Annie Besant
At a glance:
- Series: Dictionary of World Biography: The 19th Century
- Categories: Government and Politics, Women’s Issues, Religion, Ethics, Social Issues, Reform, and Protest
- Subcategories: Colonialism, Colonies, Settlements, Civil Rights, Minority Rights, Minorities, Empires, Dynasties, British Empire, Feminism, Feminists, Women’s Rights, Nationalism
- Curriculum: Women’s History, 20th & 21st Century European History, 19th Century European History, British History
Article abstract: After her early work promoting radical reform in England, Besant became leader of the Theosophical Society and was active in the nationalist movement in India.
Early Life
Annie Wood Besant was born on October 1, 1847, in London, England, the second of three children of William and Emily Morris Wood. Despite her English birth, Besant had a strong sense of Irish heritage, because her mother was Irish and her father half Irish. William Wood, although trained as a physician, engaged in commerce in London. He died when Besant was five, a...
[The entire page is 2263 words long]