Besant's presidency, the society had as one of its foci Theravada Buddhism and the island of Sri Lanka, where Henry Olcott did the majority of his useful work.^[30] Under Besant's leadership there was more stress on the teachings of "The Aryavarta", as she called central India, as well as on esoteric Christianity.^[31]

Besant set up a new school for boys, the Central Hindu College (CHC) at Banaras which was formed on underlying theosophical principles, and which counted many prominent theosophists in its staff and faculty. Its aim was to build a new leadership for India. The students spent 90 minutes a day in prayer and studied religious texts, but they also studied modern science. It took 3 years to raise the money for the CHC, most of which came from Indian princes.^[32] In April 1911, Besant met Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and they decided to unite their forces and work for a common Hindu University at Varanasi. Besant and fellow trustees of the Central Hindu College also agreed to Government of India's precondition that the college should become a part of the new University. The Banaras Hindu University started functioning from 1 October 1917 with the Central Hindu College as its first constituent college.

Blavatsky had stated in 1889 that the main purpose of establishing the society was to prepare humanity for the future reception of a "torch-bearer of Truth", an emissary of a hidden Spiritual Hierarchy that, according to theosophists, guides the evolution of mankind.^[33] This was repeated by Besant as early as 1896; Besant came to believe in the imminent appearance of the "emissary", who was identified by theosophists as the so-called World Teacher.^[34][35]

Thought-form of the music ofCharles Gounod, according to Besant and C. W. Leadbeater in Thought-Forms (1901)

"World Teacher" project[edit]

In 1909, soon after Besant's assumption of the presidency, Leadbeater "discovered" fourteen-year-old Jiddu Krishnamurti(1895–1986), a South Indian boy who had been living, with his father and brother, on the grounds of the headquarters of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, and declared him the probable "vehicle" for the expected "World Teacher".^[36] The "discovery" and its objective received widespread publicity and attracted worldwide following, mainly among theosophists. It also started years of upheaval, and contributed to splits in the Theosophical Society and doctrinal schisms in theosophy. Following the discovery, Jiddu Krishnamurti and his younger brother Nityananda ("Nitya") were placed under the care of theosophists and Krishnamurti was extensively groomed for his future mission as the new vehicle for the "World Teacher". Besant soon became the boys' legal guardian with the consent of their father, who was very poor and could not take care of them. However, his father later changed his mind and began a legal battle to regain the guardianship, against the will of the boys.^[37] Early in their relationship, Krishnamurti and Besant had developed a very close bond and he considered her a surrogate mother – a role she happily accepted. (His biological mother had died when he was ten years old).^[38]

In 1929, twenty years after his "discovery", Krishnamurti, who had grown disenchanted with the World Teacher Project, repudiated the role that many theosophists expected him to fulfil. He dissolved the Order of the Star in the East, an organisation founded to assist the World Teacher in his mission, and eventually left the Theosophical Society and theosophy at large.^[39] He spent the rest of his life travelling the world as an unaffiliated speaker, becoming in the process widely known as an original, independent thinker on philosophical, psychological, and spiritual subjects. His love for Besant never waned, as also was the case with Besant's feelings towards him;^[40] concerned for his wellbeing after he declared his independence, she had purchased 6 acres (2.4 ha) of land near the Theosophical Society estate which later became the headquarters of the Krishnamurti Foundation India .

Home Rule movement[edit]

Along with her theosophical activities, Besant continued to actively participate in political matters. She had joined the Indian National Congress. As the name suggested, this was originally a debating body, which met each year to consider resolutions on political issues. Mostly it demanded more of a say for middle-class Indians in British Indian government. It had not yet developed into a permanent mass movement with local organisation. About this time her co-worker Leadbeater moved to Sydney.

In 1914 World War I broke out, and Britain asked for the support of its Empire in the fight against Germany. Echoing an Irish nationalist slogan, Besant declared, "England's need is India's opportunity". As editor of the New India newspaper, she attacked the colonial government of India and called for clear and decisive moves towards self-rule. As with Ireland, the government refused to discuss any changes while the war lasted.

