The book ‘the guru and the baron’ was recently published and gets quite some attention. It was written by former news reader Rick Nieman (1965-) and his wife, also a former news reader, Sacha de Boer (1967-). Both journalists, were put on a trail when they bought a summer house in an area with an interesting history. It was the area where the (in)famous “Star camps” used to be held, camps to promote the new world leader Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986).
The baron from the title is Philip van Pallandt (1889-1979) a fortunate and wealthy man who inherited a massive estate that he would gift to the Order of the Star of the East.
Nieman and De Boer made contact with the grandchildren of the baron, got access to what is left of the family archives, which includes letters, photos, documents and what not. I was curious if any new information would have surfaced.
Krishnamurti was discovered and promoted by the Theosophists Annie Besant (1847-1933) and Charles Leadbeater (1854-1934). He was sent to England for eduction and from then on Krishnamurti led a life of luxury.
The book presents a double biography, entwined biographies. The young and idealistic baron was caught by the ideas of the young Theosophical Society and its ideas of the comming Messiah, but even more so, he was caught by the personality of the young Indian man was expected to be the carrier of the world leader. The two became close friends for life.
Van Pallandt is pictured as idealistic. He put his heart and money into several causes and it was on his former estate that the “star camps” have been held from 1924 to 1938, drawing thousands of people from all over the world. Van Pallandt himself had a very intimate friendships, wide interests and he travelled all over the world.
The life of Krishnamurti was already better known, but I suppose Nieman was able to add some new information from the new sources that became available to him. The red thread is here that Krishnamurti both doubted and embraced the role that he was pushed into; until he did no longer.
I find Nieman’s writing style a bit ‘wooly’, but the book presents a well researched and very readable story of two men, the highs and lows in their lives, things that happened around them and all that covering a large period of time that includes both World Wars.
I had some hope that Farwerck would appear in the book, but he does not. I can hardly imagine that he never showed up on the star camps and Van Pallandt was a ‘natural contact’ for him. Moreover, he was a member of the Order.
What we do learn from the book is that Besant and Leadbeater visited Ommen quite a few times. I wonder if they used these occasions to visit co-Masonic or Theosophical lodges during these visits. This -of course- was not Nieman’s point of interest, so not a word about such things. The book may help to spark some investigations in such details though.
The book is a good read. I do not know if there are plans for an English translation.
2026 De Bezig Bij, isbn 9789403135083
