The History of the German Section of the Theosophical Society 1902-1913

GA 250 — 21 September 1911, Berlin

44. The Suspended Sixth Congress of the Federation of European Sections in Genoa

The sixth congress of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society (Adyar) was supposed to have taken place in Genoa from September 17 to 21, 1911, under the motto “From Buddha to Christ”. The contrast between Annie Besant's and Rudolf Steiner's Christ teachings was to be discussed openly there. Even Krishnamurti was expected at the congress in Genoa, accompanied by Annie Besant.

However, the congress was canceled shortly before it began. See also the descriptions by Rudolf Steiner at the tenth general assembly of the German Section of the Theosophical Society in December 1911 on the following pages 454f. in the present volume.

In an article in the “Mitteilungen für die Mitglieder der Deutschen Sektion der Theosophischen Gesellschaft” (Communications for the Members of the German Section of the Theosophical Society) no. 14/1912, Rudolf Steiner describes the rejection as follows: “I say that after the refusal, I contacted the General Secretary of the Italian Section [Otto Penzig]¹ to find out the reasons for the refusal. He replied to me in a telegram: “You have acted on strict orders from President Mrs. Besant and Secretary Mr. Wallace; please contact them.” This is the strict, objective fact. Mrs. Besant is now spreading the following: I supposedly misrepresented the whole thing, because she never canceled the congress, but only announced in Genoa that she would not be coming. As a result, the opinion is forming in wide circles of the Theosophical Society that I said something incorrect at our general assembly, while I did not say anything about my view of the matter at all, but only communicated to my members the clear wording of the official telegram from the responsible general secretary. I never said that Mrs. Besant had canceled the Congress, but only that she could not have canceled it because she had no right to do so."

Otto Penzig's telegram, dated September 11, 1911, has been preserved (archive location 97/IV). It reads: “I have acted on strict orders from President Besavit [Besant] and Wallace, Secretary of the Federation. Please contact them officially = Penzig +.”

Penzig seems to have overstated Annie Besant's previous refusal to attend the congress in this telegram, according to his own account. However, see also his account of this in his letter of November 23, 1912 to Rudolf Steiner, which was reproduced in “Mitteilungen für die Mitglieder der Deutschen Sektion der Theosophischen Gesellschaft” No. 15/1913, p. 5. From this it seems more likely that Annie Besant said afterwards that she would never have dared to cancel the congress, but only her participation. In her confirmation telegram, however, in response to Penzig's question as to whether her cancellation also meant the suspension of the congress, she wrote “abandoning congress”, which means something like “abandoning the congress”. Whether Annie Besant meant her participation in the congress or the congress as a whole must remain open.

See also Rudolf Steiner's letter to the members of the Theosophical Society of January 15, 1913, in the “Mitteilungen für die Mitglieder der Deutschen Sektion der Theosophischen Gesellschaft” No. 15/1913 (this letter as well as the above quote from the message no. 14/1912 are printed in the Rudolf Steiner Complete Edition in “Writings on the History of the Anthroposophical Movement and Society 1902-1925”, GA37).