Annie Besant in Sydney, 1922

In 1916 Besant launched the All India Home Rule League along with Lokmanya Tilak, once again modelling demands for India on Irish nationalist practices. This was the first political party in India to have regime change as its main goal. Unlike the Congress itself, the League worked all year round. It built a structure of local branches, enabling it to mobilise demonstrations, public meetings and agitations. In June 1917 Besant was arrested and interned at a hill station, where she defiantly flew a red and green flag. The Congress and the Muslim League together threatened to launch protests if she were not set free; Besant's arrest had created a focus for protest.^[41]

The government was forced to give way and to make vague but significant concessions. It was announced that the ultimate aim of British rule was Indian self-government, and moves in that direction were promised. Besant was freed in September 1917, welcomed by crowds all over India, and in December she took over as president of the Indian National Congress for a year.

After the war, a new leadership emerged around Mohandas K. Gandhi – one of those who had written to demand Besant's release. He was a lawyer who had returned from leading Asians in a peaceful struggle against racism in South Africa.Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi's closest collaborator, had been educated by a theosophist tutor.

The new leadership was committed to action that was both militant and non-violent, but there were differences between them and Besant. Despite her past, she was not happy with their socialist leanings. Until the end of her life, however, she continued to campaign for India's independence, not only in India but also on speaking tours of Britain.^[42] In her own version of Indian dress, she remained a striking presence on speakers' platforms. She produced a torrent of letters and articles demanding independence.

Later years and death[edit]

Besant tried as a person, theosophist, and president of the Theosophical Society, to accommodate Krishnamurti's views into her life, without success; she vowed to personally follow him in his new direction although she apparently had trouble understanding both his motives and his new message.^[43] The two remained friends until the end of her life.

In 1931 she became ill in India.^[44]

Besant died on 20 September 1933, at age 85, in Adyar, Madras Presidency, British India. Her body was cremated.^[45]

She was survived by her daughter, Mabel. After her death, colleagues Jiddu Krishnamurti, Aldous Huxley, Guido Ferrando, and Rosalind Rajagopal, built Happy Valley School, now renamed Besant Hill School in her honour.

Descendants[edit]

The subsequent family history became fragmented. A number of Besant's descendants have been traced in detail from her son Arthur Digby's side. One of Arthur Digby's daughters was Sylvia Besant, who married Commander Clem Lewis in the 1920s. They had a daughter, Kathleen Mary, born in 1934, who was given away for adoption within three weeks of the birth and had the new name of Lavinia Pollock. Lavinia married Frank Castle in 1953 and raised a family of five of Besant's great-great-grandchildren – James, Richard, David, Fiona and Andrew Castle – the last and youngest sibling being a former British professional tennis player and now television presenter and personality.

Works[edit]

Besides being a prolific writer, Besant was a "practiced stump orator" who gave sixty-six public lectures in one year. She also engaged in public debates.^[46]
List of Works on Online Books [1]
List of Work on Open Library [2]

• The Political Status of Women (1874)^[47]
• The Law of Population (1877)
• My Path to Atheism (1878, 3rd ed 1885)
• Marriage, As It Was, As It Is, And As It Should Be: A Plea for Reform (1878)
• The Atheistic Platform: 12 Lectures One by Besant (1884)
• Autobiographical Sketches (1885)
• Why I am a Socialist (1886)
• Why I became a Theosophist (1889)
• The Seven Principles of Man (1892)
• Christianity, Its Evidences, Its Origin, Its Morality, Its History (1893)^[48]
• Bhagavad Gita (translated as The Lord's Song) (1895)
• The Ancient Wisdom (1898)
• Thought Forms (1901)
• The Religious Problem in India (1901)
• Thought Power: Its Control and Culture (1901)
• Esoteric Christianity (1905 2nd ed)
• A Study in Consciousness: A contribution to the science of psychology. (ca 1907, rpt 1918) [3]
• An Introduction to Yoga (1908) [4]
• Australian Lectures(1908)
• Annie Besant: An Autobiography (1908 2nd ed)
• The Religious Problem in India Lectures on Islam, Jainism, Sikhism, Theosophy (1909) [5]
• Man and His Bodies (1896, rpt 1911) [6]
• Initiation: The Perfecting of Man (1912) [7]
• Man's Life in This and Other Worlds (1913) [8]
• Man: Whence, How and Whither with C. W. Leadbeater (1913) [9]
• Occult Chemistry with C. W. Leadbeater (1919) [10]
• The Doctrine of the Heart (1920) [11]
• The Future of Indian Politics 1922
• The Life and Teaching of Muhammad (1932) [12]
• Memory and Its Nature (1935) [13]
• Various writings regarding Helena Blavatsky (1889–1910) [14]
• Selection of Pamphlets as follows: [15]

