Rudolf Steiner

Born in 1861 in what is now Croatia and educated in Vienna, Rudolf Steiner worked across an unusual range of fields: philosophy, literary scholarship, education, architecture, and public lecturing. Early in his career he edited scientific writings by Goethe, and his own books and lectures helped build his reputation as an original and often controversial thinker.

Steiner is best known as the founder of anthroposophy, a spiritual philosophy that aimed to connect inner development with practical life. From that work grew several lasting movements and institutions, including Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, and a new approach to the arts and movement known as eurythmy.

In his later years he was closely associated with Dornach, Switzerland, where the Goetheanum became the architectural and cultural center of his movement. He died there in 1925, but his influence has continued through schools, farms, medical initiatives, and readers drawn to his wide-ranging body of work.