Counter-Currents
Remembering Savitri Devi:
September 30, 1905 to October 22, 1982
Greg Johnson
379 words
Savitri Devi was a philosopher, a religious thinker, and a tireless polemicist and activist for the causes of animal rights, European pagan revivalism, Hindu Nationalism, German National Socialism, and — after the Second World War — pan-European racial nationalism. She also sought to found a religion, Esoteric Hiterlism, fusing National Socialism with the Traditionalism of René Guénon and Julius Evola. All told, she was one of the most extraordinary personalities of the 20th century.
She was born Maximine Portaz born in Lyons, France on September 30, 1905. Her mother, Julia Nash was English, descending from Viking stock. (She claimed that the name Nash is derived from Ash, as in the World Ash Tree.) Her father, Maxim Portaz, was three fourths Italian from Savoy, one fourth Greek. Because of her mixed-European heritage, she identified herself simply as “European.” She also described herself as a “nationalist of all nations,” what Frank Salter called “universal nationalism.”
For an account of her life and work, read R. G. Fowler’s tribute to Savitri Devi on her 100th birthday: “Woman Against Time: Remembering Savitri Devi’s 100th Birthday.” German translation here, French translation here, Norwegian translation here.
Savitri Devi died on October 22, 1982 in Sible Hedingham, Essex, England at the home of her friend Muriel Gantry. For a sad account of her passing, see Muriel Gantry’s “The Last Days of Savitri Devi,” selected from her correspondence by R. G. Fowler.
For more information on Savitri Devi’s life, work, and influence see R. G. Fowler’s website The Savitri Devi Archive.
Four of Savitri Devi’s books are currently in print in English and available for purchase here. For an ideal introduction to Savitri Devi’s life and work, see And Time Rolls On: The Savitri Devi Interviews. For her views on animal rights, vegetarianism, and Deep Ecology, see her manifesto Impeachment of Man. For accounts of her clandestine propaganda activities in Occupied Germany see Gold in the Furnace: Experiences in Occupied Germany. On her subsequent arrest, trial, and imprisonment, see Defiance: The Prison Memoirs of Savitri Devi. (Also check out Alex Kurtagi?’s reviews of Gold in the Furnace here and Defiance here.)
For information on forthcoming volumes by Savitri Devi, including the long-awaited republication of the complete and unabridged edition of The Lightning and the Sun, see The Savitri Devi Archive News page.
9 comments
I would be grateful if somebody would explain to me why I should not regard Savitri Devi as a race-mixer/race-traitor. The woman married an Indian, and, no, he was not White!
I am willing to give her credit for her books, but come on, White people, a race-mixer is a race-mixer is a race-mixer.
Pictures of her husband can be found here (at The Savitri Devi Archive): http://www.savitridevi.org/photos-mukherji.html
Just look at her mother. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Thank you, sir, for this tribute to Savitri. Her writing is so full of love and passion, whenever I see an older woman who looks like her, I feel stirrings. Who knew they could be so hot?
November 8th is Margret Mitchell’s 110th birthday.
Ragnar: Perhaps I can enlighten you at to why Savitri Devi’s marriage was not as egregious as you may think it was. First of all, Devi’s marriage was one of convenience. She was living in India and, not being a citizen, would not have been permitted to continue living there during the war years had she not married an Indian citizen. So, she found a comrade-a commited fellow National Socialist- that agreed to marry her so she could remain in India. Second, the marriage was childless, so the charge of being a “race-mixer” hardly applies. The marriage may very well not even have been consummated, being that it was entirely a marriage of convenience. Third, there is the reality of genetic distance. Her husband was a Hindu and, while not European, he was Caucasian not a Negro or a Hottentot. I suggest, Ragnar,that you reserve your ire towards true race-mixers and race-traitors such as Heidi Klum or the late (and not particularly lamented) Nicole Simpson. The three above qualifications regarding Devi’s marriage clearly do not apply to their choice of mates. So, in regards to Savitri Devi’s marriage, I suggest you lighten up.
Thank you Frank, the ignorance of people when it comes to this topic never ceases to amaze me. You would think that people would look something up in more detail before making such foul comments about such a dedicated individual. It’s pretty clear to me “Ragnar” hasn’t read her work or researched her very much.
Greg, I think that Ragnar’s outburst is a sign of the very clear division among racially aware Whites that keeps popping up. One group will embrace Whites only, while the other will go the distance in the “Indo-European” lovefest and be inclusive of most of southern Asia from the Tigris to Burma. To me the choice of the former is clear, obvious, and non-negotiable.
There are several issues here.
(1) Europeans are a a subset of Caucasians. We are not Caucasian nationalists, but European ones.
(2) As a rule, I think that the closest possible endogamy is best to preserve and enhance the natural tendency toward racial and subracial diversification.
(3) But there are real questions as to how far one would want to legislate such endogamy.
(4) Eugenic considerations should trump racial preservationism and purism to an extent, particularly when it comes to sub-racial distinctions. See my article on Spengler: https://counter-currents.com/2010/07/is-racial-purism-decadent/ I see no angle in hybridization with other races, and even if it would be an improvement, the results would no longer our race. So to that extent, I think that preservationism trumps eugenics. I want to perfect our race, not submerge it into some transhumanist genetic mish-mash.
(5) Race-mixing means gene-mixing. It does not mean associating with members of other races. It does not mean marriage with members of other races if no sex or reproduction is involved. It does not even mean sex with members of other races if no reproduction is involved. So the concept does not even really apply in the case of Savitri Devi. Here are some thoughts on the topic: https://counter-currents.com/2010/10/lawyers-and-sex-crimes/
“Ragnar’s outburst.”
. . .
If you think THAT is an outburst, I think you need to get out of your house a bit more.
Savitri Devi was well remembered with prayers and praise on Friday, October 22, 2010, under the Tennessee full moon.
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