Anna Schmidt

Anna Nikolaevna Schmidt (August 11, 1851 [ O.S. July 30] – August 18, 1905) was a Russian journalist and author of religious and mystical works, including The Third Testament.

Biography Schmidt was born on August 11 (O.S. July 30), 1851 in Nizhny Novgorod, where she spent most of her life. Her father was a lawyer and served as a forensic investigator. Her mother was a religious woman who honored Orthodox traditions, née A.F. Romanova, the daughter of a titular councilor. Schmidt was the only daughter in the family and was raised in the Old Testament spirit. She did not receive a systematic education, but she passed the exam to become a French teacher and taught at the Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium for three years. Subsequently, she worked as a translator and journalist in local newspapers.

Without sufficient education, from a personal mystical revelation, like visionary authors (for example, Jakob Böhme), she built a Gnostic system. Her writings were highly appreciated by the Russian philosopher Sergei Bulgakov, who noted the closeness between her teachings and Kabbalah.

She died on August 18, 1905, in Moscow. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cemetery of Nizhny Novgorod (the burial was not preserved).