• "Sin and Crime" (1885)
• "God's Views on Marriage" (1890)
• "A World Without God" (1885)
• "Life, Death, and Immortality" (1886)
• "The World and Its God" (1886)
• "Atheism and Its Bearing on Morals" (1887)
• "On Eternal Torture" (n.d.)
• "The Fruits of Christianity" (n.d.)
• "The Jesus of the Gospels and the Influence of Christianity" (n.d.)
• "The Gospel of Christianity and the Gospel of Freethought" (1883)
• "Sins of the Church: Threatenings and Slaughters" (n.d.)
• "For the Crown and Against the Nation" (1886)
• "Christian Progress" (1890)
• "Why I Do Not Believe in God" (1887)
• "The Myth of the Resurrection" (1886)
• "The Teachings of Christianity" (1887)

அன்னி வூட் 

பெசண்ட் (Annie 

Wood Besant; 

அக்டோபர் 1, 1847 – செப்டம்பர் 20, 1933) என்பவர் பெண் விடுதலைக்காகப் போராடியவர், எழுத்தாளர் மற்றும் பேச்சாளர் ஆவார்.

வாழ்க்கைக் குறிப்பு[தொகு]

ஒரு சாதாரண ஐரியக் குடும்பத்தில் லண்டனில் 1847 ஆம் ஆண்டில் பிறந்தவர் அன்னி வூட். தந்தை வில்லியம் பைஜ்வூட் அயர்லாந்தில் பிறந்து லண்டனில் குடியேறியவர். அன்னி ஐந்து வயதாக இருக்கும் போது தந்தையை இழந்தார். அன்னை ஹரோ நகரில் ஆண்கள் பாடசாலை ஒன்றை நடத்தி வந்தார். அன்னி தனது 19வது வயதில் 1867 ஆம் ஆண்டில் பிராங்க் பெசண்ட் என்ற 26 வயது மத குருவை மணந்தார். டிக்பி, மேபேல் என்ற இரண்டு பெண் குழந்தைகளைப் பெற்றெடுத்தார். கனவருடன் இணைந்து வாழ்வது அன்னிக்கு மிகவும் கஷ்டமாக இருந்தது. பெண்ணுக்கு ஏற்பட்ட நோயினால் மனமுடைந்து போன அன்னி நாத்திகரானார். கணவர் பெசண்ட், மனைவியை கோயிலுக்குச் செல்லும் படியும், கிறிஸ்தவ மதக் கொள்கைக்கு ஏற்ப நடக்கும் படியும் வற்புறுத்தினார். சுதந்திர மனப்போக்குக் கொண்ட அன்னி கணவரிடம் இருந்து 1873 இல் பிரிந்து வாழ முடிவெடுத்தார்.

1880களில் அன்னி பெசண்ட்

கணவரிடம் இருந்து பிரிந்த பின்னர் நிறைய கட்டுரைகள் எழுதத் தொடங்கினார் அன்னி. சிறுவர்களுக்கான கதைகள், கட்டுரைகள் எழுதினார். அன்னியின் அரசியல் போக்குகணவரிடம் இருந்து அவரை மேலும் பிரித்தது. பண்ணை விவசாயிகளின் உரிமைகளுக்காகக் குரல் கொடுத்தார். இறுதியாக கணவன், குழந்தைகளை விட்டுப் பிரிந்து லண்டனுக்குத் திரும்பினார். அதிகாரபூர்வமாகப் பிரிவினை கிடைக்கவில்லை. இரண்டு குழந்தைகளும் பிராங்கின் பொறுப்பிலேயே இருந்தனர்.

லண்டன் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் பகுதிநேரப் படிப்பைத் தொடர்ந்தார். மூடப் பழக்கவழக்கங்களுக்கெதிராகப் பரப்புரையை ஆரம்பித்தார். இதனால் மத சமூகத்தினரின் எதிர்ப்புக்கு ஆளானார்^[1].

சீர்திருத்தவாதி[தொகு]

"நியூமால் தூசியன் அமைப்பு" என்ற சீர்திருத்தச் சங்கத்துக்குத் தலைவியானார் அன்னி பெசண்ட். நாடாளுமன்ற அங்கத்தினர்கள் கடவுளின் பெயரால் சத்தியம் செய்யத் தேவையில்லை என்று வற்புறுத்தி கூட்டங்களில் பேசினார். "லிங்க்" என்ற பெயரில் பத்திரிகையைத் தொடங்கி, இந்தியாவிலும் அயர்லாந்திலும் விடுதலைப் போராட்டங்களுக்கு ஆதரவாக எழுதினார். பெண்கள் விடுதலை, தொழிலாளர் உரிமைகள், குடும்பக் கட்டுப்பாடு போன்ற பலவற்றிலும் தனது கருத்துகளை வெளிப்படையாகத் தெரிவித்தார்.

