Victor Benjamin Neuburg
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Victor Benjamin Neuburg (6 May 1883 – 31 May 1940) was an English poet and writer. An intimate associate of
Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
, he wrote on the subject of
occultism The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...
, including
Theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...
and
Thelema Thelema () is a Western esotericism, Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and a new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial ma ...
. He edited "The Poet's Corner" column in the ''
Sunday Referee The ''Sunday Referee'' was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom, founded in 1877 as ''The Referee'', primarily covering sports news. History George Robert Sims, who was a popular journalist for The Referee, was approached by East End headmis ...
'', and also published the early works of
Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...
and
Pamela Hansford Johnson Pamela Hansford Johnson, Baroness Snow, (29 May 1912 – 18 June 1981) was an English novelist, playwright, poet, literary and social critic. Life Johnson was born in London. Her mother, Amy Clotilda Howson, was a singer and actress, from a ...
.


Early life

Neuburg was born into and raised in an upper middle-class
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family in
Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...
. His father, Carl Neuburg, who had been born in 1857 in
Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...
,
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, and was a commission agent based in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, abandoned the family shortly after his son's birth. Victor was brought up by his mother, Jeanette Neuburg, ''née'' Jacobs (1855–1939), and his maternal aunts. He was educated at the
City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...
and
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, where he studied
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
and modern languages.


Relationship with Aleister Crowley

When he was 25, in around 1906, Neuburg came in contact with Crowley, also a poet, who had read some of Neuburg's pieces in the '' Agnostic Journal''. Crowley's description of him was: Crowley initiated Neuburg into his magical Order, the
A∴A∴ The A∴A∴ ( ) is a magical organization established in 1907 by Aleister Crowley, a Western esotericist. Its members are dedicated to the advancement of humanity by perfection of the individual on every plane through a graded series of univ ...
, in which he took the magical name "Frater Omnia Vincam". Crowley also began an extended sentimental and sexual relationship with Neuburg. In 1909 Crowley took Neuburg to
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, and they set off into the desert, where they performed a series of occult rituals based on the
Enochian Enochian is an occult constructed language—said by its originators to have been received from angels—recorded in the private journals of John Dee and his colleague Edward Kelley in late 16th-century England. Kelley was a scryer who worked ...
system of Doctor
John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...
, later chronicled in ''
The Vision and the Voice ''The Vision and the Voice'' (Liber 418) is a book by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947). It chronicles the mystical journey of the author as he explored the 30 Enochian aethyrs originally developed by John Dee and Edward Kelley in the 16th cen ...
''. In the midst of these rituals Crowley put the ideas of sex and magick together, and performed his first
sex magic Sex magic (sometimes spelled sex magick) is any type of sexual activity used in magical, ritualistic or otherwise religious and spiritual pursuits. One practice of sex magic is using sexual arousal or orgasm with visualization of a desired r ...
k ritual. Neuburg's anthology of poems ''The Triumph of Pan'' (1910) dates from shortly after these events and shows the distinct influence of Crowley: Crowley was highly impressed by Neuburg's poetic ability: Back in London, Neuburg showed potential as a dancer, so Crowley gave him a leading role in his proto-performance art pieces ''
Rites of Eleusis The Rites of Eleusis were a series of seven public invocations or rites written by British occultist Aleister Crowley, each centered on one of the seven classical planets of antiquity. They were dramatically performed by Aleister Crowley, Leila ...
''. Neuburg also pursued a doomed relationship with the actress Ione de Forest, who committed suicide shortly after their break-up. In 1913 Crowley and Neuburg again joined forces in a sexual ritual magic operation known as "the Paris Working". According to one of Crowley's biographers,
Lawrence Sutin Lawrence Sutin (born 1951) is the author of two memoirs, two biographies, a novel and a work of history. History of works Sutin's debut book was ''Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick''. He subsequently edited two volumes of writings by Di ...
, Crowley subsequently used
anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
epithets to bully Neuburg, and compared Neuburg to a
dromedary The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius''), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel and one-humped camel, is a large camel of the genus '' Camelus'' with one hump on its back. It is the tallest of the three camel species; adult males sta ...
. This spurred Neuburg to break with Crowley some time in 1914, describing the slurs as "ostrobogulous piffle", inventing the word 'ostrobogulous' for the occasion.


The Vine Press

From 1916 Neuburg served in the British Army. After the end of the First World War he moved to
Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham District, Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, north of the coastal town of Shoreha ...
in Sussex, where he ran a
small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. However, when a distinction ...
, the Vine Press. In 1920 he published a collection of ballads and other verse under the title ''Lillygay''. Many of these were adapted from earlier ballad collections. In 1923
Peter Warlock Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 189417 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occult practices, was used for all his published ...
set five of these verses to music under the same title.


"The Poet's Corner" and Dylan Thomas

From 1933 onwards Neuburg edited a section called "The Poet's Corner" in a British newspaper, the ''
Sunday Referee The ''Sunday Referee'' was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom, founded in 1877 as ''The Referee'', primarily covering sports news. History George Robert Sims, who was a popular journalist for The Referee, was approached by East End headmis ...
''. Here he encouraged new talent by awarding weekly prizes of half a guinea for the best poem. One first prize was awarded to the then-unknown
Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...
, and the publisher of the ''Sunday Referee'' sponsored Neuburg's publication of Thomas's first book, '' 18 Poems''. Another poet who contributed to the column was
Pamela Hansford Johnson Pamela Hansford Johnson, Baroness Snow, (29 May 1912 – 18 June 1981) was an English novelist, playwright, poet, literary and social critic. Life Johnson was born in London. Her mother, Amy Clotilda Howson, was a singer and actress, from a ...
, and for many months, Johnson and Thomas seemed to alternate as winners of first prize. In 1937, Jean Overton Fuller submitted a poem to "The Poets' Corner" and was drawn into Neuburg's circle, eventually becoming his biographer.


Personal life

Neuburg married Kathleen Rose Goddard in 1921, but the marriage eventually broke up. They had a son, Victor Edward Neuburg (1924–1996), who became a writer on English literature. Neuburg later started a relationship with Runia Tharpe, and moved to Swiss Cottage, London, to live with her.


Death

Victor Benjamin Neuburg died from
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
on 30 May 1940.
Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...
declared on hearing of Neuburg's death:


Selected publications

* ''The Green Garland'' (1908) * ''The Triumph of Pan'' (1910) * ''Lillygay: An Anthology of Anonymous Poems'' (1920) * ''Swift Wings: Songs in Sussex'' (1921) * ''Songs of the Groves'' (1921) * ''Larkspur: A Lyric Garland'' (1922)


See also

*
Choronzon Choronzon is a demon that originated in writing with the 16th-century occultists Edward Kelley and John Dee within the latter's occult system of Enochian magic. In the 20th century he became an important element within the mystical system of Th ...
*
Vittoria Cremers Vittoria Cremers (''Vittoria Cassini''; born c. 1859), was an Italian Theosophist. Early years Cremers was born in Pisa, Italy, and was the daughter of Italian Manrico Vittorio Cassini and his British wife, Agnes Elizabeth Rutherford. Career Cre ...


References


Works cited

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Further reading

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neuburg, Victor 1883 births 1940 deaths 20th-century English poets 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Jewish English writers English Thelemites English male poets Jewish poets People from Islington (district) People from Steyning Writers from the London Borough of Islington Tuberculosis deaths in England