Henry Steel Olcott
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Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907), founder and first president of the Theosophical Society, is well-known as the first prominent person of Western descent to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. His subsequent actions as president of the Theosophical Society helped Buddhism into a new renaissance. He is still honoured in Sri Lanka for these efforts. Self-educated, his scholarship of Buddhism made a significant contribution to the development of Buddhist studies. He founded schools, the Young Mens Buddhist Association and championed civil rights in Sri Lanka. His systematic presentation of Buddhist teachings also did much to promote what has been decsibed as "Protestant Budhism" in the West. His "Buddhist flag" is widely used by Buddhist institutions and organizations. An early supported of Indian independence, he encouraged the use of home made products instead of imported goods. He successfully lobbied for recognition of the Buddha's Birthday as a public holiday in colonial Sri Lanka. Known as the "White Buddhist", his death is commemorated annually in Sri Lanka on 17th February when he is remembered his contribution to Sri Lankan Buddhism and also to the creation of the modern nation state.
Overview
Olcott grew up on his father's New Jersey farm. In his teens he attended the College of the City of New York and Columbia University,[[1]] where he joined the St. Anthony Hall fraternity,[[2]] a milieu of the socially prominent, until his father's business failed in 1851. In 1860 he married Mary Epplee Morgan daughter of the rector of Trinity parish, New Rochelle; they had three sons. Olcott was agricultural editor of the New York Tribune (1858–60), and sometimes submitted newspaper articles on various other subjects. He served in the Civil War and afterward was admitted to the bar in New York City. With the rank of Colonel, he was special commissioner in the U.S. War and Navy departments (1863–66). He published a genealogy of his family that traced him back to Thomas Olcott, one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut in 1636.
Some of his newspaper articles covered the Spiritualist movement. In 1874 while writing a series of articles on the seances of the Eddy brothers of Chittenden, Vermont he met Helena Blavatsky when both visited the Eddy farm. In early 1875 Olcott was called upon by prominent Spiritualists to investigate the charge of fraud against the mediums Jenny and Nelson Holmes, who had claimed to materialize the famous spirit control Katie King (Doyle 1926: volume 1, 269-277).
In September of 1875, Henry, Helena and others, notably William Quan Judge formed the Theosophical Society. In December 1878 they left New York in order to move the headquarters of the Society to India, where it later was established at Adyar. They landed at Bombay Feb 16 1879.[1] Olcott acted as adviser to the committee appointed to design a Buddhist flag. Blavatsky eventually went to live in London where she died, but Henry stayed in India and pursued the work of the society there. The Theosophical society built several Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka, most notably Ananda College, Nalanda College, Dharmaraja College and Visakha Vidyalaya. After his death, the leadership of the society devolved onto the shoulders of Blavatsky's protege Annie Besant.
Olcott Road, a major street in Colombo, has been named after him. A statue of him has been built in Maradana. He is still fondly remembered by many Sri Lankans and especially the students of these schools who have gone on to become Prime Ministers and industry leaders of the country.
Notes
- ↑ Conger, Margaret "Preface and Introduction to the Combined Chronology", Theosophical Society Preface and Introduction to the Combined Chronology retrieved 16 May 2007
Works
- Sorgho and Imphee, the Chinese and African sugar canes; NY: A. O. Moore, 1857 Sorgho and Imphee retrieved 08 May 2007
- Outlines of the first course of Yale agricultural lectures NY: C. M. Saxton, Barker & Co., 1860
- Descendents of Thomas Olcott, 1872
- Human Spirits and Elementaries; Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Office, 1875
- People from the other world; Hartford, CT: American Publishing Co, 1875
- A Buddhist catechism; Madras 1881, reprinted Olcott, Wheaton, Ill: Theosophical Pub. House, 1970 ISBN 9780835600279 A Buddhist Catechism retrieved 08 May 2007
- Theosophy, Religion, and Occult Science; London: G. Redway, 1885
- Old Diary Leaves (6 volumes) London: The Theosophical Publishing Society, 1900
- The Hindu Dwaita Catechism Madras: printed at the Empress of India Press, 1886
- The Golden Rules of Buddhism Adyar, Madrad: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1887 The Golden Rules of Buddhism retrieved 08 May 2007
- The kinship between Hinduism and Buddhism; Calcutta: The Maha-Bodhi society, 1893
- The Poor Pariah Madras: Addison & Co., 1902
- The Life of the Budha and its Lessons Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Office, 1912 The Life of the Buddha and Its Lessons retrieved 08 May 2007
- Old diary leaves, Inside the occult, the true story of Madame H. P. Blavatsky; Phaladelphia, PA: Running Press, 1975 (reprint) ISBN 0-914294-31-8
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Dharmapala, Anagarika, and Ananda W. P. Guruge. Return to Righteousness, A Collection of Speeches, Essays, and Letters of the Anagarika Dharmapala. [Colombo?]: Anagarika Dharmapala Birth Centenary Committee, Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, Ceylon, 1965.
- Doyle, Arthur Conan. The History of Spiritualism. New York: G.H. Doran, Co. Volume 1: 1926 retrieved 08 May 2007 and Volume 2: 1926retrieved 08 May 2007
- Guruge, Ananda W. P. Free at Last in Paradise, Bloomington: Authuhouse, 1998 ISBN 9781585001361
- Guruge, Ananda W. P. From the Living Fountains of Buddhism: Sri Lankan Support to Pioneering Western Orientalists. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Ministry of Cultural Affairs, 1984
- Lysy, Anton and Pazdioch, Martin The Remarkable Life of Henry Steel Olcott (DVD)Wheaton, Ill: Quest, 2007 ISBN 978-0-8356-9521-3
- Motwani, Kewal: Colonel H. S. Olcott, a forgotten page in American history Madras: Ganesh, 1955 (
- Murphet, Howard: Hammer on the mountain, life of Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907); Wheaton, ILL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972ISBN 0-8356-0210-9
- Prothero, Stephen R.: The white Buddhist, the Asian odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott; Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996 ISBN 0-253-33014-9
- Prothero, Stephen. 1995. Henry Steel Olcott and "Protestant Buddhism". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 63, no. 2: 281.
- Williams, Gertrude Marvin. Priestess of the Occult, Madame Blavatsky. NY: A. A. Knopf, 1946.
External links
- Theosophy Library Online retrieved 08 May 2007
- Page at Aryasangha.org rerieved 08 May 2007
- Articles by and relating to H.S. Olcott retrieved 08 May 2007
- Articles on Olcott retrieved 08 May 2007
- Some articles by Olcott retrieved 08 May 2007
- Works by Henry Steel Olcott. Project Gutenberg retrieved 08 May 2007
- Olcott centenary at the Theosophical Society retrieved 16 May 2007
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