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 Joseph Hubertus Pilates
(1880 – 1967) was
the inventor of the Pilates physical fitness method
Born in Düsseldorf, to parents of Greek and German ancestry,
he came to believe that our modern life-style, bad posture,
and inefficient breathing were the roots of poor health. His
father was a prize-winning gymnast of Greek origin and his
mother a naturopath of German origin. His name was
originally spelled by its Greek derivation "Pilatu" but was
changed to Pilates. This caused him much grief because, as a
child, older boys taunted him calling him "Pontius Pilate,
killer of Christ". Joseph suffered from asthma, rickets, and
rheumatic fever as a youth. To overcome the effects of poor
health, as well as the taunting of other kids, he studied
body building, diving, skiing, and gymnastics and developed
a series of exercises.
Pilates moved to England in 1912 and worked as a boxer,
circus performer, and a self defense trainer of English
detectives. When he was interned at a camp in Lancaster with
other Germans as 'enemy aliens' during World War I, Pilates
spent the time to further develop his exercise techniques.
In 1926, Pilates he emigrated to New York and established a studio
with his wife Clara teaching his exercises to dancers,
including Martha Graham and George Balanchine, as well as
actors and athletes. He also invented an exercise apparatus
by attaching springs to hospital beds for immobilized
patients.
Pilates wrote several books and had a number of disciples who
continued to teach variations of his method.
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