Thomas Weihs (30 April 1914 – 19 June 1983) was an Austrian doctor, farmer and special needs educator, one of the founders and leading co-workers of the
Camphill Movement and a pioneer of
Anthroposophical
Anthroposophy is a spiritualist movement founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Followers ...
curative education.
‘’Thomas Weihs’’ – Biographischer Eintrag in der Online-Dokumentation der anthroposophischen ''Forschungsstelle Kulturimpuls''
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Biography
Thomas Johannes Weihs was born 30 April 1914, in Vienna
en, Viennese
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(then the Austro-Hungarian Empire), the second child of Gertrude and Richard Weiss (spelling later changed), who had settled in Vienna from Brody
Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...
in the Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. During his studies in Medicine at the University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...
, he met Dr Karl König
Karl König (25 September 1902 – 27 March 1966) was an Austrian paediatrician who founded the Camphill Movement, an international movement of therapeutic intentional communities for those with special needs or disabilities.
Biography
König ...
and became part of a youth group whose members formed the core of what was to become Camphill in Scotland.
Being of Jewish origin, he fled Austria together with his first wife, Helene Stoll, completed his doctor's degree in Basel
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, after which, at the outbreak of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
he joined Dr König and the others in Scotland. Near Aberdeen, on Camphill estate, they founded the work in curative education for those they called "children in need of special care," which was to occupy him for the rest of his life. He had a number of children with Helene, one of whom, Christine Polyblank, founded the Ringwood Waldorf School.
As Camphill grew, so his responsibilities increased, ranging from farming and general handyman to doctor, educator, lecturer and writer. In 1957 he was appointed Superintendent of the Camphill work by Dr König. He had, by this time, also established a thriving practice as a doctor, including working at Dr. König's own London practice. At the same time he travelled widely, lecturing at Camphill centres throughout the world as well as to the general public. It was in this manner that he met BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. Their collaboration led to the numerous films for British television that Stedall made on Camphill such as "Candle on the Hill".
Weihs’ best-known work, the book ''Children in Need of Special Care'', was published in 1971 and has since been reprinted on several occasions and translated into 14 languages.
His final work, "Embryogenesis in Myth and Science", was completed on his deathbed and published posthumously.
Besides this, his work as sculptor led to a considerable number of pieces set up all over the various farms and public buildings of Camphill.
He died on 19 June 1983, in
;1967–68 in Need of Special Care (BBC2 2 × 60'):
*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’.)
*Botton Village, Yorkshire – a Camphill Community for adults with special needs. (Also nominated for British Film Academy ‘United Nations Award’.)
;1973
*In Defence 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.