Thomas J. Weihs

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Thomas Weihs (born April 30, 1914 in Vienna ; † June 19, 1983 in Aberdeen ) was a doctor, farmer, curative educator, co-founder and leading collaborator of the Camphill movement and a pioneer of anthroposophical curative education .

Life

Thomas Johannes Weihs was born as the second son of Gertrude and Richard Weiss (spelling was later changed), who had moved from Brody in the Ukraine to Vienna. During his medical studies at the University of Vienna he met Karl König and joined the youth group that later formed the core of the founding initiative for Camphill in Scotland .

Because of his Jewish origins, he and his first wife, Helene Stoll, fled from Austria to Switzerland , where he finished his medical studies in Basel . Then, at the beginning of the war, he followed King and the others to Scotland. Near Aberdeen, on the Camphill estate, they founded the curative education work for “children in need of soul care”, to which he dedicated the rest of his life.

Camphill's rapid growth brought new and increased responsibilities that kept him working as a farmer, general handyman, doctor, educator, public speaker, and writer. In 1957 he was appointed General Manager of Camphill by König. Until then he had also had his own successful practice as a doctor, which also included working in King's own practice in London. He also traveled extensively, lecturing at Camphill facilities around the world, as well as in public. This is how he met the BBC film director Jonathan Stedall , who at the time was 28 years old and was devoting a year off to studying anthroposophy at Emerson College . Their collaboration led to the various documentaries that Stedall shot about Campill for the BBC, such as "The Candle on the Hill".

The best-known work by Thomas Weihs, his book "Children in Need of Special Care", (German: The developmentally disturbed child. Special educational experiences in the therapeutic community), was published in 1971 and has since appeared in several editions and in 14 languages.

He finished his last book, Embryogenesis in Myth and Science, on his deathbed. It was published after his death. His work as a sculptor has spawned a number of works that are diffused across many of the Camphill farms and public buildings.

Films about Camphill by Jonathan Stedall

1967–68 In Need of Special Care (BBC2 2 × 60 '):

1. Camphill School, Aberdeen - for children with special needs. (Awarded British Film Academy 'Robert Flaherty Award' for best documentary in 1968, and nominated for 'United Nations Award'.)

2. Botton Village, Yorkshire - a Camphill Community for adults with special needs. (Also nominated for British Film Academy 'United Nations Award'.) 1973

In Defense of the Stork (BBC1 30 ') - connections between embryology and the story of creation in the book of Genesis, with Camphill's Dr Thomas Weihs. 1990

Candle on the Hill (BBC2 3 × 50 ') - celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Camphill movement and its work for children and adults with special needs.

Works

  • The developmentally disordered child. Curative educational experiences in the therapeutic community , Free Spiritual Life, 1995, ISBN 978-3-7725-1209-4
  • Embryogenesis in Myth and Science , Floris Books, 2008, ISBN 978-0-86315-671-7
  • Thomas J. Weihs and Wain Farrants: The Farm as an Individuality ; Editor Baruch Luke Urieli, Camphill Villages Trust, 1965

literature

Thomas J. Weihs : Editor: Johannes M. Surkamp, ​​Camphill Books, 1999. ISBN 978-1-897839-15-7

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Builders of Camphill: Lives and Destinies of the Founders , Editor Friedwart Bock, Publisher Floris Books, 2004, ISBN 978-0-86315442-3
  2. ↑ Thomas Weihs - Biographical entry in the online documentation of the anthroposophical research center Kulturimpuls
personal data
SURNAME Weihs, Thomas J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weihs, Thomas Johannes (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Doctor, curative teacher, writer
DATE OF BIRTH April 30, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 1983
Place of death Aberdeen