The British social reformer and theosophist Annie Wood Besant (1847-1933) made important contributions to a number of reformist and religious causes. She was a leader among Europeans in reviving and disseminating Hindu religion and culture.

Annie Wood was born in London on Oct. 1, 1847, to a well-connected but declining family, mostly of Irish descent. Her 7-year marriage to Frank Besant, an Anglican vicar, by whom she had two children, ended in separation in 1873, when she declared herself an unbeliever. The next year Besant joined Charles Bradlaugh in his Secularist movement, preaching man's freedom from God and the devil and a future existence of beauty, wisdom, and love for a regenerated mankind. She became a vice president of Bradlaugh's Secular Society and wrote and edited much atheist journalism. With Bradlaugh, she was prosecuted for spreading birth-control information, and in consequence she lost the custody of her daughter and suffered much...