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'''Emma Coulomb''' was an English woman who worked as a housekeeper for [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] in India and betrayed her trust, causing the scandal known as the [[Hodgson Report|Coulomb Affair]].
'''Emma Coulomb''' was an English woman who worked as a housekeeper for [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] in India and betrayed her trust, causing the scandal known as the '''[[Hodgson Report|Coulomb Affair]]'''.


According to [[Readers Guide to The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (book)|''Readers Guide to The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett'']]:<br>
== Personal life ==
 
Emma Cutting was an English woman whose early history is not known. Her first appearance was in Cairo, Egypt in 1871.
 
According to investigations by [[C. W. Leadbeater]] made in Egypt in 1884:
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
[[Alexis Coulomb|Coulomb, Alexis]] and Emma, residents and staff members at the headquarters of the [[Theosophical Society|TS]]. In 1880, Mr. and Mrs. Coulomb appeared, penniless, at the headquarters of the TS in [[Bombay, India]] and asked for shelter. [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|HPB]] had known Mrs. Coulomb slightly as Miss Emma Cutting, in Cairo, Egypt, in 1871. The Coulombs were given a home with the [[Founders]], and Mrs. Coulomb assumed the duties of housekeeper, with the freedom of HPB's purse. Mr. Coulomb was a carpenter and draftsman who made himself useful as a handyman. He was appointed by [[Henry Steel Olcott|HSO]] to the [[Board of Control]] when the Founders went to Europe in 1884. This appointment was made because Mrs. Coulomb insisted to HSO that her husband was a proud man and his feelings would be hurt if he were left out. In [[Old Diary Leaves (book)|ODL]] 3: 74, HSO comments: "If I had had even an inkling of his real character, instead of making her husband ... a Committee man, I should have had our servants chase both of them out of our compound with bamboo switches." The story of how these two, particularly Mrs. Coulomb, conspired with Christian missionaries to discredit HPB and funished false "evidence" to [[Richard Hodgson]] ... is told in numerous places - in greatest detail in ''Obituary - "The Hodgson Report" on Madame Blavatsky: 1885-1960'', by Adlai E. Waterman. [[The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (book)|ML]] index; [[Damodar and the Pioneers of the Theosophical Movement (book)|D]], pp. 450, 573; [[A Short History of the Theosophical Society (book)|SH]] index.<ref>George E. Linton and Virginia Hanson, eds., ''Readers Guide to The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett'' (Adyar, Chennai, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 224-225.</ref>
Madame Coulomb &ndash; then Miss Cutting &ndash; came to Cairo with a brother who was insane through drink and afterwards committed suicide. She was for some time governess in the family of S&ndash;&ndash; Pasha, but was expelled from his household upon the discovery that she was endeavouring to instill vicious ideas into the mind of her charge. She was then for a time reduced to poverty.<ref>C. W. Leadbeater letter to ''Indian Mirror'' dated December 14, 1884. As presented in Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" ''Theosophical History'' Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 52.</ref>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


[[Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa|C. Jinarājadāsa]] gave this account:
Emma stayed at a hotel owned by the Coulomb family, managing to endear herself through flattery and deception. She claimed to have a special ability to locate hidden treasures, and was seen hiding some Spanish doubloons in the foundation of a house before "finding" them.
 
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
When in Cairo in 1871, [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|H.P.B.]] became acquainted with a Frenchman, Monsieur Coulomb, and his English Wife, who was Emma Cutting before her marriage. in 1878, H.P.B. and [[Henry Steel Olcott|Colonel Olcott]] came to India and made Bombay the Headquarters of the [[Theosophical Society|Society]]. Somewhere about this time, the two Coulombs were in Galle, Ceylon, where they had opened a boarding house. This venture was about to collapse, when Madame Coulomb wrote to H.P.B.for a loan. H.P.B. replied that, if she cared to come to India with her husband, work would be found for them. So the two Coulombs came and were given what work was possible. the husband was good at carpentry, and a job was secured for him at a factory; but he lost his job, and so work was found for him at the residence of the [[Founders]]. Madame Coulomb was given the work of superintending the housekeeping. Later, Coulomb was put in charge of the small library of the Society, and his wife was given simple secretarial work. When the Founders left for Madras in 1882, the two Coulombs came with them and resided at the new headquarters at Adyar.
She also pretended to be a clairvoyante, and was daily mesmerized by [[Alexis Coulomb]], who had a very high opinion of his own powers in that direction; and by her behaviour, when apparently entranced, she was successful in inducing him to marry her.<ref>C. W. Leadbeater letter to ''Indian Mirror'' dated December 14, 1884. As presented in Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" ''Theosophical History'' Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 52.</ref>
</blockquote>
 
"The couple fled the country after an attempt at fraudulent bankruptcy, turning up in Calcutta in 1874 and moving on to Ceylon."<ref>Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" ''Theosophical History'' Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 6.</ref> Little is known about their activities from then until 1880, and after 1885.
 
