Alexander, F. Matthias

F. Matthias Alexander (1869–1955) is the originator of the F. M. Alexander Technique. He started to evolve his technique in the early 1890s. Encouraged by doctors, Alexander moved to London in 1904. During the period 1914–24 he also taught regularly in New York and Boston. In New York John Dewey became his pupil and supporter and wrote forewords not only to the next edition of Man's Supreme Inheritance (1918), but also to Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual (1923) and The Use of the Self (1932). In these books he developed and expanded his theme, including examples and case stories as illustrations. During the 1920s and 1930s Alexander's pupils included George Bernard Shaw, Aldous Huxley, Leonard Wolf, Sir Stafford Cripps, The Earl of Lytton and doctors, scientists and performers. In 1931 Alexander started a 3-year course, training teachers in his technique, which ensured its survival and continual expansion. At the outbreak of war in 1939 Alexander moved the school to the USA. Here he finished his last book, The Universal Constant in Living (1942), reminding us all that we are constantly using ourselves, that our use continuously affects our functioning, and that we can co-ordinate and control that use to great advantage. Alexander continued to teach to within a few days of his death in 1955.