Manfred Schmidt-Brabant was born in Berlin, Germany in 1926. He became a member of the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical Society at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, in 1975 and served as Chair of the Council from 1984 until his death in 2001. His service during those years included leadership of the Social Science Section of the School of Spiritual Science, and he lectured around the world on many subjects. English editions of his books include The Spiritual Tasks of the Homemaker and (with Virginia Sease) The Archetypal Feminine.