Mme. Coulomb died on [[July 28]], 1904 in Bombay, India.<ref>India, Select Deaths and Burials, 1719-1948.</ref>
 
== Meeting Madame Blavatsky ==


In February, 1884, H.P.B. and Colonel Olcott left for Europe. The management of Headquarters was then put in the hands of a [[Board of Control]]. This Board soon found the Madame Coulomb was often trying to obtain loans from members who came to Adyar. Difficulties quickly arose between the Board of Control and Madame Coulomb, and finally the Board dismissed both husband and wife.<ref>C. Jinarājadāsa, ''The "K. H." Letters to C. W. Leadbeater'' (Adyar, Madras, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1941), 25-26.</ref>  
Late in 1871, [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] arrived in Cairo, Egypt. There she formed a slight acquaintance with Miss Emma Cutting, who temporarily loaned her small amounts of money. H.P.B. formed the '''Société Spirite''' (“Spiritist Society”) for the investigation of the [[Spiritism]] of the French occultist [[Allan Kardec]]. However, Blavatsky could not find honest and qualified mediums to do the kind of research she had envisioned, so the Société was disbanded after about two weeks. Emma Cutting attended one séance, hoping to contact a dead relative.
</blockquote>
 
In 1880, Emma Coulomb and her husband Alexis were living in Galle, Ceylon, trying to operate a boarding house. They heard of Blavatsky's arrival with [[Henry Steel Olcott|Colonel Henry S. Olcott]] in Bombay to establish an Indian headquarters of the [[Theosophical Society]] that had been [[Founding of the Theosophical Society|founded]] in 1875. Emma wrote to H.P.B. asking for a loan, but no funds were then available to help her. "To everyone's surprise the couple appeared at the Bombay headquarters on the evening of March 28, 1880, 'shoeless, penniless and starving.' H.P.B., generous to a fault, invited them to stay until they could get settled."<ref>Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" ''Theosophical History'' Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 6.</ref>
 
== Theosophical Society employment ==
 
Within a week of their arrival in Bombay, the couple began to establish themselves within the Theosophists' household. Emma took on housekeeping tasks, and Alexis worked as a handyman. The General Membership Register of the Theosophical Society indicates that both Coulombs were admitted as members on April 3, 1880.<ref>Theosophical Society General Membership Register, 1875-1942 at [http://tsmembers.org/ http://tsmembers.org/]. See book 1, entries 288 and 289 (website file: 1A/17).</ref>


He went on to describe in some detail the vengeful plot hatched by the Coulombs to discredit Madame Blavatsky and the Society.
The Coulombs gradually became indispensable, and they maintained the headquarters during the long absences of the [[Founders]]. When the headquarters was moved to [[Adyar (campus)|Adyar near Madras]] at the end of 1882, the couple went along and continued in their same roles.


== Testimony of C. W. Leadbeater ==
== The Coulomb controversy ==


Over time, Emma came to be envious and dissatisfied. She slandered Madame Blavatsky viciously behind her back. In 1884, the [[Founders]] went to Europe, and Colonel Olcott, the President of the Theosophical Society, appointed seven men to serve as a [[Board of Control]] for the organization during his absence. Evidently Alexis was added to the board "because Mrs. Coulomb insisted to HSO that her husband was a proud man and his feelings would be hurt if he were left out."<ref>George E. Linton and Virginia Hanson, eds., ''Readers Guide to The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett'' (Adyar, Chennai, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 224-225.</ref> Colonel Olcott later commented:
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
Madame Coulomb - then Miss Cutting - came to Cairo with a brother who was insane through drink, and afterwards committed suicide.  
If I had had even an inkling of his real character, instead of making her husband ... a Committee man, I should have had our servants chase both of them out of our compound with bamboo switches.<ref>Henry S. Olcott, ''Old Diary Leaves'' Volume 3, page 74.</ref>
</blockquote>


The Coulombs had considerable influence and access in the running of the headquarters estate. Alexis altered Blavatsky's rooms to support an allegation that she had used fraud to produce [[Precipitation|precipitated]] letters from the [[Mahatma|Mahatmas]]. Board of Control members discovered that Emma Coulomb had been trying to borrow money from Indian members. Finally, on [[May 14]], 1884, the General Council of the Theosophical Society dismissed Emma and Alexis Coulomb from their positions, based on numerous affidavits about their behavior. Alexis was charged with disobedience to the Board and with aiding and abetting his wife in her scurrilous activities. Ten charges were alleged against Emma, including attempts at extortion and blackmail; lying and backbiting; dissuading people from joining the Theosophical Society; denying the [[phenomena]] at Adyar; and making claims of anti-British activities by Theosophists.<ref>''Proceedings'' of the General Council of the Theosophical Society, May 14, 1884. Reprinted in Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" ''Theosophical History'' Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 38-39.</ref>


