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Lady Emily Lutyens (née Bulwer-Lytton; 1874–1964) was an English
theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...
and writer.


Life

Emily Lytton was born on 26 December 1874 in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,Emily Lutyens
Making Britain: Discover how South Asians shaped the nation, 1870-1950,
The Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study o ...
.
the daughter of Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Baron of Lytton (later The 1st Earl of Lytton) and
Edith Villiers Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton, (née Villiers; 15 September 1841 – 17 September 1936) was a British aristocrat. As the wife of Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, she was vicereine of India. After his death, she was a court-at ...
. She was brought up in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
(where her father was
Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
from 1876 to 1880) and
Knebworth House Knebworth House is an English country house in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. Its gardens are also listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In its surrounding park is t ...
, where she was educated by governesses. From 1887 to 1891 she lived in Paris, where her father was British ambassador, and became a correspondent of the elderly Norfolk clergyman
Whitwell Elwin Whitwell Elwin (26 February 1816 – 1 January 1900) was an English clergyman, critic and editor of the '' Quarterly Review''. Life He was the son of Marsham Elwin, a country gentleman of Thurning, Norfolk, and a descendant of John Rolfe and ...
. She returned to England after her father's death, and fell in love with
Wilfrid Scawen Blunt Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (17 August 1840 – 10 September 1922), sometimes spelt Wilfred, was an English poet and writer. He and his wife Lady Anne Blunt travelled in the Middle East and were instrumental in preserving the Arabian horse bloodlines ...
, 35 years her senior: She became the lifelong friend of Blunt's daughter, Judith (later Baroness Wentworth). In 1897 she married the architect
Edwin Landseer Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...
. She had five children, including
Mary Lutyens Edith Penelope Mary Lutyens (pseudonym ''Esther Wyndham''; 31 July 1908 – 9 April 1999) was a British author who is principally known for her biographical works on the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. Early life Mary Lutyens was born in L ...
, the composer
Elisabeth Lutyens Agnes Elisabeth Lutyens, CBE (9 July 190614 April 1983) was an English composer. Early life and education Elisabeth Lutyens was born in London on 9 July 1906. She was one of the five children of Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874–1964), a me ...
and the painter Robert Lutyens. Lutyens interested herself in social and political questions, such as the state regulation of
prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...
. She was a visitor to the local lock hospital, a member of the Moral Education League, and a supporter of
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
. She introduced her older sister
Lady Constance Bulwer-Lytton Lady Constance Georgina Bulwer-Lytton (12 February 1869 – 2 May 1923), usually known as Constance Lytton, was an influential British suffragette activist, writer, speaker and campaigner for prison reform, votes for women, and birth control. S ...
to the suffrage movement, though was herself opposed to militancy and resigned from the
Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership an ...
in 1909. In 1910 she joined the
Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...
. She became a kind of surrogate parent to the young
Krishnamurti is a South Indian name. It has several spelling variants. Variants The following is a non-exhaustive list. Some spellings separate the name elements , e.g. . Etymology and usage Derived from the Hindu deity Krishna and the Sanskrit term mur ...
, brought back from India with his brother by
Annie Besant Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human f ...
in 1911. Appointed by Besant as the English representative of the Order of the Star in the East, Lutyens toured the country lecturing on behalf of theosophy. She edited the theosophical journal ''Herald of the Star'', and attracted wealthy converts to theosophy, such as
Mabel Dodge Mabel Evans Dodge Sterne Luhan (pronounced ''LOO-hahn''; née Ganson; February 26, 1879 – August 13, 1962) was a wealthy American patron of the arts, who was particularly associated with the Taos art colony. Early life Mabel Ganson was the heir ...
. In 1916, at the same time as her husband was busy designing an imperial capital at
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
, she held meetings for an all-India home rule movement in her drawing-room in London. She continued to protect and care for Krishnamurti, to whom she was devoted. As a young adult Krishnamurti wrote to her daily from France. In the 1920s she toured the world with him, convinced that he was the Messiah. In 1925 she founded the League of Motherhood, but by this time theosophy was divided over Krishna's claims. She supported Krishnamurti trying to dissolve the Theosophical Society, and in 1930 followed him in resigning from theosophy. In her eighties Lutyens published two autobiographical works: ''A Blessed Girl'' (1953) was a memoir of her upbringing, and ''Candles in the Sun'' (1957) told the story of her theosophical involvement. ''The Birth of Rowland'' (1956) was a collection of her parents' letters. She died at her home in London on 3 January 1964, eight days after her 89th birthday.


Vegetarianism

Lutyens was a strict
vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...
. Historian
Jane Ridley Jane Ridley (born 15 May 1953) is an English historian, biographer, author and broadcaster, and Professor of Modern History at the University of Buckingham. Ridley won the Duff Cooper Prize in 2002 for ''The Architect and his Wife'', a biograph ...
has noted that "Never a meat-eater, Emily became a doctrinaire vegetarian, subsisting on nut cutlets disguised as lamb with a piece of macaroni wrapped in a paper frill instead of a bone".Ridley, Jane. (2003). ''Edwin Lutyens: His Life, His Wife, His Work''. Pimlico. p. 193. Lutyens also raised her children on a vegetarian diet but her husband Edwin was a meat-eater. Lutyens was a vice-president of the
Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is a British registered charity which was established on 30 September 1847 to promote vegetarianism. History In the 19th century a number of groups in Britain actively promoted and followed meat ...
."The Vegetarian Movement in England, 1847-1981: A Study in the Structure of Its Ideology"
International Vegetarian Union. Retrieved 14 May 2021.


Selected publications

* ''The Faith Catholic: Some Thoughts on the Athanasian Creed'', 1918
''Theosophy as the Basic Unity of National Life. Being the Four Convention Lectures Delivered in Bombay at the Forty-Ninth Anniversary of the Theosophical Society, December, 1924''
1925 *''The Call of the Mother'', 1926 * ''A Blessed Girl: Memoirs of a Victorian Girlhood Chronicled in an Exchange of Letters, 1887-1896'', 1953 * ''The Birth of Rowland: an Exchange of Letters in 1865 between Robert Lytton and His Wife'', 1956 *''Candles in the Sun'', 1957, with
Mary Lutyens Edith Penelope Mary Lutyens (pseudonym ''Esther Wyndham''; 31 July 1908 – 9 April 1999) was a British author who is principally known for her biographical works on the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. Early life Mary Lutyens was born in L ...


References


Further reading

* Jane Ridley, ed., ''The Letters of Edwin Lutyens to His Wife Lady Emily''. London: Collins, 1985. * Jane Ridley, ''The Architect and His Wife: a Life of Edwin Lutyens''. London: Chatto & Windus, 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lutyens, Emily 1874 births 1964 deaths British vegetarianism activists Daughters of British earls English feminists English Theosophists People associated with the Vegetarian Society Wives of knights Writers from Paris