The Green Snake: An Autobiography
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Told from the perspective of the anthroposophic artist, Margarita Woloschin, this is a first-hand account of her privileged upbringing in Russia and subsequent life. Her vivid recollections of Moscow and rural Russia at the end of the nineteenth century are related in a lyrical, evocative tone that echoes throughout the book. It records, in lavish detail, Woloschin's meetings with the Russian intellectual elite, including Tolstoy, the impressions they made upon her, her extensive travels throughout Europe, and her marriage to the journalist-poet Max Voloshin.
Instrumental in introducing Anthroposophy to Russia, Woloschin recounts the construction of the original Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, in which she was involved, and its ultimate destruction. The narrative is interspersed with the artist's personal memories and insights of Rudolf Steiner and the struggle for meaning in her own turbulent life.
She also details the harsh deprivations during the Russian Revolution as World War I spread through Europe, as well as its effects on her family and friends, which stand in brutal contrast to the earlier bucolic quality of her testimony.
Set against the extremes of tsarist Russia and the Bolshevik Revolution, this haunting, historical memoir is testament to a fascinating and inspirational life.
"One of the great attractions of Woloschin's text is its vivid and detailed evocation of the lost world of a century ago. These memoirs provide a compelling first-hand account of 'the great historical turning point' in which she lived; the condition of Russia in particular during this period is described with great insight and compassion." —Zoe Carroll, New View, autumn 2010
"This is the first English translation of this remarkable autobiography by the anthroposophical artist Margarita Woloschin, who was instrumental in introducing Anthroposophy into Russia… An absorbing read." —David Lorimer, Scientific and Medical Network Review, winter 2010