Steiner, Rudolf (1861–1925)

Austrian philosopher, occultist, and educationalist. He formulated his own mystic and spiritual teaching, which he called anthroposophy. This rejected materialism and aimed to develop the whole human being, intellectually, socially, and, above all, spiritually. A number of Steiner schools follow a curriculum laid down by him with a strong emphasis on the arts.

Steiner first made a detailed study of the thought of the German writer Goethe, and then turned to theosophy before developing anthroposophy. He believed that people are reincarnated several times before attaining complete self-consciousness.

The many subjects on which he lectured include the arts, medicine – where he reintroduced the concept of the humours (see humours, theory of) – and agriculture, where his theory of biodynamics suggested that plants germinate better at different points in the lunar cycle. He also designed and built a cultural centre, the Goethanum, in Dornach, Switzerland, in a geometrical expressionist style. It became the world centre of anthroposophy.