Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Annie Besant
-
Standard Name: Besant, Annie
Birth Name: Annie Wood
Married Name: Annie Besant
Pseudonym: Ajax
Used Form: the wife of a beneficed clergyman
AB
is known primarily for two streams of non-fiction writing, one concerning birth control and the other the Theosophist movement. However, this omits much of the remarkable output whose topics ranged from women's rights and religion to politics and science; only a small selection from over one hundred pamphlets, lectures, and essays can be discussed here.
Shattock, Joanne. The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers. Oxford University Press.
She often pursued various topics simultaneously. For example, during 1878 and 1879 while she was trying to regain custody of her children, she was also organising her writings on the French Revolution; translating a book from French; keeping up with her weekly journalism; producing pamphlets on atheism, republicanism, India and Ireland; sitting on committees; and, of course, continuing to lecture.
Dinnage, Rosemary. Annie Besant. Penguin.
48-9
As well as such often controversial writings, AB
published short fiction.
Also in 1887, she made the selections and supplied a prefatory note for Robert Lewins
's tract entitled Humanism v. Theism, which appeared with the Freethought Publishing Company
associated with Annie Besant
and the...
politics
Sarojini Naidu
From the first years of the new century, SN
became heavily involved in Indian national politics. She was an unusually eloquent speaker and brought her voice to bear on many of India's political and social...
politics
Sarojini Naidu
The deputation was sponsored by Irish-English suffragist Margaret Cousins
. The Indian women's movement gained momentum after Annie Besant
was interned by the Governor of Madras in June 1917. After her release in September, women...
politics
Sarojini Naidu
After meeting Gandhi, SN
devoted increased energy to the cause of Indian self-government, and participated in his civil disobediance campaigns. She also joined Annie Besant
's Home Rule movement.
Sengupta, Padmini. Sarojini Naidu: A Biography. Asia Publishing House.
86-9, 98, 113-14, 147
politics
Sarojini Naidu
SN
was elected president for the Indian National Congress
, a position previously held by Annie Besant
.
Naidu, Sarojini. “Introduction and Notes”. Sarojini Naidu, Selected Letters 1890s to 1940s, edited by Makarand Paranjape, Kali for Women, p. Various pages.
ix
Naidu, Sarojini. Sarojini Naidu, Selected Letters 1890s to 1940s. Editor Paranjape, Makarand, Kali for Women.
178
Sengupta, Padmini. Sarojini Naidu: A Biography. Asia Publishing House.
147-8, 177, 180-3
Bakshi, Shiri Ram. Sarojini Naidu: Struggle for Swaraj. Anmol Publications.
EP
was politically active in London from at least 1887, when she and her husband attended the Bloody Sunday demonstration in Trafalgar Square on 13 November.
Purvis, June. Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography. Routledge.
Mitchell, David J. The Fighting Pankhursts: A Study in Tenacity. MacMillan.
24
Reception
Bessie Rayner Parkes
Three-quarters of a century later her daughter reported that the young Edmund Gosse
was a great admirer of BRP
's poetry in general. As a schoolboy he knew and loved her romantic lyric about Robin...
politics
Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence
At the height of the suffrage movement, EPL
spoke in connection with the largest procession to date, at the Albert Hall. So did Emmeline
and Christabel Pankhurst
, Annie Kenney
, Annie Besant
...
McKenzie, Keith Alexander, and Gordon S. Haight. Edith Simcox and George Eliot. Oxford University Press.
42-3
politics
Edith J. Simcox
On 12 December 1877 EJS
remarked in her autobiography that a Council was appointed to which I was nominated, then Mrs Besant
, then Mrs Harriet Law
, and Mr Bradlaugh
in between. I had...
Family and Intimate relationships
Anna Wickham
After AW
's marriage, Alice Harper returned to London briefly and opened a physiognomy parlour in Regent Street. She also became involved in Annie Besant
's Theosophist movement.
Hepburn, James et al. “Anna Wickham: A Memoir”. The Writings of Anna Wickham, Free Woman and Poet, edited by Reginald Donald Smith, Virago Press, pp. 1-48.
12
Wickham, Anna et al. “Fragment of an Autobiography: Prelude to a Spring Clean”. The Writings of Anna Wickham Free Woman and Poet, edited by Reginald Donald Smith, Virago Press, pp. 51-157.
