Theos-Talk Archives (December 2002 Message tt00708)

For what it's worth,

Some years ago I was told by a Theosophist that Boris de Zirkoff had 
a certificate "proving" that HPB was a hermaphrodite. I did not have 
the presence of mind to ask the source of this certificate and how 
this person knew of its existence. (Might have been Rick Nurrie, not 
sure, maybe Michael Revere-- one of the younger Theosophical Network 
folks.) But years later someone at the Pasadena T.S. Headquarters 
assured me that Boris did indeed have such a certificate. And AGAIN 
I failed to ask its source, whether she had seen it, etc. Then, some 
years after that, someone else told me he had seen the thing-- and 
not only did I fail for the third time to ask the obvious questions, 
I can't even remember who it was!

So rumor abounds on this subject. On the other hand, we have the 
testimonial by Albert Rawson as to HPB's feminine charms in her 
youth, the Witte memoirs about her having affairs with an unnamed 
Englishman and Agardi Metrovitch, the mysterious child Yuri, and her 
late marriage to Michael Betanelly to weigh in the balance. She 
certainly lived as a woman for most of her life, if not all. Plus 
there is the Oppenheim certificate testifying that she was a female 
who had not borne children. 

So who knows,

KPJ