Counter-Currents
Remembering Savitri Devi:
September 30, 1905–October 22, 1982
Greg Johnson
795 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 Hitlerism, 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.”
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.” (Translations: German, French, Czech, Norwegian)
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.
Counter-Currents has reprinted several works by Savitri Devi online:
- “Akhnaton on Racial Diversity,” an excerpt from The Lightning and the Sun
- “Cosmotheism in Savitri Devi,” an excerpt from Defiance
- “Feminism and National Socialism” in Greek
- “Gandhi: A Man Against Time“
- “History, Action, and the Timeless,” chapter 5 of Souvenirs et réflexions d’une Aryenne
- “Hitlerian Esotericism and the Tradition,” chapter 10 of Souvenirs et réflexions d’une Aryenne
- “Hitlerism and Hindudom” in Greek
- “The Jews and the Dark Age“
- “In Memory of May 1st, 1945,” a poem written under the pen name Clara Sharland
- “Incurable Decadence,” chapter 11 of Souvenirs et réflexions d’une Aryenne
- “The Meaning of Dunkirk,” an excerpt from chapter 14 of The Lightning and the Sun
- “National Socialism and Anti-Semitism,” an excerpt from The Lightning and the Sun
- “Paul of Tarsus, or Christianity and Jewry,” an essay from 1957, Norwegian translation here
- “Race, Economics, and Kindness: The Ideal World,” chapter 11 of Impeachment of Man
- “Remembering Sven Hedin,” an excerpt from And Time Rolls On
- “The Religion of the Strong,” chapter 1 of Souvenirs et réflexions d’une Aryenne
- “Paganismo indio: la última expresión viva de la belleza aria” (in Spanish)
Savitri Devi audios:
Counter-Currents has also published or reprinted several works about Savitri Devi:
- Jonathan Bowden, “Savitri Devi,” Podcast, Transcript; also reprinted in Extremists
- Paul Brundsen, “Life is Worship: Savitri Devi’s Son of the Sun.” French translation here
- R. G. Fowler, “Enemy and Exemplar: Savitri Devi on Paul of Tarsus.” Translations: German, French
- R. G. Fowler, “Woman Against Time: Remembering Savitri Devi’s 100th Birthday.” Translations: German, French, Czech, Norwegian, Portuguese
- Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Interview with Muriel Gantry, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
- Juleigh Howard-Hobson, “After the Avatar, 1945,” a sonnet
- Juleigh Howard-Hobson, “Hope and Wait“
- Greg Johnson, “Greg Johnson Interviewed About Savitri Devi on the BBC“
- Greg Johnson, “Robert Stark Interviews Greg Johnson on Eco-Fascism“
- Alex Kurtagić, Review of Defiance
- Alex Kurtagić, Review of Gold in the Furnace
- Christopher Pankhurst reviews The Lightning and the Sun
- Robert Stark Interviews Greg Johnson on Eco-Fascism (French translation here)
- J. A. Sexton, “Savitri Devi’s Defiance and Gold in the Furnace“
- Video: “Savitri Devi: Woman Against Time“
Savitri Devi is also quite widely tagged at Counter-Currents.
Six of Savitri Devi’s books are currently in print in English and available for purchase at Counter-Currents:
- The most recent volume in the Centennial Edition of Savitri Devi’s Works is her magnum opus, The Lightning and the Sun, available in a limited, numbered hardcover edition of 200 copies as well as in paperback and Kindle.
- Forever and Ever: Devotional Poems is the first volume of her previously unpublished writings, available in a limited, numbered hardcover edition of 200 copies as well as in a paperback edition.
- 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.
- The best introduction to Savitri Devi’s life and work is And Time Rolls On: The Savitri Devi Interviews.
Counter-Currents has now taken over publication of the Centennial Edition of Savitri Devi’s Works. The next volume, due out in 2019, is Pilgrimage, to be followed by a complete English translation of Memories and Reflections of an Aryan Woman.
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4 comments
Ok I have a sincere question guys. Her ancestry is 100% European but she “threw in” with the Hindus, which many in this movement would consider non-white. She taught that the Hindu religious traditions were basically Aryan, and all modern discoveries support that theory. Indeed, even Mr. David Duke has said that much of South Asian religious teaching essentially come from the people most related to Europeans (aka Aryans).
My question is if somebody like her can be (largely) accepted among WN, would somebody with only 3/4 European heritage be accepted in the movement? And also like her, even my European ancestry is highly mixed, ranging from Portugal to Finland.
This is a blood-based rather than idea-based movement. I don’t know what sort of mixture you are. Why not content yourself with being an ally of whites?
I have native from PR, yes. I’m 4% Jewish myself, which isn’t surprising; Spain had expelled them *only* from Spain itself, they actually encouraged just about anybody to settle their new lands since there was so much of it.
80% of the time, people on the street think I’m white (I look Asian to a small minority of people, I have no idea how I don’t have chink eyes at all). All blacks definitely view me as white, all non white Hispanics think I’m white (there is a lot of animosity between Central Americans and Caribbean Hispanics), and about half of the 90%+ whites I interact with think I’m white.
What exactly are you referring to in your 2nd paragraph?
Would love to have a good conversation about these topics with actual people instead of through comments. Anybody reading, feel free to hit me up on Skype, cbrnof321.
If you want to know whether you’re white or not all you have to do is look in the mirror and be honest. Blonde hair and blue eyes are not the only qualifier, there are plenty of brown eyed and black haired Europeans. For example Aishwarya Rai has light skin and eyes but is clearly not European. Meanwhile Mark Collett has brown eyes and black hair and is clearly European. By white I mean European and not North African or middle eastern like it does in the states.
So are you white or not? If you are that’s fine, if not that’s fine. If you look mostly white that’s also fine but some people might not want to mate with you, which is ok. I’m very white and some people don’t want to mate with me, which is also ok. You don’t have to be white to believe in our right to exist, and a lot of whites actively work for our own downfall. So regardless of whether you are white or not doesn’t matter. As long as you believe that whites have a right to exist and that we have the right to preserve ourselves and our heritage.
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