Isabel Cooper-Oakley

Isabel Cooper-Oakley c. 1884
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Harriet Isabella (Isabel) Cooper-Oakley[1][2] (31 January 1854 – 3 March 1914), was a prominent Theosophist and author.[3]

She was born in Amritsar, India to (Frederic) Henry Cooper, C.B., commissioner of Lahore[4] and his wife Mary (née Steel), receiving a good education because of her father's belief in the value of education for women.[4] She had suffered a severe injury in an accident aged 23 which prevented her from walking for two years, during which time she intensified her reading.[4] She went on to study at Girton College, Cambridge. Whilst at the university, she met — and later married — fellow student Alfred John Oakley. They then both changed their surname to Cooper-Oakley. Alfred stayed some years at Adyar, India, as an assistant to Henry Steel Olcott. He left to become Registrar of the University of Madras.[5] Sometime in the late 1890s, G.R.S. Mead became her brother-in-law when he married her sister, another prominent Theosophist, Laura Cooper.

Isabel Cooper-Oakley died on March 3, 1914, at Budapest, Hungary.

Works

  • Count of Saint-Germain, ISBN 0-7661-0101-0
  • The Count of St. Germain: Mystic and Philosopher, (1912) ISBN 1-4253-3280-3
  • Masonry and Medieval Mysticism: Traces of a Hidden Tradition, ISBN 1-56459-643-5
  • The Troubadours and Freemasonry, ISBN 1-4253-1617-4
  • The Tradition of the Knights Templar Received in Masonry, ISBN 1-4253-1616-6
  • Towards the Hidden Sources of Masonry, ISBN 1-4253-1615-8
  • An Introduction to Masonry and Mysticism, ISBN 1-4253-1614-X
  • Freemasonry and the Heavenly Kingdom of the Holy Grail, ISBN 1-4253-1618-2
  • The Count of Saint-Germain and Tragical Prophecies, ISBN 1-4253-3281-1
  • Masonic Tradition and the Count of Saint-Germain, ISBN 1-4253-3283-8
  • Secret Writings and Ciphers, ISBN 1-4253-4024-5
  • The Count of Saint-Germain and His Political Work, ISBN 1-4253-3282-X
  • Mystical Traditions, ISBN 0-7661-0346-3
  • Studies in the "secret doctrine"
  • The Mystical Traditions and Masonry and Medieval Mysticism, ISBN 1-4254-5390-2
  • Samkhya and Yoga Philosophy

Footnotes

  1. ^ Red Cactus: The Life of Anna Kingsford, Alan Pert, 2006, pg 104
  2. ^ "Copy of Will of MRS. Harriet Isabella Cooper Oakley appointing husband A. J. Cooper Oakley as executor - or if deceased - her sister Miss Laura Mary Cooper (In an envelope)".
  3. ^ 1891 England Census[permanent dead link], showing a household including "Constance Wachtmeister Manager of Publishing Office; G.R.S. Mead, Author Journalist; Isabel Oakley, age 37, born Amritza, India, Millener; Helena Blavatsky, Authoress; and others"
  4. ^ a b c Madame Blavatsky: The Woman Behind the Myth, Marion Meade, Putnam, 1980, pg 321
  5. ^ ""The 'K.H.' letters to Leadbetter"". Archived from the original on 2007-01-02. Retrieved 2006-12-04.