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

De Zirkoff was born in Petrograd, Russia [now known as Saint Petersburg] on March 7, 1902. His mother was Lydia Dmitriyevna von Hahn. who was a second cousin to Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. 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."

During his boyhood, he was tutored at home. He had an aptitude for languages, eventually mastering Russian, English, Swedish, German, and French, as well as the classics. As a boy in Russia, Boris was aware of his famous relative, but knew little of her.

After moving to Sweden as a young man, he discovered The Secret Doctrine. In one account, he found a Swedish translation in a library, but another version of the story tells that he first saw HPB's masterwork in the home of the Russian Consul. The Theosophical Movement was well established in Sweden at that time. De Zirkoff met Katherine Tingley during one of her European tours as head of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society.

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, where he was living in the home of Mrs. Wicander, to move to the Point Loma community at Katherine Tingley's invitation. There 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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Theosophia was an independent quarterly periodical published in Los Angeles from May-June 1944 to Summer 1981. The final issue, pictured here, was a tribute to the recently deceased editor.

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.