Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964), India’s first prime minister, is notable for navigating currents of the nation’s diffuse religious constituencies. In this talk, historian Mitch Horowitz explores how the impact of Theosophy helped shape Nehru’s capacity as one of the most effective statesmen and diplomats of the twentieth century, from the leader’s adolescent mentorship to Irish Theosophist Ferdinand T. Brooks to collaborations with Annie Besant during the independence movement to his close friendship with Jiddu Krishnamurti while in office—and, of course, Nehru’s discipleship to Mahatma Gandhi who credited Madame H.P. Blavatsky with igniting his philosophy of universalism. Here is a stirring reevaluation of a state-maker and his earliest spiritual and intellectual influences.