Henry Steel Olcott

Home > ... > Philosophy and Religion > Other Religious Beliefs and General Terms > Miscellaneous Religion: Biographies > ...

Essential reading Compare
side-by-side The Concise Oxford Dictionary ... A Dictionary of Buddhism The Columbia Encyclopedia, ...

Henry Steel Olcott

Henry Steel Olcott 1832-1907, American religious leader and author, cofounder of Theosophist movement, b. Orange, N.J. After working as an agricultural scientist and a lawyer, he and Helena Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society (1875) in New York City. In 1878, they moved the society to Adyar near Madras (now Chennai), India. Theosophy, a mixture of Eastern religion and Western occultism, has been influential in popularizing Asian philosophy in the West.

Bibliography: See the autobiographical Old Autumn Leaves (6 vol., 1972-75). His writings include Buddhist Catechism (1881) and Theosophy, Religion, and Occult Science (1885).

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-Olcott-H" title="Facts and information about Henry Steel Olcott">Henry Steel Olcott</a>

Give this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Henry Steel Olcott." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Feb. 2010 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Henry Steel Olcott." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 9, 2010). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Olcott-H.html

"Henry Steel Olcott." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved February 09, 2010 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Olcott-H.html

Learn more about citation styles

Olcott, Henry Steele

A Dictionary of Buddhism | 2004 | | © A Dictionary of Buddhism 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Olcott, Henry Steele (1832–1907). American army colonel and psychic investigator who became first president of the Theosophical Society.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O108-OlcottHenrySteele" title="Facts and information about Henry Steel Olcott">Henry Steel Olcott</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

DAMIEN KEOWN. "Olcott, Henry Steele." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Feb. 2010 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DAMIEN KEOWN. "Olcott, Henry Steele." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 9, 2010). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-OlcottHenrySteele.html

DAMIEN KEOWN. "Olcott, Henry Steele." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved February 09, 2010 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-OlcottHenrySteele.html

Learn more about citation styles

Theosophical Society

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Theosophical Society. Organization founded in New York by Mrs H. P. Blavatsky and Colonel H. S. Olcott in 1875, to derive from ancient wisdom and from the insights of evolution a world ethical code. In 1882, it moved its headquarters to India, and became the Adyar Theosophical Society. Although intended to be eclectic, it drew increasingly on Hindu resources. An important advocate of the Society was Annie Besant.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O101-TheosophicalSociety" title="Facts and information about Henry Steel Olcott">Henry Steel Olcott</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

JOHN BOWKER. "Theosophical Society." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Feb. 2010 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Theosophical Society." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (February 9, 2010). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-TheosophicalSociety.html

JOHN BOWKER. "Theosophical Society." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved February 09, 2010 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-TheosophicalSociety.html

Learn more about citation styles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauruses

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions entry for Olcott, Henry Steel

Rate these entries|See all related entries

Free newspaper and magazine articles

The American Encounter with Buddhism: 1844-1912, Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent.
Magazine article from: The Historian; 6/22/1993

Facts and information from other sites

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

	When East is West.(Opinion) Magazine article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life; 5/1/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...journalist, and spiritualist named Henry Steel Olcott. Born in 1832 into a Presbyterian family in Orange, New Jersey, Olcott became a convinced "convert to...The two became "chums," as Olcott described it, and the ex-Presbyterian...
	Letters Newspaper article from: Sun, The: Wheaton (IL); 10/5/2007; 446 words ; ...or in any way authenticated by this publication. Olcott wouldn't have allowed Cheney's acts Dick Cheney...services it provides to its military. I wish Col. Henry Steel Olcott were still alive. He would take care of military graft...
	Celebratethe sensesat society'sfestivities.(Neighbor) Newspaper article from: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL); 9/5/2008; ; 673 words ; ...religion, science and philosophy since the 1870s, when Henry Steel Olcott, a lawyer and journalist, and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky...1920s and built a stately building that now features the Olcott Library, with two stories of shelves filled with books...
	Gazette: Anniversaries Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 8/2/1999; 557 words ; ...Julius Schulhoff, organist and composer, 1825; Henry Steel Olcott, co- founder of the Theosophical Society, 1832...opened Theatre Royal in York staged a performance of Henry V, 1744; Napoleon was declared "Consul for life...
	Anniversaries Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 8/2/1996; 564 words ; ...Julius Schulhoff, organist and composer, 1825; Henry Steel Olcott, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, 1832...opened Theatre Royal in York staged a performance of Henry V, 1744; Napoleon was declared "Consul for life...
	Joy Dixon. Divine Feminism: Theosophy and Feminism in England. Magazine article from: Utopian Studies; 1/1/2002; ; 700+ words ; ...Theosophy, as Dixon tells it, is an engaging one. Centered around strong personalities, such as H.P. Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, and Annie Besant, the movement shifted in its place among "the lunatic fringe" as its leaders changed. Cultural...
	Quest continues tradition of publishing spiritual books.(Neighbor) Newspaper article from: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL); 9/3/2005; ; 657 words ; ...publishing manager for Quest Books. They published the writings of early Theosophists Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, among others. It wasn't long before books on related spiritual and philosophical matters such as mysticism and...
	Past leaders failed to take right decisions: President rajapaksa Newspaper article from: Daily Mirror; 10/27/2009; 642 words ; ...college is a result of the endeavour of national heroes like most venerable Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Nayaka Thera and Henry Steel Olcott. They even went to the street and to the periphery to raise funds for Nalanda and it was because of their efforts...
	Cultural exchange and religious change: Buddhism, Vedanta and immortality in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Britain (1). Magazine article from: Canadian Journal of History; 8/1/2004; ; 700+ words ; ...The fourth section discusses the more contrary Theosophical Society (TS), whose leaders, Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, propounded alternatively individual and collective eschatologies that they too attempted to establish on a scientific...
	The Unforgettable Dharmapala; The achievements of Anagarike Dharmapala (1864-1993). M2 Presswire; 2/13/2003; 700+ words ; ...1stBooks Library) tells the story of Dharmapala. In 1880, as a lad of 16, he meets the American Theosophists Colonel Henry Steel Olcott and Madam Helena Petrovna Blavatsky on their arrival in Sri Lanka (Ceylon), near the southern tip of India, then...