Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, was born on February 27, 1861 in Kraljevec (then in Austria, today in Croatia), where he completed elementary school. Having developed a great interest in humanistic subjects already in his childhood, he was however advised by his father to attend the Technical School of Vienna, where he graduated in Exact Sciences, however, following with enthusiasm, as a listener, classes in the humanistic area. His academic performance led him to be invited, in 1883, to edit Goethe's scientific writings in the Deutsche Nationalliteratur (German National Bibliography) collection. It was during this period that he was able to develop his ideas about the theory of knowledge, in contact with the thoughts of the great researcher – and not just poet – Goethe. There the so-called 'Goethianism' was born, which would permeate its entire methodology in different areas of human knowledge.

In 1890 he moved to Weimar, invited to work at the Goethe-Schiller Archive, where he carried out his duties until 1897.

In 1891 he received a doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Rostock, Germany, and in 1894 he released his fundamental philosophical work, The Philosophy of Freedom. In 1897 he moved to Berlin, where he took over the editorship of an important literary magazine, and in 1899 he was invited to teach at the Cultural Training School for Workers, an activity he carried out until 1904.

From 1900 onwards, due to the interest shown by members of the Theosophical Society in his spiritual research, he joined it as a lecturer and in 1902 as general secretary of its German Section. However, for exercising independent action, postulating the importance of Christ in human evolution, and for disagreeing with many doctrinal aspects of the Society, in 1913 he was disconnected from it and decided to found the Anthroposophical Society, of which many of his listeners became part. since then. At that time, construction began on the headquarters building of Anthroposophy in Dornach, Switzerland, which, after inauguration, was criminally set on fire on December 31, 1922. Undeterred, Steiner began the construction of a new building in the same location, which to this day hosts the global anthroposophical movement.

Steiner died in Dornach in 1925, after intense activity as a lecturer and researcher of spiritual reality. With the results of his research and his own cultural and spiritual experiences, he made valuable contributions to numerous areas of knowledge and human activity. He left an immense work consisting of 45 volumes written by him and 354 volumes reproducing his lectures in several European countries; Furthermore, he bequeathed to posterity the great impetus for the practical realization of his ideas in countless associative, public and private institutions that exist today on all continents.