Rudolf Steiner: A Biography

This biography will contribute to a wider and better understanding of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Anyone who follows his life will come to understand that, from a certain point on, his main goal was to awaken-in numerous ways-an active, working understanding of Anthroposophy. Steiner used creative imagination to treat particular themes and tasks, ever anew and multifaceted. If we observe the variations of those presentations, we see the intentions that guided his whole life. A biography that shows Steiner's intentions and efforts in the context of the times and his life circumstances not only relates what happened, but also why. His work does not, as in many modern biographies, disappear behind the life story.

This is the most comprehensive biography of Rudolf Steiner available in English. It traces his life and development through a profound look at his life and work, which encompassed many areas, including Goethean research, philosophy, esoteric work, education, medicine, sociology, education for special needs, agriculture, architecture, painting, movement arts, and poetry. This biography tracks his activities and shows how Rudolf Steiner was most concerned with bringing a new approach to knowledge through Spiritual Science and with revitalizing the most important areas of human culture and society.

A student of Rudolf Steiner during the late 1890s observed:

"I never again had a teacher like him. He was gaunt, shabbily dressed. He always wore an old coat; his trousers looked like corkscrews, much too short and worn out. At first he sported a van Dyke, then a mustache, then he was clean shaven. ... Everyone loved him dearly, and I would have, as would most of the others, gone through fire for him. ... He was loving and concerned in a way that I have never again discovered in another person. Funny-I often asked my fiancée whether he was really as poor as he seemed to be; during breaks he always took a dry roll out of his pocket and ate it with visible enjoyment. But if you think that they left him in peace during the break, you are way off base. The whole group gathered around him and the questions were endless."