Maud Hoffman
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Maud Hoffman (1869-19??) was an American Theosophist and actress who was heir to the estate of A. P. Sinnett. She entrusted A. Trevor Barker with the task of publishing The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett and The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett, both based on correspondence from the Sinnett estate.
Personal life
Theatrical career
American newspapers continued to follow her career after she moved to London. In 1911, the New York Times wrote that a performance in London's famous Royal Court Theatre of a new comedy in three acts entitled Married by Degrees, was " noteworthy, chiefly because it provided the medium for an American actress, Miss Maud Hoffman, to make a distinctly successful appearance before a British audience.[1]
Feminist activities
Theosophical Society activities
Maud Hoffmann joined Theosophical Society's H.P.B. Lodge in London on January 6, 1909.[2]
Mr. Jinarājadāsa wrote of her involvement with A. P. Sinnett and the Mahatma Letters that were published by her agency in 1923:
Mr. Sinnett had a devoted friend, Miss Maud Hoffman, almost like a daughter, who tended him in his last years, and he made her his legatee and executrix, and so the Letters came into her possession. Miss Hoffman then asked Mr. A. Trevor Barker to do the best that he could with them, and Mr. Barker published them as the work The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett.[3]
H. N. Stokes, in his The O. E. Library Critic, wrote that the president of the Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Annie Besant, ejected Miss Hoffman from the Esoteric Section for releasing the Mahatma Letters to the public against the wishes of the Mahatmas. However, Sinnett himself saw no objection in publishing the letters, and was supported in this by Gottfried de Purucker and others. Many of the letters had previously been published in books and periodicals. Miss Hoffman formed the Mahatma Letters Trust, and turned over responsibility for future editions to Christmas Humphreys and Elsie Benjamin.
In 1931, Miss Hoffman was a participant in the Centennial Conference in London held to honor the birth of Theosophical Society founder Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. The conference was an attempt proposed by Gottfried de Purucker to bridge gaps in the fractured Theosophical Movement in order to restore a sense of brotherhood and unity. Miss Hoffman was invited as an independent Theosophist of England.[4]
Connection to Gurdjieff
Writings
Miss Hoffman adapted the popular Mabel Collins book Idyll of the White Lotus into a play called Sensa, a Mystery Play in Three Acts.[5]
Additional resources
- Sensa, a Mystery Play in Three Acts. Covina, California, 1950. Made available online by Theosophy Northwest.
Notes
- ↑ "AMERICAN ACTRESS SCORES IN LONDON; Maud Hoffman Makes Success of Difficult Role in New Comedy, Married by Degrees, New York Times (September 17, 1911): Section C, page 4.
- ↑ Theosophical Society General Membership Register, 1875-1942 at http://tsmembers.org/. See book 3, entry 38033 (website file: 3D/37).
- ↑ C. Jinarajadasa, "On the Watchtower" The Theosophist 72 no.9 (June, 1951): 146-147.
- ↑ Anonymous, "In the Future - a Spiritual Brotherhood" The Eclectic Theosophist no.20 (Jan 15, 1974): 1.
- ↑ Published in 1950 by Theosophical University Press in Covina, California. It is available online at Theosophy Northwest [1]