Just the facts…
By Kathy Corey

I am always shocked when I teach at a conference or hear people talking about the history of Joseph Pilates. There is still so much misinformation about the man and his life. The Internet promotes these falsehoods with many articles that have not been updated. In fact, while writing this article I was checking various websites and found a myriad of incorrect details. In the past we were not able to substantiate the information, but today we have the ability to research the records and separate fact from lure.

To test your knowledge of Joseph Pilates’ life and work, here is a quick quiz of some the most common misconceptions about the man whose program and name we use everyday in our work.
 
Joseph Pilates was born in:

A. Düsseldorf, Germany
B. Monchengladbach, Germany
C. London, England
D. New York, New York USA
B. Monchengladbach

Joseph Pilates was born in Monchengladbach, a small city approximately 33 kilometers (20 miles) west and a bit south of Düsseldorf. A few years ago, Lolita San Miguel, (one of the few living Pilates Masters taught by Mr. Pilates himself) went to Monchengladbach and was extremely dismayed that he was not well known for his great achievements in his own hometown. She gathered several teachers from around the world and had a plaque placed at the site of the birthplace and held a conference in his honor. It will be held again in May 1—3, 2015.
The Plaque in Monchengladbach



Mr. Pilates birth date is:

A. December 9, 1880
B. December 9, 1882
C. December 9, 1883
D. December 9, 1980 –Because the Pilates Method has only been around for about 20 years

C. 1883.Many articles state that Joseph Pilates was born on December 9, 1880. It was even stated in his obituary in the New York Times
that he was 86 at the time of his death. But several years ago, his birth certificate was located that recorded his actual birth date as December 9, 1883. That would make him 83, not 86 when he died, and 9 months younger than Clara.




During his life Mr. Pilates worked as a:

A. Pugilist
B. Circus Performer
C. Director of Physical Culture
D. All of the above
E. None of the above

D. All of the above. Mr. Pilates’ family owned a boxing gymnasium in Monchengladbach and a poster was located with Joseph Hubertus Pilates listed as a contender. He continued training as a boxer but also was a circus performer. He and his brother, Frederick, posed as Greek and Roman statues. After arriving in America in 1926, Joe applied for US citizenship in 1929. He listed his address as 939 8th Avenue, both his home and studio address, and his occupation as Director of Physical Culture.
Petition for Citizenship

Joseph Pilates was:
A. Never married
B. Married once before he married Anna Clara Zuener
C. Married twice before he married Anna Clara Zuener
D. Married twice but never married Anna Clara Zuener

D. Married twice but never married Anna Clara Zuener. Joseph Pilates married his first wife, Maria in 1905. They had one daughter, Helene or Leni, born in 1906. Maria died in 1913. After returning from the First World War, Joseph Pilates married Elfreide in 1919. They lived in Hamburg, Germany. Although Joe came to live in America in 1926 and applied for US citizenship in 1929, Elfreide, remained in Germany. She died in 1931.
Joe and Clara are both listed on the ship manifest arriving in the United States from Hamburg in 1926. No record of a marriage license has been located. When Clara applied for her US citizenship in 1933, she listed herself as not married. Her address was 939 8th Avenue, the home and studio for both Joe and Clara. They were known as “the Pilates” and lived many happy years together.

Joe and Clara Pilates Christmas Card



Clara Pilates was:
A. A nurse
B. A kindergarten teacher
C. Assistant Director of Physical Culture
D. A dancer

C. Assistant Director of Physical Culture. On the Manifest for Alien Pasengers for the United States of the SS Westphalia from Hamburg April 1926, (the ship on which both Joe and Clara traveled to the United States), Clara listed her occupation as “household”. At the time, that meant working for a family as a housekeeper or childcare. The confusion arises from the fact that Clara wore a nurses uniform when she taught at the studio.
Clara wearing her nurses uniform




From 1914 to 1919, during World War I, Joseph Pilates was:

A. A combat soldier
B. A POW (Prisoner of War)
C. In a concentration camp
D. In an internment camp

D. In an internment camp. Joseph Pilates did not fight in the war so was never a prisoner of war (POW).
A concentration camp was a place where large numbers of people, especially political prisoners or members of persecuted minorities, are deliberately imprisoned in a relatively small area with inadequate facilities, sometimes to provide forced labor or to await mass execution. As a German national in England, Joseph Pilates was placed in an internment camp, first in Lancaster, then at the Isle of Man. Although violating their rights as citizens, internment camps treated the inmates relatively humanely. It was during this time that Mr. Pilates continued to develop his system of exercise and boasted that no man who practiced his method succumbed to the devastating influenza outbreak that killed thousands in England in 1918.



Joseph Pilates believed in:

A. Eating a vegetarian diet
B. Not smoking
C. Not drinking
D. All of the above
E. None of the above

E. None of the above. Mr. Pilates enjoyed his German food, cigars, liquor and beers. In 1962, in an article titled, “To Keep in Shape: Act Like an Animal”,
he states, “I drink a quart of liquor a day, plus some beers and smoke maybe 15 cigars.”
From Sports Illustrated Magazine 1962



Joseph Pilates called his system of exercise:

A. The Pilates Method
B. The Pilates Technqiue
C. Contrology
D. The Joseph Pilates System of Exercise

C. Contrology. In his second book, Return to Life through Contrology, published in 1945, he wrote, If you will faithfully perform your Contrology exercises regularly only four time a week for just three months as outlined in RETURN TO LIFE, you will find your body development approaching the ideal, accompanied by renewed mental vigor and spiritual enhancement. Contrology is designed togive you suppleness, natural grace and skill that will beunmistakenly reflected in the way you walk, in the way you play and in the way you work.

The first reference I have to the work being called the Pilates System is in a letter from Clara Pilates to Master Teacher Ron Fletcher, in which she states, “Your letter made me very happy because it arrived on my 89th Birthday. The corporation gave me a dinner party. So I am marching into my 90th -- a woman should not get that old… but I am feeling fine. Thanks to = Pilates System. February 8, 1972.
PILATES’
Return to Life Through Contrology



Joseph Pilates died in 1967:

A. In a Fire in his studio
B. Falling through the floor of his studio
C. Carrying his equipment out of the burning studio
D. Over a year after the fire in his studiio

D. Over a year after the fire in his studio. In January 1966, there was a fire in the back room of the studio. The dramatic story claims Joe was carrying his equipment from the burning building because he did not want to see his life’s work go up in flames. The floor gave way and he fell through. He grabbed hold of the pipes and (a) pulled himself to safety but died the next day from smoke inhalation or (b) was left hanging for quite some time until the firefighters rescued him and then he suffered from severe smoke inhalation that eventually led to his death.
Master Teacher Bruce King, who lived and taught at the studio and who was in the studio at the time of the fire told me a different version of the story. He recounted that the day after the fire, Joe came to inspect the damage to the studio. The burnt floorboards gave out from beneath Joe, and he fell through the floor, but was able to catch hold of one of the beams and was able to pull himself up.
Mr. Pilates died of advanced emphysema on October 9, 1967. He was 83 years old.




Author: Kathy Corey