THE TRUTH ABOUT BLAVATSKY BY VERA ZHELIHOVSKY

This was the first biography written by Vera Petrovna of Zhelihovsky about the life of her sister Blavatsky. And according to the theosophical researcher Boris de Zirkoff, this is the most important publication of the nine essays that Ms. Zhelihovsky wrote about Blavatsky.

Initially the text was published in seven parts in the Russian magazine Rebus in the fall of 1883 with the title: "Pravda o Yelene Petrovna Blavatsky" [The Truth about Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]. ¹

And Vera probably wrote it to defend her sister since at that time she was accused by her enemies of being a fraudster.

Later, when Mr. Sinnett began writing his own book about the life of Blavatsky (to also defend her), he urged Blavatsky to provide him with information about her.

And although Blavatsky was not very enthusiastic, she translated Vera's document to provide Mr. Sinnett with the information he asked for.  And this account was widely cited by Mr. Sinnett in his book "The Incidents in the Life of Mrs. Blavatsky" (1886).

Blavatsky's translation (written in her own handwriting) was preserved in Adyar's archives. And in 1991 to commemorate the centenary of Blavatsky's death, The Theosophical Society in Adyar published this translation (also in seven parts) in its The Theosophist magazine with the title: "Fragments from HPB's Mystical History." ²

And this text was also published in the Collected Writings, volume 14, in the Appendix II.

Recently, the charitable organization F.O.T.A. (The Friends of Theosophical Archives) did an incredible job publishing a document in which appears:

    1)  The Blavatsky’s translation.

    2)  More a literal translation of Vera’s writing.

And you can compare and see the parts that Blavatsky added and the parts that she subtracted from Vera's writing.

And this is because there is no indication that Vera’s articles had been reviewed or revised by Blavatsky before being published, or even that Blavatsky knew they were being written, and she must have been astonished at seeing them in Pravda and shocked that her sister had inadvertently trodden, all unawares, into matters she had thought long consigned to oblivion.

And there are also aspects that Blavatsky considered important to report, but that Vera had not mentioned them.

    3)  And as an additional gift, F.O.T.A. also published the facsimiles of the original article in Russian!

So they did an excellent job, and that document can be downloaded (here).

And you can also read the second best biography that Vera wrote about her sister (here).

Notes

1) The magazine Rebus was published weekly and Vera's text was published on the following dates:

1st part:  No. 40, October 16, 1883, p. 357-359

2nd part: No. 41, October 23, 1883, p. 366-368

3rd part:  No. 43, November 6, 1883, p. 389-391

4th part:  No. 44, November 13, 1883, p. 397-400

5th part:  No. 46, November 27, 1883, p. 418-419

6th part:  No. 47, December 4, 1883, p. 428-430

7th part:  No. 48, December 11, 1883, p. 438-440

Theosophy.ph mentions that: “It appears that editorial liberties were taken with these texts and Zhelihovsky subsequently corrected them.”

2) The Theosophist magazine is published monthly and Blavatsky’s text was published on the following dates:

1st part:  May of 1991, p. 288-297

2nd part: June of 1991, p. 437-443

3rd part:  July of 1991, p. 475-482

4th part:  August of 1991, p. 520-528

5th part:  September of 1991, p. 552-56

6th part:  October of 1991, p. 28-33

7th part:  November of 1991, p. 61-66.