Complex sentence: Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (August 2,1832--February 17,1907) was the founder and first president of the Theosophical Society; he was the first well-known person of European ancestry to make a formal conversion to Buddhism.
Split into simpler sentences: Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (August 2,1832--February 17,1907) was the founder and first President of the Theosophical Society. He was the first well-known person of European ancestry to make a formal conversion to Buddhism.