Savitri Devi

December 1907
Lyon, France
Two year old Maximine Julia Portaz and her parents, Maxim Portaz and Julia Portaz (born Nash). This is the only known picture of Savitri’s father. She had a difficult relationship with her father, spoke of him very little, and may have intentionally obliterated his face in this photograph. June 1918
Lyon, France
Maximine Portaz at twelve August 1923 October 1927 14 June 1933
Probably in Greece
The inscription reads “Glorious 1933” — the year Hitler attained power. Probably the early 1930s
Exact date and location unknown. From Savitri’s Greek dress, we conjecture that this photo was taken in the early 1930s. We would be most grateful for educated conjectures about the location based on the architectural style. 1934
Egypt
This photo, and a companion photo taken at the same time and reproduced in the Friends gallery, have an identical two-word inscription in Greek. Unfortunately, the upper parts of the words have been trimmed away, but the first word in both inscriptions appears to be Αίγυπτος “Egypt.” In Defiance, Savitri mentions visiting Egypt before the Second World War. The companion photo also bears the date 1934 in black ink. Written over it in blue ink is 1931. The reason we accept the original rather than the altered date is that Savitri later claimed that she went to India in 1932 and stayed there until 1945, except for a 1937 trip to the Middle East, which may also have included Egypt. In fact, however, Savitri first went to India in 1935. We conjecture, therefore, that Savitri backdated this photograph to make it consistent with her later story that she was in India in 1934. 1 December 1937
Calcutta Probably early 1940s
Probably in Calcutta Between early July and 30 September 1945
Calcutta Savitri Devi, London, 1945-46. July 1945
Calcutta
Savitri is sitting in the posture of a “Sadhu.” Her eyes look sleepy. Perhaps she is meditating, her gaze turned inwards. But more likely she is just tired and depressed. In October 1944, when she concluded that Germany’s defeat was inevitable, Savitri left Calcutta on a long pilgrimage around India visiting temples and monuments and trying to avoid news of the war. She heard of Germany’s capitulation in June of 1945, three weeks after the event. Profoundly depressed, she attempted suicide by walking into the Indian Ocean on the beach at Varkala on the Malabar Coast, but she changed her mind at the last minute. She arrived back in Calcutta at the beginning of July 1945 and threw herself into writing a new book, Impeachment of Man. 5 December 1948
Alfeld and der Leine, Germany
Savitri began writing Gold in the Furnace in Alfeld an der Leine on 3 October 1948. She completed the Introduction, all of chapters 1 and 2, and most of chapter 3 there. She left Alfeld on 5 December 1948. (Notice the railroad tracks in the background.) On 6 December 1948, she completed chapter 3 of The Lightning and the Sun in the railroad station of Karlsruhe, Germany, on her way to London to spend the Christmas holidays with her friends Muriel Gantry and Veronica Vassar. Autumn, 1950
Lyon, France
This picture of Savitri writing was taken by Muriel Gantry when she visited Savitri and her mother in Lyons. Savitri had just completed Defiance and was preparing to visit Italy. September 1951
Lyon, France
A classic photo: Savitri is wearing her famous Aton brooch and swastika earrings. She is approaching her 46th birthday, and is at the height of her creative powers. She has completed Gold in the Furnace and Defiance, and around this time she was writing chapters 6 and 7 of The Lightning and the Sun. This picture became the frontispiece of Defiance, which means that the book was published some time later in 1951. The first half of 1955 Emsdetten, Germany
Savitri with her cat Black Velvet. Savitri lived in Emsdetten, Germany from May of 1953 until some time after 4 May 1955. She wrote all of Pilgrimage there and chapters 8-13 of The Lightning and the Sun. July, 1961
Norrviken, Sweden
This picture was taken in the garden of Einar Åberg, the publisher of numerous anti-Semitic works. December, 1961
Lyon, France
Another classic photo: The best view of Savitri’s swastika earrings. This photo and its two companions were taken to honor George Lincoln Rockwell’s request for a photograph of Savitri for a National Socialist “hall of fame” at his headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. December, 1961
