View source for Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

'''Helena Petrovna Blavatsky''' (1831-1891)

Born 30 Jul 1831  as Helena von Hahn in Ekaterinoslav, Russian Empire (now Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) to Colonel Peter Alexeivich von Hahn (1798-) and his wife Helena Andreyvna Fadeyev (1814-42). Her mother died while Helena was a young girl and she was sent, with her two younger siblings, Vera (b 1835) and Leonid (b 1840), to live with their maternal grandparents.

The grandparents were Andrei Mikhailovich Fadeyev (1789-1867), Imperial Councillor to the Viceroy of the Caucasus, and his wife Helene Dolgoruki (1789-1860). She married firstly on 7 Jul 1848 in Tiflis, Russia to Nikifor Vasilievich Blavatsky, the Vice-Governor of Erivan.

In 1875, with [[Henry Steel Olcott]] and [[William Quan Judge]], she was a founder of the [[Theosophical Society]] in New York City. She married on 3 Apr 1875 in Philadelphia to Michael C Betanelly. In Dec 1878, Blavasky and Olcott immigrated to India. She later immigrated to England where she died 8 May 1891 in London, Middlesex, England.

After her death, leadership of the Society was taken over by [[Henry Steel Olcott]].

==Primary Documents==
*Her marriage to Betanelly is reported in the International Genealogical Index - North America - Batch M748744

*''New York Times'', Apr 30, 1877, pg 8 [[Blavatsky1|''The Buddhist Religion'']]
*''New York Times'', Jul 9, 1878, pg 3 [[Blavatsky2|''Court Notes'']]
*''New York Times'', May 12, 1879, pg 2 [[Blavatsky3|''One of Mme. Blavatsky's Exploits'']]

*[http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=FreeBMDDeath&so=2&rank=0&gsfn=&gsln=Blavatsky&sx=&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&ufr=0&srchb=r&prox=1&db=&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-b&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416&o_it=21416 FreeBMD Death Index] showing her death entry.

[[Category:Theosophists]]