<ref>C. W. Leadbeater letter to ''Indian Mirror'' dated December 14, 1884. As presented in Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" ''Theosophical History'' Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 52.</ref>
The couple moved away from the Adyar compound on May 25. With encouragement of Christian missionaries in Madras, Emma worked to discredit Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society by publishing forged letters. Purportedly written by Madame Blavatsky, the correspondence implied that H.P.B. had been complicit in producing fake Mahatma letters and [[phenomena]]. After the letters became public, the [[Society for Psychical Research]] sent a young investigator, [[Richard Hodgson]] to interview the Coulombs and many others in India, resulting in the famous '''[[Hodgson Report]]'''.
</blockquote>
 
Mme. Coulomb tried to sue [[Henry Rhodes Morgan|Major-General Morgan]] in 1885 for slander, but quickly withdrew her case.<ref>See the exchange of letters to ''Madras Mail'' by both parties reprinted in Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" ''Theosophical History'' Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 60-62.</ref>
 
These events of 1884-1885 are often referred to as the '''Coulomb Affair''', about which many volumes have been written.


== Pamphlet by ==


The General Membership Register of the Theosophical Society indicates that Alexis Coulomb and his wife [[Emma Coulomb|Emma]] were admitted as a member on April 3, 1880 in Bombay and that they were later expelled.<ref>Theosophical Society General Membership Register, 1875-1942 at [http://tsmembers.org/ http://tsmembers.org/]. See book 1, entries 288 and 289 (website file: 1A/17).</ref>
* ''Some Account of My Intercourse with Madame Blavatsky from 1872 to 1884; with Additional Letters and Full Explanation of the Most Marvellous Theosophical Phenomena''. Madras, India: Higginbotham & Company, 1884. Published for the ''Madras Christian College Magazine'' by Elliot Stock, 1885.


== Additional resources ==
== Additional resources ==


* Charles J. Ryan, "Chapter 13: The Coulomb Conspiracy against Theosophy," ''H. P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement'' (Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1975). Available at [http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/hpb-tm/hpbtm-13.htm Theosophical University Press Online].
* Charles J. Ryan, "Chapter 13: The Coulomb Conspiracy against Theosophy," ''H. P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement'' (Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1975). Available at [http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/hpb-tm/hpbtm-13.htm Theosophical University Press Online].
* [https://www.theosophy.world/encyclopedia/coulomb-emma Coulomb, Emma] in Theosophy World.


== Notes ==
== Notes ==

Latest revision as of 20:30, 31 May 2024

Emma Coulomb was an English woman who worked as a housekeeper for Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in India and betrayed her trust, causing the scandal known as the Coulomb Affair.

Personal life

Emma Cutting was an English woman whose early history is not known. Her first appearance was in Cairo, Egypt in 1871.

According to investigations by C. W. Leadbeater made in Egypt in 1884:

Madame Coulomb – then Miss Cutting – came to Cairo with a brother who was insane through drink and afterwards committed suicide. She was for some time governess in the family of S–– Pasha, but was expelled from his household upon the discovery that she was endeavouring to instill vicious ideas into the mind of her charge. She was then for a time reduced to poverty.[1]

Emma stayed at a hotel owned by the Coulomb family, managing to endear herself through flattery and deception. She claimed to have a special ability to locate hidden treasures, and was seen hiding some Spanish doubloons in the foundation of a house before "finding" them.

She also pretended to be a clairvoyante, and was daily mesmerized by Alexis Coulomb, who had a very high opinion of his own powers in that direction; and by her behaviour, when apparently entranced, she was successful in inducing him to marry her.[2]

"The couple fled the country after an attempt at fraudulent bankruptcy, turning up in Calcutta in 1874 and moving on to Ceylon."[3] Little is known about their activities from then until 1880, and after 1885.

Mme. Coulomb died on July 28, 1904 in Bombay, India.[4]

Meeting Madame Blavatsky

Late in 1871, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky arrived in Cairo, Egypt. There she formed a slight acquaintance with Miss Emma Cutting, who temporarily loaned her small amounts of money. H.P.B. formed the Société Spirite (“Spiritist Society”) for the investigation of the Spiritism of the French occultist Allan Kardec. However, Blavatsky could not find honest and qualified mediums to do the kind of research she had envisioned, so the Société was disbanded after about two weeks. Emma Cutting attended one séance, hoping to contact a dead relative.

