Édouard Schuré

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Édouard Schuré

Édouard Schuré (born January 21, 1841 in Strasbourg , † April 7, 1929 in Paris ) was a French writer and theosophist . His fame is based primarily on his main work Les Grands Initiés ( The Great Initiates ), published in 1889 , in which he attempted to present an esoteric secret doctrine that lies behind various philosophies and religions in human history . He was also the author of dramas , novels , poems and various treatises on philosophy, history and music .

biography

Edouard Schuré grew up bilingual as the son of a doctor in the Alsatian city ​​of Strasbourg and was thus influenced by both German and French culture as a child and adolescent. At the request of his father and against his own interests, he studied law . He acquired extensive knowledge of German literature on an autodidactic basis . On a subsequent trip to Germany, he got to know Richard Wagner's “ musical drama ” Tristan und Isolde , which he was immediately enthusiastic about, and also made Wagner's personal acquaintance.

Returning to France, he published his first work, Histoire du Lied , which earned him some recognition in his home country. With the publication of the article Richard Wagner et le drame musical , he established himself as an essential French Wagner expert and defender of this time.

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 destroyed the constructive relationship with Wagner and the Germans for some time, about which Schuré was now widespread. Characteristic of his nationalistically tinged statements of this time - and also those of his later life - is a juxtaposition of glorified Celticism (France) and a negatively perceived “ Teutonism ” (Germany). On a trip to Italy during this time, he met the twenty years older Greek Marguerita Albana-Mignaty, whom he referred to as his " muse " from then on , although he was married himself.

After the waves of war had subsided, Schuré's relationship with Wagner improved again. In 1873 there followed a personal encounter with the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche , with whom he maintained lively contact for the duration of their mutual enthusiasm for Wagner. The growing cultic veneration of Wagner, however, promoted Schuré's estrangement from the composer, with whom Nietzsche soon fell out.

Schuré now turned increasingly to esotericism and occultism . In 1884 he met the German-Russian occultist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky , whose personality he was repulsed, but whose Theosophical Society he nevertheless entered. In 1889 he published his main work Les Grands Initiés , after some previous smaller works on similar topics .

In 1900 the actress Marie von Sivers got in touch with him because she intended to translate one of his works into German. He referred her to the German section of the Theosophical Society , where she met the Austrian philosopher and later founder of anthroposophy , Rudolf Steiner . Through her mediation, Schuré met Steiner personally in 1906. Schuré was deeply impressed and thought he saw this one initiate in the sense of his Grands Initiés . In the following years Steiner and von Sivers brought the esoteric dramas Schuré to the stage.

With the outbreak of World War I , Schuré became estranged from the previously highly revered Steiner and his current wife. He accused the two of them of having secret, Germanic intentions and Pan-Germanism and resigned from the Anthroposophical Society , which had split off from the Theosophical Society under Steiner. However, four years after the end of the war, Schuré returned to Steiner and asked his forgiveness.

In the following years Schuré published, among other things, his autobiography and a French translation of Steiner's Christianity as a mystical fact and the mysteries of antiquity (French Le Mystère chrétien et les mystères antiques ). He died in 1929 at the age of 88.

philosophy

In Les Grands Initiés , Schuré took up the old esoteric idea of ​​the transmission of original wisdom by the initiated. Specifically, he dealt with the life and teachings of Rama , Krishna , Hermes , Moses , Orpheus , Pythagoras , Plato and Jesus , whom he called the great initiates. Behind the philosophies and religions they established, he suspected a kind of continuously handed down secret doctrine. In contrast to older versions of this idea, which go back to Plato, Schuré moved the beginning of the chain of tradition from Persia to India (Rama), as did other esotericists of the late 19th century (most importantly HP Blavatsky).

reception

Although other of his works also achieved some success during Schuré's lifetime and he was considered an important Wagner expert in France, the reception of the Grands Initiés was by far the strongest. The artist Paul Sérusier declared the work to be the authoritative book for his artist group Les Nabis . Other important readers were Pierre Teilhard de Chardin , Jean Delville , František Kupka , Piet Mondrian and Odilon Redon . Schuré's elaboration of the idea of ​​wise initiates who should guide the history of mankind had a great influence on the esotericism of the 20th century.

In the German-speaking area he was made famous primarily through Rudolf Steiner and his wife Marie Steiner-von Sivers. The latter translated some of his works, including Les Grand Initiés and the esoteric dramas, into German.

Works

Original editions (selection)

  • Histoire du Lied ou la chanson populaire en Allemagne , 1868
  • Le drame musical. Richard Wagner, son œuvre et son idée , 2 volumes, 1875
  • Les Grands Initiés. Esquisse de l'histoire secrète des religions , 1889
  • Le drame sacré d'Éleusis , 1890
  • Sanctuaires d'Orient , Paris 1898
  • Les grandes legends de France , Paris 1893
  • Les enfants de Lucifer , 1900
  • Précurseurs et révoltés , Paris 1904
  • La Prêtresse d'Isis (Légende de Pompéi) , 1907
  • Femmes inspiratrices et poètes annonciateurs , Paris 1908
  • L'évolution divine du sphinx au Christ , 1912
  • Les prophètes de la renaissance , 1920
  • L'âme celtique et le génie de la France à travers les âges , Paris 1920
  • Merlin l'enchanteur , Paris 1921
  • Le rêve d'une vie. Confession d'un poète (autobiography), 1928

German translations

  • Edouard Schuré's history of the German song . Introduced by Adolf Stahr . Sacco, Berlin 1870
  • The musical drama . Translated into German by Hans von Wolzüge. Schloemp, Leipzig 1877
  • Memories of Richard Wagner . From the Franz. Fritz Ehrenberg. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1900
  • The children of Lucifer . Authorized translation by Marie von Sivers . Theosophical publishing house, Leipzig 1905
  • The great initiates . Authorized translation by Marie von Sivers. With a foreword by Rudolf Steiner . Theosophical publishing house, Leipzig 1909
  • The Sanctuaries of the Orient . Authorized translation by Marie von Sivers. Theosophical publishing house, Leipzig 1912
  • The priestess of Isis . A legend from Pompeii, translated by Many Cihlar. Theosophical publishing house, Leipzig 1920
  • The divine development from the Sphinx to Christ , translated by J. Hardt. Theosophical publishing house, Leipzig 1922
  • The Holy Drama of Eleusis . Reconstructed by ES, brought into free rhythms by Rudolf Steiner. Philosophical-Anthroposophical Publishing House, Dornach 1939
  • Prophets of humanism. On the genius of faith, science, beauty, strength and love . Urachhaus, Stuttgart 1991

literature

  • Camille Schneider: Edouard Schuré. His life encounters with Rudolf Steiner and Richard Wagner . The Coming ones, Freiburg 1971
  • Edouard Schuré and the Christian esotericism of Rudolf Steiner . Edited by the Rudolf Steiner Estate Administration (contributions to the Rudolf Steiner Complete Edition 42), Dornach 1973
  • Alain Mercier: Éduard Schuré et le renouveau idéaliste en Europe . Lille 1980, ISBN 2-7295-0118-5
  • Michael Ladwein: Edouard Schuré - a biographical sketch . In: Novalis. Spiritual Thinking Journal . No. 1 and 2, 2004, ISSN  1420-3235 . New edition: Edouard Schuré - The friend of Nietzsche, Wagner, Steiner. Inspirer of the artist. = "Meridian" 2, Bad Liebenzell 2011.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kocku von Stuckrad : What is esotericism? , 2004, pp. 199f.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schuré, Édouard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French writer and theosophist
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg , France
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 1929
Place of death Paris