Savitri Devi

Savitri Devi Mukherji
Devi in 1937
Born
Maximiani Julia Portas

30 September 1905
Lyon, France
Died22 October 1982(1982-10-22) (aged 77)
Sible Hedingham, Essex, UK
CitizenshipFrance (1905–1928; renounced)
Greece (1928–1982; death)
EducationUniversity of Lyon (PhD, MS, MPhil)
Occupation(s)Teacher, author, political activist, spy
Notable workThe Lightning and the Sun
Impeachment of Man
Defiance
Gold in the Furnace: Experiences in Post-War Germany
Forever and Ever: Devotional Poem
SpouseAsit Krishna Mukherji
Parents
  • Maxim Portas (father)
  • Julia Portas (mother)
Espionage activity
AllegianceNazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service branchSicherheitsdienst
Service years1941–1945

Savitri Devi Mukherji[a] (born Maximiani Julia Portas, French: [mak.si.mja.ni pɔʁ.tɑ]; 30 September 1905 – 22 October 1982) was a French-born Greek-Italian fascist, Nazi sympathizer, and spy who served the Axis powers by committing acts of espionage against the Allied forces in India.[1][2][3] She was later a leading member of the Neo-Nazi underground during the 1960s.[1][3][4]

Savitri was a proponent of a synthesis of Hinduism and Nazism, proclaiming Adolf Hitler to have been an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu.[5] She depicted Hitler as a sacrifice for humanity that would lead to the end of the worst World Age, the Kali Yuga, which she believed was induced by the Jews, whom she saw as the powers of evil.[3]

Her writings have influenced neo-Nazism and Nazi occultism.[6] Rejecting Judaism and Christianity, she believed in a form of pantheistic monism, a single cosmos of nature composed of divine energy-matter.[7] Within neo-Nazism, she promoted occultism and ecology,[8] and her works have influenced the alt-right.[9] She also influenced the Chilean diplomat Miguel Serrano. In 1982, Franco Freda published a German translation of her work Gold in the Furnace, and the fourth volume of his annual review, Risguardo (1980–), was devoted to Savitri Devi as the "missionary of Aryan Paganism".[1]

Savitri was an associate in the post-war years of Françoise Dior,[10] Otto Skorzeny,[10] Johann von Leers,[10] and Hans-Ulrich Rudel.[10] She was also one of the founding members of the World Union of National Socialists.[2]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ a b c Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2000). Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth, and Neo-Nazism. NYU Press. pp. 6, 42–44, 104, 130–148, 179, 222. ISBN 978-0-8147-3111-6.
  2. ^ a b Goodrick-Clarke (2003), pp. 57, 88.
  3. ^ a b c Greer, John Michael (2003). The new encyclopedia of the occult. Llewellyn Worldwide. pp. 130–131. ISBN 978-1-56718-336-8.
  4. ^ Lachman, Gary (2008). Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen. Quest Books. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-8356-0857-2.
  5. ^ Smith, Blake (17 December 2016). "Writings of French Hindu who worshipped Hitler as an avatar of Vishnu are inspiring the US alt-right". Scroll.in.
  6. ^ Gardell, Mattias (2003). Gods of the blood: the pagan revival and white separatism. Duke University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-8223-3071-4..
  7. ^ Terrell, Richard (2011). Christ, Faith, and the Holocaust. WestBow Press. pp. 70–71. ISBN 978-1-4497-0912-9.
  8. ^ Goodrick-Clarke (1998).
  9. ^ "Savitri Devi: The mystical fascist being resurrected by the alt-right". BBC Magazine. 29 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d Goodrick-Clarke (2003), pp. 97–106.