Anna Kingsford was an extraordinary 19th Century woman. She was one of the first women in Britain to become a medical doctor; edited a feminist newspaper; served as president of the Theosophical Society; knew Helena P. Blatavsky, Eliphas Levi, and many other primary figures in Occult and Esoteric circles of the time; was a principled vegetarian and anti-vivisectionist, and opposed foxhunting; and she was considered one of the inspirations for the Golden Dawn, a ritual magic secret society which was one of the sources of modern neo-paganism, although she did not live to join it. In particular, the equality of the sexes in the Golden Dawn is acknowledged as her contribution.
