Born inEisleben, he was the stepfather of composerRichard Wagner, whose biological father had died some six months after his birth. According to Wagner's biographer Carl Friedrich Glasenapp, Geyer married Wagner's mother Johanna Rosine (née Pätz) after Wagner's birth; for his first few years Richard went under the surname Geyer. However, it is possible that Geyer and Johanna did not marry legally, as no record of the marriage has been found.[1]
In his 'Autobiographic Sketch,' Wagner describes him as 'a comedian and a painter; he was also the author of a few stage plays, of which one, ...The Slaughter of the Innocents, had a certain success'. On his deathbed, according to Wagner, Geyer asked his mother 'has he perchance a talent for music?'.[2]
Geyer grew up inArtern and attendedgymnasium in Eisleben. He started studyingjurisprudence at theUniversity of Leipzig but had to quit in 1799 when his father died after an accident. Geyer turned hishobby to his profession and earned the living expenses for his family by selling small portrait paintings.
In 1801, he came back toLeipzig where he met (Carl) Friedrich Wagner who cared for him like a father. It was at his advice that Geyer went to the stage. He performed in little theaters in towns such asMagdeburg,Braunschweig,Stettin andBreslau. In Magdeburg, he became aFreemason.[3] In 1809, Geyer joined the well knownSecondasche Gesellschaft in Leipzig, whose members were given the rank of court actors.
Friedrich Wagner died after theBattle of Leipzig oftyphus and Geyer married his widow. In 1814, his theatre company became part of the royal ensemble inDresden where he made a friendship withCarl Maria von Weber. In 1815, Geyer's daughter Augusta Cäcilie was born, who later married the publisher Eduard Avenarius and was the mother ofRichard Avenarius andFerdinand Avenarius.
Later in life, in the course of preparing his autobiography,Mein Leben, Wagner received from his sister Cäcilie a cache of letters written by Geyer that led him to believe that Geyer was his biological father, and possibly (and incorrectly) to believe that Geyer wasJewish;[4] the correspondence was subsequently lost or, some have suggested, destroyed by Wagner.[5][6] Geyer's relation to Wagner was one ofseveral controversies surrounding the composer during his lifetime and afterward.
^Conway, David (2012).Jewry in Music: Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1-107-01538-8
