Charles Johnston

Who was Charles Johnston?

Charles Johnston was an Irish writer and journalist.

He was born on 17 February 1867 in the small village of Ballykilbeg, County Down, Northern Ireland. His father, William Johnston, was an Irish politician, a Member of Parliament from South Belfast, and a member of the Orange Order.

Charles Johnston studied Oriental Studies, and learned Sanskrit, Russian and German. Among his classmates were William Butler Yeats and George William Russell, with whom he shared an interest in the occult.

Later, he worked as a journalist. In 1884, he read Alfred Percy Sinnett's work Occult World and founded, together with Yeats and Russell on 16 June 1885, the Hermetic Society in Dublin. He was responsible for introducing W. B. Yeats to Madame Blavatsky in spring 1887.

After 1885 he also joined the Theosophical Society, and co-founded in April/June 1886 the Theosophical Lodge in Dublin.

On 14 October 1888 he married Vera Vladimirovna de Zhelihovsky the niece of Helena Blavatsky.