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The following information about Marie Steiner
has been taken from www.wikipedia.org, the free
encyclopedia:
Marie Steiner-von
Sivers (born Marie von Sivers - or Sievers - 14
March 1867 – 27 December 1948) was the second wife of
Rudolf
Steiner and one of his closest
colleagues.[1][2] She made a great contribution to the
development of anthroposophy, particularly in her work on the renewal
of the performing arts (eurythmy, speech and
drama),[1] and the editing and publishing of Rudolf
Steiner's literary
estate.[2]
Life and
work
Marie von Sivers was born of an
aristocratic family in Włocławek, Poland, then part of Russia. She was well-educated and was fluent in
Russian, German, English, French and Italian. She studied theater
and recitation with several teachers in
Europe.[2]
Relationship to Rudolf
Steiner
Marie von Sivers "appeared one day" at one
of Rudolf
Steiner's early lectures in 1900. In the autumn of
1901, she posed the question to Steiner, "Would it be possible to
create a spiritual movement based on European tradition and the
impetus of Christ?" Rudolf Steiner later
reported:[2]
With this, I was given the opportunity to
act in a way that I had only previously imagined. The question had
been put to me, and now, according to spiritual laws, I could begin
to answer it.
Marie von Sivers collaborated with Steiner
for the rest of Steiner's life and carried his work beyond his
death in 1925 until her own death in 1948. She accompanied him and
helped him as secretary, translator, editor, and organizer of his
lecture tours and other public activities. She assisted Steiner's
work with her own resources and in 1908 founded the
Philosophical-Theosophical Press (later
Philosophical-Anthroposophical) to publish Steiner's
work.[2]
On December 24, 1914, Marie von Sivers
married Rudolf Steiner. Anna Eunicke Steiner, Steiner's first wife,
had died in 1911.[1] From 1914, Steiner drew up a succession of
wills naming Marie Steiner-von Sivers as heir to his entire work
and property and his successor in the leadership of the
anthroposophical movement.[2]
Eurythmy and speech
formation
Starting in 1912, the art of
eurythmy was developed by Rudolf Steiner. Under
Marie Steiner-von Sivers' guidance, it developed in three
directions, as a stage art, as an integral part of
Waldorf
pedagogy, and as a therapeutic
method.[1] Under her tutelage, two schools of
eurythmy were founded, in Berlin and in Dornach, Switzerland.[2]
Marie von Sivers was trained in
recitation and elocution and made a study of purely artistic
speaking. She gave introductory poetry recitals at Steiner's
lectures and assisted him in the development of the four Mystery
Dramas (1910-1913).[2] With her help, Steiner conducted several
speech and drama courses with the aim of raising these forms to the
level of true art.[1]
References
- Johannes Hemleben, Rudolf Steiner: A
documentary biography, Henry Goulden Ltd, 1975,
ISBN
090482202-8, pp. 110-113. (German edition: Rowohlt
Verlag, 1990, ISBN
349950079-5).
- Lía Tummer, Rudolf Steiner and
Anthroposophy for Beginners, Writers and Readers Publishing, 2001,
ISBN
086316286-X, pp. 55-62; pp. 99-100; pp.
115-9.
Biographical
resources
- Marie Savitch, Marie Steiner-von
Sivers: Fellow worker with Rudolf Steiner, London: Rudolf Steiner
Press, 1967. ISBN
0-85440-057-5.
- Hans Peter van Manen, Marie Steiner:
Her place in world karma, London: Temple Lodge, 1995.
ISBN
0-90469-376-7.
- Wilfried Hammacher, Marie Steiner:
Lebensspuren einer Individualität, Stuttgart: Verlag Freies
Geistesleben, 1998 (German). ISBN
3-77251-798-6.
© Copyright 2011 Katherine Rudolph
Exploring the Word in Colour and
Speech
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