Vittoria Cremers (''Vittoria Cassini''; born c. 1859), was an Italian

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 ...

Early years

Cremers was born in Pisa,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and was the daughter of Italian Manrico Vittorio Cassini and his British wife, Agnes Elizabeth Rutherford.

Career

Cremers had experience in publishing. After reading the book, ''Light on the Path'', written by Mabel Collins though first anonymously issued in 1885, Cremers felt prompted to immediately join 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 ...

. In 1888 she travelled to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

to meet Madame Blavatsky. As she had been previously involved with publishing, Blavatsky asked her to take over the business side of the Theosophical journal '' Lucifer''. Cremers was soon introduced to Mabel Collins, with whom she became firm friends. According to Jean Overton Fuller, Cremers was close to

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

and Victor Neuberg and claimed to know the identity of

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

(supposedly Robert D'Onston Stephenson).

Personal life

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York on November 26, 1886, she married the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Baron Louis Cremers, born in 1851 in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, son of the banker Louis Cremers and his wife, Anna von Struve who separated in 1887.article "A Fresh Young Russian" in ''Dallas Morning News'', February 20, 1888, page 6.

References

People from Pisa Italian Theosophists 1850s births Year of death missing {{Italy-reli-bio-stub