Lyon, France December, 1961
Lyons, France September 1968
Munich, Germany
In September of 1968, Savitri met with some friends and comrades in Munich, where Beryl Cheetham took this photo. Other pictures from this time appear in the Friends gallery. (The beer is John Tyndall’s. Savitri did not drink alcohol.) At the time of this photograph, Savitri was working on her Souvenirs et réflexions d’une Aryenne [Memories and Reflections of an Aryan Woman], the last book she published. Courtesy of Beryl Cheetham 11 August 1969
Saint-Etienne, France
These appear to be passport photos. From 1961 to 1969, Savitri was employed as a stop-gap teacher and a corrector of correspondence course lessons in various state-run schools in Montbrison, Saint-Etienne, and Firminy, near Lyons. Her employment ended in 1969, probably at the end of the 1968-69 academic year, for reasons still unknown. Savitri was offered work in Dublin, Ireland. She might have had these photos taken for a new passport. She was not allowed to land in Ireland, however, for reasons still unknown. So in September 1969, Savitri returned to Greece, where she lived until August of 1970, giving private French lessons and continuing to write her Souvenirs et réflexions d’une Aryenne. Spring 1971
Ducey, Normandy, France
Penniless and unemployed, Savitri lived from October 1970 until April 1971 with Françoise Dior, Terry Cooper, and their German Shepherds at a former presbytery in Ducey, Normandy. There she continued to write Souvenirs et réflexions d’une Aryenne. Courtesy of Terry Cooper 9 November 1977
New Delhi, India
On 21 March 1977, Savitri’s husband A.K. Mukherji died of heat stroke at Savitri’s apartment in New Delhi. Whether due to a specific illness or simply to the general infirmities of old age, he had decided to fast until death. After his death, Savitri followed the custom of Hindu widows. She cut her hair short, gave away her jewelry and colorful saris, and dressed in white. This photo shows Savitri’s “new look.” It was taken on the 44th anniversary of Hitler’s “Beer Hall” Putsch, a date Savitri always commemorated. April 1980
New Delhi, India
From 1973 to 1981, Savitri and her cats (usually ranging in number from two to five) lived in a small garage apartment in a pleasant, middle class suburb of New Delhi. Her landlords, North Indian Brahmins, the Sharma family, treated her with great kindness and remembered her with affection and respect. This photograph gives a glimpse of her apartment. April 1982
Lozanne, near Lyons, France
On 30 March 1981, Savitri suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed on her right side. She had to give up her apartment and live with friends in Delhi and Jaipur as she recuperated. Although she eventually regained some mobility and ability to write, her capacity to live on her own was diminished. Some German friends persuaded her to fly to Germany where she could receive better medical care and rehabilitation therapy. On 4 October 1981, she flew to Germany, where she stayed at a convalescent home, which she hated, and then with friends. The German government, however, expelled her at the end of three months, and she went to France, where she stayed with friends and then was placed by the authorities, against her will, in two convalescent homes, which she hated. In April of 1982, Beryl Cheetham visited Savitri in the second of these homes in Lozanne near Lyons, where she took this photo. Savitri was depressed by her surroundings and disabilities, but her mental powers were undimmed. Courtesy of Beryl Cheetham 27 August 1982
Kaltenbach near Traunstein, Germany
In late June, 1982, Savitri left the convalescent home in Lozanne and returned to Germany, where she stayed more than a month with Georg and Magdlen Schrader in Steinen near Lörach. She then stayed with Elisabeth Ettmayr in Kaltenbach near Traunstein, where this picture was probably taken. It later became the frontispiece to Lotte Asmus’s German translation of Gold in the Furnace, Gold im Schmelztiegel, which appeared later in 1982. 23 September 1982
Munich, Germany
This is the last known picture of Savitri, exactly one week before her 77th birthday and one month before her death. At the time, Savitri was staying in Munich with a Frau Ederer. This picture was probably taken at her home.