In 1880, Emma Coulomb and her husband Alexis were living in Galle, Ceylon, trying to operate a boarding house. They heard of Blavatsky's arrival with Colonel Henry S. Olcott in Bombay to establish an Indian headquarters of the Theosophical Society that had been founded in 1875. Emma wrote to H.P.B. asking for a loan, but no funds were then available to help her. "To everyone's surprise the couple appeared at the Bombay headquarters on the evening of March 28, 1880, 'shoeless, penniless and starving.' H.P.B., generous to a fault, invited them to stay until they could get settled."[5]

Theosophical Society employment

Within a week of their arrival in Bombay, the couple began to establish themselves within the Theosophists' household. Emma took on housekeeping tasks, and Alexis worked as a handyman. The General Membership Register of the Theosophical Society indicates that both Coulombs were admitted as members on April 3, 1880.[6]

The Coulombs gradually became indispensable, and they maintained the headquarters during the long absences of the Founders. When the headquarters was moved to Adyar near Madras at the end of 1882, the couple went along and continued in their same roles.

The Coulomb controversy

Over time, Emma came to be envious and dissatisfied. She slandered Madame Blavatsky viciously behind her back. In 1884, the Founders went to Europe, and Colonel Olcott, the President of the Theosophical Society, appointed seven men to serve as a Board of Control for the organization during his absence. Evidently Alexis was added to the board "because Mrs. Coulomb insisted to HSO that her husband was a proud man and his feelings would be hurt if he were left out."[7] Colonel Olcott later commented:

If I had had even an inkling of his real character, instead of making her husband ... a Committee man, I should have had our servants chase both of them out of our compound with bamboo switches.[8]

The Coulombs had considerable influence and access in the running of the headquarters estate. Alexis altered Blavatsky's rooms to support an allegation that she had used fraud to produce precipitated letters from the Mahatmas. Board of Control members discovered that Emma Coulomb had been trying to borrow money from Indian members. Finally, on May 14, 1884, the General Council of the Theosophical Society dismissed Emma and Alexis Coulomb from their positions, based on numerous affidavits about their behavior. Alexis was charged with disobedience to the Board and with aiding and abetting his wife in her scurrilous activities. Ten charges were alleged against Emma, including attempts at extortion and blackmail; lying and backbiting; dissuading people from joining the Theosophical Society; denying the phenomena at Adyar; and making claims of anti-British activities by Theosophists.[9]

The couple moved away from the Adyar compound on May 25. With encouragement of Christian missionaries in Madras, Emma worked to discredit Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society by publishing forged letters. Purportedly written by Madame Blavatsky, the correspondence implied that H.P.B. had been complicit in producing fake Mahatma letters and phenomena. After the letters became public, the Society for Psychical Research sent a young investigator, Richard Hodgson to interview the Coulombs and many others in India, resulting in the famous Hodgson Report.

Mme. Coulomb tried to sue Major-General Morgan in 1885 for slander, but quickly withdrew her case.[10]

These events of 1884-1885 are often referred to as the Coulomb Affair, about which many volumes have been written.

Pamphlet by

  • Some Account of My Intercourse with Madame Blavatsky from 1872 to 1884; with Additional Letters and Full Explanation of the Most Marvellous Theosophical Phenomena. Madras, India: Higginbotham & Company, 1884. Published for the Madras Christian College Magazine by Elliot Stock, 1885.

Additional resources

  • Charles J. Ryan, "Chapter 13: The Coulomb Conspiracy against Theosophy," H. P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement (Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1975). Available at Theosophical University Press Online.
  • Coulomb, Emma in Theosophy World.

Notes

  1. ↑ C. W. Leadbeater letter to Indian Mirror dated December 14, 1884. As presented in Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" Theosophical History Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 52.
  2. ↑ C. W. Leadbeater letter to Indian Mirror dated December 14, 1884. As presented in Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" Theosophical History Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 52.
  3. ↑ Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" Theosophical History Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 6.
  4. ↑ India, Select Deaths and Burials, 1719-1948.
  5. ↑ Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" Theosophical History Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 6.
  6. ↑ Theosophical Society General Membership Register, 1875-1942 at http://tsmembers.org/. See book 1, entries 288 and 289 (website file: 1A/17).
  7. ↑ George E. Linton and Virginia Hanson, eds., Readers Guide to The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (Adyar, Chennai, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 224-225.
  8. ↑ Henry S. Olcott, Old Diary Leaves Volume 3, page 74.
  9. ↑ Proceedings of the General Council of the Theosophical Society, May 14, 1884. Reprinted in Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" Theosophical History Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 38-39.
  10. ↑ See the exchange of letters to Madras Mail by both parties reprinted in Michael Gomes, "The Coulomb Case" Theosophical History Occasional Papers Volume X (Fullerton, California: Theosophical History, 2005) 60-62.
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