Boris de Zirkoff

Boris de Zirkoff (1902–1981) was a relative of H. P. Blavatsky and the editor of her written works. He lived for many years in the Point Loma community, where he created and edited the periodical Theosophia.

Early years

BdeZ was born in Petrograd, Russia [now known as Saint Petersburg] on _____________ 1902. His father was Mihail Vassilyevich de Zirkoff, a general in the Russian imperial Army. He described his family relationship to Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in this way:

Her father and my grandfather (my mother's father) were cousins. There was a considerable diference in age between the two branches of the family; hence I was born after HPB had died. This makes me something like a grand-nephew of HPB.

Modern genealogists would call this relationship "second cousin once removed."

As a boy of twelve in Russia, Boris became interested in his famous relative and her books. After moving to Sweden as a young man, he discovered The Secret Doctrine in a Swedish translation, in a library. The Theosophical Movement was well established in Sweden at that time. He lived in the home of Mrs. Wicander.

Notes typed by B de Z on a photograph show where he worked at Point Loma. Image from TSA Archives.

Life at Point Loma

Late in 1923, the 21-year-old de Zirkoff left Sweden to move to the Point Loma community of Katherine Tingley, where he became acquainted with pupils of HPB including Dr. Henry T. Edge, Charles J. Ryan, Reginald Machell, and Dr. Herbert Coryn.

Editorship of Theosophia

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Collected Writings project

De Zirkoff's work received international recognition and cooperation from the major Theosophical organizations. In 1981 he was awarded the Subba Row Medal of the Theosophical Society (Adyar) to acknowledge his superb contributions to Theosophical literature.

Archival legacy

Book plate from library of Boris de Zirkoff

Boris de Zirkoff left his fine library to the Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library of the Theosophical Society in America, where it is held intact in the Rare Books Room. His papers, including his correspondence and research files used in his work on H. P Blavatsky's collected writings and her letters, are in the Archives Department.