Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was a nineteenth century Russian occultist, philosopher and author. Best known as a cofounder of the Theosophical Society, she was born into an aristocrat German-Russian family. From her early childhood, she showed some kind of psychic power, very often experiencing hallucinatory visions, occasionally writing messages in handwritings that were not her own. Moreover, she was a clever linguist, a gifted pianist and a great artist. Also a fearless rider, she rode half-broken horses with ease and loved nature. At eighteen, after a short unconsummated marriage, she left home, traveling far and wide for many years, reaching India and then Tibet, where she underwent occult training, eventually founding the Theosophical Society at the age of forty-four and becoming a naturalized US citizen at the age of forty-seven. Thereafter, she returned to India, where her work gained recognition. Later, she returned to Europe due to ill-health, spending the last few years of her life in London, where she died at the age of fifty-nine.