Heinrich Jacoby (1889–1964), originally a musician, was a German educator whose teaching was based on developing sensitivity and awareness. His collaboration with his colleague

Elsa Gindler Elsa Gindler (19 June 1885 – 8 January 1961) was a somatic bodywork (alternative medicine), bodywork pioneer in Germany. Born in Berlin, teacher of wiktionary:Gymnastik, gymnastik, student of Hedwig Kallmeyer (who, in turn, had been a student of ...

(1885–1961), whom he met in 1924 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, played a great role in his researches. With the advent of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

in 1933 Jacoby was forced to leave

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, but he continued his work in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Jacoby and Moshe Feldenkrais were among a small group of European 20th-century innovators who emphasized the "self" in

self-development Self-help or self-improvement is "a focus on self-guided, in contrast to professionally guided, efforts to cope with life problems" —economically, physically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. When ...

, so that as in the

zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

inspired arts such as archery or

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

, or even

flower arranging Floral design or flower arrangement is the art of using plant material and flowers to create an eye-catching and balanced composition or display. Evidence of refined floral design is found as far back as the culture of ancient Egypt. Floral desi ...

, a skill was not an end in itself. Practicing a skill was a path to greater awareness. The work of Heinrich Jacoby influenced body psychotherapy through the workshops that

Charlotte Selver Charlotte Selver (April 4, 1901, in Ruhrort (Duisburg), Germany – August 22, 2003, in Muir Beach, California; née ''Wittgenstein'') was a teacher of the Gindler/Jacoby method of awareness and exercise, a somatic bodywork method she further d ...

(1901–2003), a student of Jacoby and Gindler, gave to major body psychotherapists at the

Esalen Institute The Esalen Institute, commonly called Esalen, is a non-profit American Retreat (spiritual), retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanism, humanistic alternative education. The institute played a ke ...

in the 1960s.

External links

Heinrich Jacoby (1889-1964)
a short biography, in German {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacoby, Heinrich 20th-century German educators 1889 births 1964 deaths German emigrants to Switzerland