BESANT, ANNIE. Annie Besant (1847–1933) was a British activist with many facets to her life: Anglican; atheist and Freethinker; socialist; Theosophist; educator, reformer, and politician in India; and prophetic announcer of the coming World-Teacher and New Civilization. Besant's monism and her desire to serve humanity were the unifying themes in her diverse efforts. She accomplished pioneering and influential work in Britain and India, and exerted an international influence in her political and religious work. As the second president of the Theosophical Society (1907–1933), Besant popularized Theosophical concepts around the world through her lectures and writings, putting the concepts articulated by Helena P. Blavatsky into accessible language.

Besant possessed a progressive millennial outlook, believing that human effort guided by superhuman agents or forces (when she was an atheist she defined them as Nature and Evolution; when she became a Theosophist they were the Masters and the Solar Logos) could...