Editing Helena Blavatsky (section)

==== St. Petersburg, Poltava, and Saratov ====

After a return to rural Ukraine, Pyotr was posted to [[Saint Petersburg]], where the family moved in 1836. Blavatsky's mother liked the city, there establishing her own literary career, penning novels under the pseudonym of "Zenaida R-va" and translating the works of the English novelist [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton]] for Russian publication.{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1pp=27–28, 31|2a1=Cranston|2y=1993|2pp=12–13|3a1=Lachman|3y=2012|3pp=8, 10–11|4a1=Сенкевич|4y=2010|4p=46, 48}} When Pyotr returned to Ukraine {{Circa|1837}}, she remained in the city.{{sfn|Lachman|2012|p=11}} After Fadeyev was assigned to become a trustee for the [[Kalmyk people]] of Central Asia, Blavatsky and her mother accompanied him to [[Astrakhan]], where they befriended a Kalmyk leader, Tumen.{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1pp=29–31|2a1=Cranston|2y=1993|2pp=13–14|3a1=Lachman|3y=2012|3pp=11–12|4a1=Сенкевич|4y=2010|4pp=50, 56–57}} The Kalmyks were practitioners of [[Tibetan Buddhism]], and it was here that Blavatsky gained her first experience with the religion.{{sfnm|1a1=Cranston|1y=1993|1pp=13–14|2a1=Lachman|2y=2012|2pp=11–12|3a1=Сенкевич|3y=2010|3p=50, 56–57}}

[[File:H.Hahn and H.Blavatsky.jpg|thumb|left|A painting of Blavatsky and her mother, titled "Two Helens (Helena Hahn and Helena Blavatsky)" 1844–1845]]

In 1838, Blavatsky's mother moved with her daughters to be with her husband at [[Poltava]], where she taught Blavatsky how to play the piano and organized for her to take dance lessons.{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1pp=31–32|2a1=Cranston|2y=1993|2p=15|3a1=Lachman|3y=2012|3p=12}} As a result of her poor health, Blavatsky's mother returned to Odessa, where Blavatsky learned English from a British governess.{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1p=32|2a1=Cranston|2y=1993|2pp=16–17|3a1=Lachman|3y=2012|3p=12|4a1=Сенкевич|4y=2010|4p=52}} They next moved to [[Saratov]], where a brother, Leonid, was born in June 1840.{{sfnm|1a1=Cranston|1y=1993|1p=18|2a1=Lachman|2y=2012|2p=13|3a1=Сенкевич|3y=2010|3p=50}} The family proceeded to Poland and then back to Odessa, where Blavatsky's mother died of [[tuberculosis]] in June 1842, aged 28.{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1p=34|2a1=Cranston|2y=1993|2p=23|3a1=Lachman|3y=2012|3p=13|4a1=Сенкевич|4y=2010|4p=54}}

The three surviving children were sent to live with their maternal grandparents in Saratov, where their grandfather Andrei had been appointed Governor of [[Saratov Governorate]].{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1p=35|2a1=Cranston|2y=1993|2p=25|3a1=Lachman|3y=2012|3p=13|4a1=Сенкевич|4y=2010|4p=56}} The historian [[Richard Davenport-Hines]] described the young Blavatsky as "a petted, wayward, invalid child" who was a "beguiling story-teller".{{sfn|Davenport-Hines|2011}} Accounts provided by relatives reveal that she socialized largely with lower-class children and that she enjoyed playing pranks and reading.{{sfn|Lachman|2012|p=14}} She was educated in French, art, and music, all subjects designed to enable her to find a husband.{{sfn|Lachman|2012|p=15}} With her grandparents she holidayed in Tumen's Kalmyk summer camp, where she learned horse riding and some [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]].{{sfnm|1a1=Lachman|1y=2012|1p=16|2a1=Сенкевич|2y=2010|2p=59}}

She later claimed that in Saratov she discovered the personal library of her maternal great-grandfather, Prince Pavel Vasilevich [[House of Dolgorukov|Dolgorukov]] (d. 1838); it contained a variety of books on esoteric subjects, encouraging her burgeoning interest in it.{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1p=48|2a1=Cranston|2y=1993|2pp=31, 35|3a1=Goodrick-Clarke|3y=2004|3p=2|4a1=Lachman|4y=2012|4p=19|5a1=Сенкевич|5y=2010|5p=116}} Dolgorukov had been initiated into [[Freemasonry]] in the late 1770s and had belonged to the [[Rite of Strict Observance]]; there were rumors that he had met both [[Alessandro Cagliostro]] and the [[Count of St. Germain]].{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2004|pp=2–3}} She also later stated that at this time of life she began to experience visions in which she encountered a "Mysterious Indian" man, and that in later life she would meet this man in the flesh.{{sfnm|1a1=Lachman|1y=2012|1p=17|2a1=Сенкевич|2y=2010|2p=78}} Many biographers have considered this to be the first appearance of the "Masters" in her life story.{{sfnm|1a1=Lachman|1y=2012|1p=17|2a1=Сенкевич|2y=2010|2p=79}}

According to some of her later accounts, in 1844–45 Blavatsky was taken by her father to England, where she visited London and [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]].{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1pp=43–44|2a1=Cranston|2y=1993|2p=43|3a1=Lachman|3y=2012|3p=18}} According to this story, in London she received piano lessons from the [[Bohemia]]n composer [[Ignaz Moscheles]], and performed with [[Clara Schumann]].{{sfn|Lachman|2012|p=18}} However, some Blavatsky biographers believe that this visit to Britain never took place, particularly as no mention of it is made in her sister's memoirs.{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1p=44|2a1=Lachman|2y=2012|2p=18}} After a year spent living with her aunt, Yekaterina Andreyevna [[De Witte family|Witte]],{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1pp=45–46|2a1=Lachman|2y=2012|2p=26}} mother of the future first Prime Minister of the Russian Empire, [[Sergei Witte]], she moved to [[Tiflis]], Georgia, where her grandfather Andrei had been appointed director of state lands in [[Transcaucasia]].{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1pp=46–47|2a1=Cranston|2y=1993|2p=33|3a1=Lachman|3y=2012|3p=26}} Blavatsky claimed that here she established a friendship with Alexander Vladimirovich Golitsyn, a Russian Freemason and member of the [[Golitsyn family]] who encouraged her interest in esoteric matters.{{sfnm|1a1=Meade|1y=1980|1pp=51–52|2a1=Cranston|2y=1993|2p=35|3a1=Goodrick-Clarke|3y=2004|3p=3|4a1=Lachman|4y=2012|4pp=27–29|5a1=Сенкевич|5y=2010|5p=102}} She would also claim that at this period she had further paranormal experiences, [[astral projection|astral traveling]] and again encountering her "mysterious Indian" in visions.{{sfn|Lachman|2012|p=27}}