Austria-born, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) is known as a philosopher, literary critic and esoteric who became leader of the German Theosophical Society and later founder the Anthroposophical Society. Much of his philosophical thought was influenced by the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, while his politics were left-leaning. He is often remembered for his support of writer Emile Zola's intervention in the Dreyfus affair, a political scandal that divided France.