ஒல்கொட் (இடது), லெட்பீட்டர்ஆகியோருடன் அன்னி பெசண்ட்

பிரும்மஞான சங்கம்[தொகு]

The Secret Doctrine என்ற நூலை எழுதிய பிளேவட்ஸ்கி அம்மையாரை பாரிசில் 1889 ஆம் ஆண்டில் சந்திக்கும் வாய்ப்புக் கிட்டியது. இது அன்னி பெசண்டின் வாழ்க்கையில் பெரும் மாறுதலை ஏற்படுத்தியது. தன்னுடைய நாத்திக வாதத்தைக் கைவிட்டு ஆத்திகரானார். பிளேவட்ஸ்கியின் பிரும்மஞான சங்கத்தில்உறுப்பினரானார். இதனை அடுத்து மார்க்சியவாதிகளுடன் தனக்கிருந்த உறவுகளைத் துண்டித்துக் கொண்டார். 1891 இல் பிளேவட்ஸ்கி இறந்ததை அடுத்து பிரும்மஞானத்தில் ஒரு முக்கிய புள்ளியானார். அன்னி பெசண்ட். அச்சபையின் சார்பில் 1893 ஆம் ஆண்டில் சிகாகோவில் இடம்பெற்ற உலக கொலம்பிய கண்காட்சியில் கலந்து கொண்டார்.

1893 ஆம் ஆண்டில் பிரும்மஞான சபையின் உறுப்பினராக முதற் தடவையாக இந்தியா வந்தார். சபையின்அமெரிக்கக் கிளையின் தலைவரான வில்லியம் ஜட்ஜ் என்பவருடன் ஏற்பட்ட கருத்து மோதல்களைத் தொடர்ந்து அமெரிக்கக் கிளை தனியாகப் பிரிந்தது. மீதமிருந்த சபை ஹென்றி ஸ்டீல் ஒல்கொட் என்பவராலும் அன்னி பெசண்டினாலும் தலைமை வகிக்கப்பட்டது.

1874 லண்டனில் (Colby Road, London SE19) அன்னி பெசண்ட் வாழ்ந்த வீடு

இந்தியாவில் அன்னி பெசண்ட்[தொகு]

இந்தியா வந்த அன்னி பெசண்ட், சென்னையில் அடையாறில் பிரும்மஞான சங்கத்தின் தலைமை நிலையத்தை நிறுவினார். இந்து சாத்திரங்களை ஆழ்ந்து படித்துபல நூல்களை எழுதினார். பகவத் கீதையை ஆங்கிலத்தில் மொழிபெயர்த்தார். காசியில் சில காலம் வசித்த அன்னி பெசண்ட் அங்கு இந்து சமய விளக்கங்களை முறைப்படி பெற்றார். இந்திய உடை தரித்து இந்துவாகவே வாழலானார்.

இந்திய விடுதலைப் போராட்டத்தில் இணைவு[தொகு]

அன்னி இயற்கையிலேயே புரட்சி மனப்பான்மை கொண்டவராதலால், ஆங்கில அரசின் அடக்குமுறைகள் அவரை வெகுவாகப் பாதித்தன. விடுதலைப் போராட்டத்திற்கு ஆதரவாக காமன் வீல்' என்ற வாரப் பத்திரிகையை 1913 ஆம் ஆண்டில் ஆரம்பித்தார். 1914 ஆம் ஆண்டில் சென்னையில் இருந்து நியூ இந்தியாஎன்ற பெயரில் நாளேடு ஒன்றை ஆரம்பித்து நடத்தினார். இதன் மூலம் அவர் அரசியலில் இழுக்கப்பட்டார்.

