Helena Blavatsky
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![Yekaterinoslav in the early 19th century](/Images/godic/202412/31/Ekaterinoslav_XIXth_century2120.jpg")
![A painting of Blavatsky and her mother, titled](/Images/godic/202412/31/H.Hahn_and_H.Blavatsky2120.jpg")
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Russian:Еле́на Петро́вна Блава́тская, Yelena Petrovna Blavatskaya; 12 August [O.S. 31 July] 1831 –8 May 1891) was an occultist, spirit medium, and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an international following as the leading theoretician of Theosophy, the esoteric movement that the Society promoted.