காங்கிரஸ் தலைமைப் பதவி[தொகு]

1907 ஆம் ஆண்டில் சூரத் நகரில் இடம்பெற்ற இந்திய காங்கிரஸ் மாநாட்டில் கலந்து கொண்டார். இம்மாநாட்டில் மிதவாதிகளுக்கும் தீவிரவாதிகளுக்கும் ஏற்பட்ட கருத்து வேறுபாடுகளினால் ஏற்படவிருந்த பெரும் பிளவைத் தவிர்த்து, லக்னோவில் இடம்பெற்ற மாநாட்டில் இரு பிரிவினரையும் இணைத்து வெற்றி கண்டார். ஹோம் ரூல் (சுயாட்சி) இயக்கத்தை தொடங்கினார். நாடு முழூவதிலும் அதன் கிளைகள் உருவாயின. அன்னி பெசண்ட் தனது தலைமைப் பதவிக் காலத்தில் நாடு முழுவதும் சுற்றுப் பயணம் மேற்கொண்டு, விடுதலை இயக்கத்தை வலுப்பெறச் செய்தார்.

அன்னி பெசண்டின் சுற்றுப் பயணங்களுக்கும் பொதுக் கூட்டங்களுக்கும் ஆங்கிலேய அரசு தடை செய்தது. 1917, ஜூன் 15 ஆம் நாள் ஏனைய காங்கிரஸ் தலைவர்களுடன் அன்னி பெசண்டையும் கைது செய்தது. இவர்களின் கைதைக் கண்டித்து காங்கிரஸ் இயக்கம், மற்றும் முஸ்லிம் லீக் ஆகியன சத்தியாக்கிரகம் செய்யப்போவதாக அறிவித்தது. இதனால் நிலை குலைந்த ஆங்கில அரசு செப்டம்பரில் இவர்களை விடுதலை செய்தது.

டிசம்பர் 1917 ஆம் ஆண்டில் கல்கத்தாவில் நடந்த மாநாட்டில் இந்திய காங்கிரசின் தலைவராக ஓராண்டிற்குத் தெரிவானார். லாகூரில்ஜவகர்லால் நேருவின் தலைமையில் 1929 இல் கூடிய காங்கிரஸ் மாநாட்டில் முழுமையான சுயாட்சி கோரி அறிக்கை வெளியானது. காங்கிரஸ் சோசலிச சார்பாக கருத்துக்களை வெளியிட்டமை அன்னி பெசண்டின் கொள்கைகளுக்கு உரியதாக இருக்க வில்லை. இதனால் அவர் மகாத்மா காந்தியின் சத்தியாக்கிரக இயக்கங்களில் சேரவில்லை. காங்கிரசில் இருந்து விலகி இருந்தார். ஆனாலும் இந்திய விடுதலையில் முன்போலவே ஈடுபாடு காட்டி வந்தார். இந்தியாவில் மட்டுமல்லாமல் பிரித்தானியாவுக்கு பயணம் மேற்கொண்ட போது அங்கும் இந்திய விடுதலைக்கு ஆதரவாக பொது மேடைகளில் உரையாற்றினார். 1929 இல் "பொதுநலவாய இந்தியா" என்ற பெயரில் ஒரு அறிக்கையை எழுதி பிரித்தானிய நாடாளுமன்றத்துக்கு அனுப்பினார்^[2].

இறுதிக் காலம்[தொகு]

தனது எண்பத்தியோராவது அகவையில் தீவிர அரசியலில் இருந்து விலகிய அன்னி பெசண்ட் இறுதிக் காலங்களில் இந்திய மெய்யியலாளரான ஜிட்டு கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தியுடன் நெருங்கிய தொடர்பைப் பேணினார். பிரும்மஞான சபையின் முன்னேற்றத்தில் முனைப்பாக ஈடுபட்டார். எண்பத்தேழாம் அகவையில் 1933 ஆம் ஆண்டு செப்டம்பர் 20 இல் சென்னையில் உள்ள அடையாறில் அன்னி பெசண்ட் காலமானார். அவரது மறைவிற்குப் பின்னர், அவரது நண்பர்கள் ஜே. கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தி, ஆல்டஸ் ஹக்ஸ்லி, ரோசலின் ராஜகோபால்ஆகியோர் இணைந்து கலிபோர்னியாவில் ""ஹப்பி வலி பாடசாலை"யை அமைத்தார்கள்.இப்பாடசாலை தற்போது அன்னி பெசண்டின் நினைவாக பெசண்ட் ஹில் பாடசாலை எனப் பெயர் மாற்றப்பட்டுள்ளது. அன்னி பெசண்ட் அமைத்த சென்னை அடையாறில் உள்ள பிரும்மஞான சபை இன்றும் அவர் புகழ் பரப்பிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது.