For Paracelsus, the main and universal science was. Who is Paracelsus? Description, biography, medical practice. Medical ethics of Paracelsus

The section is very easy to use. Just enter the desired word in the field provided, and we will give you a list of its meanings. I would like to note that our site provides data from various sources - encyclopedic, explanatory, word-formation dictionaries. Here you can also see examples of the use of the word you entered.

The meaning of the word paracelsus

Paracelsus in the crossword dictionary

paracelsus

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

paracelsus

PARACELSUS (real name Philip Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, von Hohenheim) (1493-1541) physician and naturalist, one of the founders of iatrochemistry. Subjected to a critical revision of the ideas of ancient medicine. He contributed to the introduction of chemicals into medicine. He wrote and taught not in Latin, but in German.

paracelsus

PARACELSUS (real name Philip Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, von Hohenheim) (December 17, 1493, Einsiedeln, canton of Schwyz - September 24, 1541, Salzburg) famous physician, natural philosopher and alchemist of the Renaissance. Education Born into the family of a doctor who came from an old but impoverished noble family. Paracelsus's first teacher was his father, who introduced him to the basics of the art of medicine. One of Paracelsus' mentors was Johannes Trithemius, known for his advocacy of "natural magic." Paracelsus received his university education in the Italian city of Ferrara, where he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Wanderings and teaching Since 1517, Paracelsus undertook numerous travels, visited various universities in Europe, participated as a physician in military campaigns, visited imperial lands, France, England, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavian countries, Poland, Lithuania, Prussia, Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, the states of the Apennine Peninsula (there were rumors that he visited North Africa, Palestine, Constantinople, Muscovy and Tatar captivity). In 1526 he acquired the rights of a burgher in Strasbourg, and in 1527, under the patronage of the famous book publisher Johann Froben, he became the city doctor of Basel. At the University of Basel, he taught a course in medicine in German, which was a challenge to the entire university tradition, which obliged him to teach only in Latin. In 1528, as a result of a conflict with the city authorities, Paracelsus moved to Colmar. Wanderings and scientific works In subsequent years, Paracelsus traveled a lot through the cities and lands of the Holy Roman Empire and Switzerland, wrote, preached, treated, researched, performed alchemical experiments, and conducted astrological observations. In 1530, at Beratzhausen Castle, he completed work on the Paragranum (1565). After a short stay in Augsburg and Regensburg, he moved to St. Gallen and at the beginning of 1531 he completed here a long-term work on the origin and course of diseases - the treatise "Paramirum" (1562). In 1533, he stopped in the city of his childhood, Villach, where he wrote “The Labyrinth of Misguided Physicians” (1553) and “The Chronicle of Carinthia” (1575). Last years In the last years of his life, the treatises “Philosophy” (1564), “Hidden Philosophy” (the first edition was translated into Flemish, 1553), “Great Astronomy” (1571) and a number of small natural philosophical works were created, including - "The Book of Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, Salamanders, Giants and Other Spirits" (1566). In 1541 Paracelsus settled in Salzburg, finding a patron in the person of the archbishop; here he soon died. Natural philosophy Bringing chemistry and medicine closer, Paracelsus considered the functioning of a living organism as a chemical process, and he found the calling of an alchemist not in the extraction of gold and silver, but in the manufacture of medicines that give people healing. He taught that living organisms consist of the same substances - mercury, sulfur, salt - that form all other bodies of nature; when a person is healthy, these substances are in balance with each other; disease means the predominance or, conversely, deficiency of one of them. Paracelsus proceeded from the idea of ​​the unity of the universe, the close connection and kinship of man and the world, man and God. He called man not only a “microcosm,” a small world that contains the properties and nature of all things, but also the “quintessence,” or the fifth, true essence of the world. According to Paracelsus, man is produced by God from an “extract” of the whole world, as if in a grandiose alchemical laboratory, and carries within himself the image of the Creator. There is no knowledge forbidden for a person; he is capable and, according to Paracelsus, even obliged to explore all the entities that exist not only in nature, but also beyond its borders. He should not be stopped or embarrassed by their unusualness, for nothing is impossible for God, and these entities are evidence of his omnipotence, like nymphs, sylphs, gnomes, salamanders, sirens, giants, dwarfs and other creatures inhabiting the four elements.

Paracelsus

(Paracelsus) (pseudonym; real name and surname ≈ Philip Aureol Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim; von Hohenheim) (10/24/1493, Schwyz, ≈ 9/24/1541, Salzburg), Renaissance physician, “the first professor of chemistry from the creation of the world” (A I. Herzen). He received his education in Ferrara (Italy). Around 1515 he was awarded the title of doctor, was a university professor (1526) and city doctor in Basel, and traveled extensively throughout Europe. He sharply opposed scholastic medicine and blind reverence for the authority of Galen, opposing them to observation and experience. He rejected the teaching of the ancients about the four juices of the human body and believed that all processes occurring in the body are chemical processes. Studied the therapeutic effects of various chemical elements and compounds; Having brought chemistry closer to medicine, P. was one of the founders of iatrochemistry. Isolated medicines from plants and used them in the form of tinctures, extracts and elixirs; developed a new idea for that time about the dosage of medicines, and used mineral springs for medicinal purposes. Pointed out the need to search for and use specific drugs against certain diseases (for example, mercury against syphilis). P.'s materialistic, albeit primitive, views and his practical activities were not free from medieval mysticism and religion. He created the doctrine of “archaea” - the highest spiritual principle, supposedly regulating the life of the body.

Works: Sämntliche Werke, Abt. 1, Bd 1≈14, Münch. ≈ Jena, 1922≈36, Abt. 2, Bd 4, 5, Wiesbaden, 1955≈56.

Lit.: Proskuryakov V.M., Paracelsus, M., 1935.

P. E. Zabludovsky.

Wikipedia

Paracelsus

Paracelsus(, real name Philip Avreol Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, ; September 21, 1493, city of Eg, canton of Schwyz - September 24, 1541, Salzburg) - Swiss alchemist, physician, philosopher, naturalist, natural philosopher of the Renaissance, one of the founders of iatrochemistry. Subjected to a critical revision of the ideas of ancient medicine. He contributed to the introduction of chemicals into medicine. Considered one of the founders of modern science. He is recognized as the greatest occultist of the Middle Ages and the wisest physician of his time.

The pseudonym Paracelsus, invented by himself, translated from Latin means “surpassed Celsus,” an ancient Roman encyclopedist and expert on medicine of the first century BC. e.

Contemporaries compared the activities of Paracelsus with the activities of Luther, since, like Luther in religion, Paracelsus was a great reformer of medical science and practice.

Paracelsus (lunar crater)

Paracelsus Crater- a large ancient impact crater in the southern hemisphere of the far side of the Moon. The name was given in honor of the Swiss-German alchemist and physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) and approved by the International Astronomical Union in 1970. The formation of the crater dates back to the pre-Nectarian period.

Examples of the use of the word paracelsus in literature.

There should be an engraving here on the left side Paracelsus, abracadabra and alembics, of course, on a golden background, and on the right - quasars, a heavy water mixer, gravitational-galactic antimatter - do I really have to think of this myself?

Among them were doctors, priests, lawyers, but there were also Paracelsus, Amiel, Jung, Paul Klee.

Through a miraculous deliverance, paving the way for oneself into the spatial world of the higher spheres, contracting and gradually expanding in time with the rhythmic essence of that difficult but mysterious space in the openings of whose caves, curtaining themselves with stalactites and stalagmites, the resting, ever-existing, self-focused foundations of music itself, the unfolding which forms the lungs of every light breath, pierced only by the pecked ribs of the musical foundations of the composer's skeleton, renewed by the chalk lime of the waters of the pool that have not been exhausted to the musical foundations, arising in imitation of the sacred loneliness of the thought of a ghost, tasting the bitter tincture of conscience for the purpose of rhetorically clearing the throat with a smack of time and rowan berries, which are absorbed in clusters in that frantic unbearable persistence, carried away from oneself, missing oneself through the singing slot of consciousness, the stubbornness of thinking, wanting to arouse taste in things that have fallen away from being as such their internal

Paracelsus and Helmont discovered the spontaneous birth of mice from wheat grains placed in a jar of dirty laundry.

That is why Paracelsus indicates that homunculi must be raised at the temperature of a horse's womb.

My intuition tells me that if human excrement acquired the consistency of liquid honey, this would lead to an increase in human life expectancy, because excrement, as believed Paracelsus, represent a thread of life, and with every hitch, pause, release of gases, moments fly away from it.

In this area the school Paracelsus and the defenders of the false fabrications of natural magic had so lost their sense of proportion that they were almost unwilling to equate the power and possibilities of the imagination with the power of miraculous faith.

Lao-Tze, Confucius, Buddha, Rama, Zoroaster, Hermes, Moses, Socrates, Plato, Apollo of Tyana, Seneca, Jesus Christ, Orpheus, Mohammed, Joan of Arc, Sergius of Radonezh, Paracelsus, Jacob Boehme, Thomas Vaughan, Pushkin, Lermontov, Vl.

Paracelsus, as if spermaceti had a rare ability to tame the excitement of anger: bathing in this wonderful bath, I experienced a divine feeling of freedom from all ill will, from all resentment and from all malice.

He anthropomorphizes his theory of being, and if he Paracelsus man acted as a microcosm, then in Schopenhauer the cosmos is likened to macro-anthropos.

It was a homunculus bought by Bruce for crazy money during a trip to Germany - supposedly an artificial man made by a great chemist Paracelsus.

Paracelsus nevertheless, it was not possible, since they are as much nature as the substance itself, only not external, but internal, not bodily, but spiritual.

famous Swiss alchemist, physician, philosopher, naturalist, natural philosopher of the Renaissance, one of the founders of iatrochemistry

short biography

Paracelsus(lat. Paracelsus, real name Philip Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, German Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim; October 24, 1493, city of Eg, canton of Schwyz - September 24, 1541, Salzburg) - famous Swiss alchemist, physician, philosopher, naturalist, natural philosopher of the Renaissance, one of the founders of iatrochemistry. Subjected to a critical revision of the ideas of ancient medicine. He contributed to the introduction of chemicals into medicine. Considered one of the founders of modern science.

He is recognized as the greatest occultist of the Middle Ages and the wisest physician of his time.

The pseudonym Paracelsus, invented by himself, is translated from Latin as “surpassing Celsus,” an ancient Roman encyclopedist and expert on medicine of the first century BC. e.

Contemporaries compared the activities of Paracelsus with the activities of Luther, since, like Luther in religion, Paracelsus was a great reformer of medical science and practice.

Paracelsus was born into the family of a doctor who came from an old but impoverished noble family. Mother worked as a nurse at the abbey. He had a very frail appearance - a large head and thin crooked legs. In the family, Paracelsus received an excellent education in the field of medicine and philosophy. By the age of 16, he knew the basics of surgery, therapy and was well versed in the basics of alchemy. At the age of 16, Paracelsus left home forever and went to study at the University of Basel. After this, he studied in Wurzburg with Abbot Johann Trithemius, one of the greatest adepts of magic, alchemy and astrology. Paracelsus received his university education in Ferrara, where he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

Wandering

Since 1517, Paracelsus undertook numerous travels and may have been the forerunner or founder of the secret societies that appeared in the 17th century in Europe), visited various European universities, participated as a physician in military campaigns, visited imperial lands, France, England, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavian countries, Poland, Lithuania, Prussia, Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, the states of the Apennine Peninsula (there were rumors that he visited North Africa, Palestine, Constantinople, Russia and in Tatar captivity).

According to Van Helmont, in 1521 Paracelsus arrived in Constantinople and received the Philosopher's Stone there. The adept from whom Paracelsus received this stone was, as mentioned in a certain book "Aureum vellus" (Golden Fleece - Latin) (printed by Rorschach in 1598), a certain Solomon Trismosinus, or Pfeiffer, a compatriot of Paracelsus. It is said that this Trismosin also had a panacea; they claim that at the end of the 17th century he was still alive: some French traveler saw him.

Paracelsus traveled through the Danube countries and visited Italy, where he served as a military surgeon in the imperial army and took part in many military expeditions of the time. In his travels, he collected a lot of useful information, not only from doctors, surgeons and alchemists, but also by communicating with executioners, barbers, shepherds, midwives and fortune tellers. He drew knowledge from both great and small, from scientists and among the common people; he could be found in the company of cattle drivers or tramps, on roads and in taverns, which served as a reason for cruel reproaches and reproaches with which his enemies, in their narrow-mindedness, showered him. After spending ten years wandering, now practicing his art as a doctor, now teaching or studying, according to the custom of those times, alchemy and magic, at the age of thirty-two he returned back to Germany, where he soon became famous after several amazing cases of healing the sick.

In 1526 he acquired the rights of a burgher in Strasbourg, and in 1527, under the patronage of the famous book publisher Johann Froben, he became the city doctor of Basel. Also in 1527, on the recommendation of Oxcolampadius, the city council appointed him professor of physics, medicine and surgery, with a high salary. At the University of Basel, he taught a course in medicine in German, which was a challenge to the entire university tradition, which obliged him to teach only in Latin. His lectures, unlike those of his colleagues, were not a simple repetition of the opinions of Galen, Hippocrates and Avicenna, the presentation of which was the only occupation of professors of medicine of that time. His doctrine was truly his own, and he taught it regardless of the opinions of others, earning thereby the applause of his students and the horror of his orthodox colleagues by breaking the established custom of teaching only that which can be securely supported by established, generally accepted evidence, whether or not it is compatible with reason and truth. In 1528, as a result of a conflict with the city authorities, Paracelsus moved to Colmar. At this time, he was excommunicated from the academy for almost 10 years.

In 1529 and 1530 visited Esslingen and Nuremberg. The "real" doctors from Nuremberg denounced him as a fraudster, a charlatan and an impostor. To refute their accusations, he asked the city council to entrust him with the treatment of several patients whose illnesses were considered incurable. Several patients with elephantiasis were referred to him, whom he cured in a short time, without asking for any payment. Evidence of this can be found in the Nuremberg city archives.

Paracelsus invented several effective medicines. One of his major achievements was the explanation of the nature and causes of silicosis (an occupational disease of miners).

In subsequent years, Paracelsus traveled a lot, wrote, treated, researched, performed alchemical experiments, and conducted astrological observations. In 1530, in one of the castles of Beratzhausen, he completed work on the Paragranum (1535). After a short stay in Augsburg and Regensburg, he moved to St. Gallen and at the beginning of 1531 he completed here a long-term work on the origin and course of diseases “Paramirum” (1532). In 1533 he stopped in Villach, where he wrote “The Labyrinth of Erroneous Physicians” (1533) and “The Chronicle of Kartinia” (1535).

Paracelsus described a disease of miners ("Schneeberg pulmonary disease"; "Von der Bersucht und anderen Bergkrankheiten" presumably written by him in 1533-1534, but published only after the scientist's death in 1567), which was later identified as lung cancer. The miners' illness turned out to be associated with exposure to ionizing radiation from radon and short-lived decay products that accumulate in the air of poorly ventilated mines.

Last years

In the last years of his life, the treatises “Philosophy” (1534), “Hidden Philosophy” (the first edition was translated into Flemish, 1533), “Great Astronomy” (1531) and a number of small natural philosophical works, including “The Book of nymphs, sylphs, pygmies, salamanders, giants and other spirits" (1536).

After that, he visited Meren, Carinthia, Carinthia and Hungary and eventually settled in Salzburg, where he was invited by Duke Ernst, Count Palatine of Bavaria, a great lover of secret sciences. There Paracelsus was finally able to see the fruits of his labors and gain glory. Finally, he can practice medicine and write works, without worrying that tomorrow he may have to move to another city. He has his own house on the outskirts, an office and a laboratory.

On September 24, 1541, while in a small room at the White Horse Hotel on the Salzburg embankment, he died after a short illness (at the age of 48 years and three days). He was buried in the cemetery of the city church of St. Sebastian.

The circumstances of his death are still unclear, but the latest research confirms the version of his contemporaries, according to which Paracelsus, during a dinner party, was treacherously attacked by bandits hired by one of the doctors, his enemies, and as a result of falling on a stone, he broke his skull, which a few days later and led to death.

Posthumously

The German doctor S. T. von Semmering examined the skull of Paracelsus, which, thanks to its unusual structure, cannot be confused with any other, and noticed a crack passing through the temporal bone (the skull was often touched, and over time it increased and became clearly visible). He is sure that such a crack could only have occurred during the lifetime of Paracelsus, since the bones of a hard, but old and dried out skull could not be divided in this way.

The remains of Paracelsus were exhumed in 1572 during the reconstruction of the church of St. Sebastian and reburied behind the wall that surrounds the courtyard in front of the chapel of St. Philip Neri, attached to the church, where a monument to him now stands.

Monument

In the center of the white marble pyramid there is a recess with his portrait, and above is the inscription:

  • Latin: Philippi Theophrasti Paracelsi qui tantam orbis farnam ex auro chymico adeptus esf effigies et ossa donee rursus circumdabitur pelle sua.;
  • translation: “Philip Theophrastus Paracelsus, who gained such great fame in the world for [the discovery of] chemical gold, images and bones; and until he is covered with his flesh again.”

Below the portrait:

  • Sub reparatione ecclesiae MDCCLXXII. ex sepulchrali eruta heic locata sunt.;
  • “Due to the renovation of the church [in the year] 1772, [the bones of Paracelsus] were dug up from the grave’s decay due to an epidemic and placed here.”

Based on the monument:

  • Conditur hic Philippus Theophrastus insignis Medicinae Doctor qui dira ilia vulnera Lepram Podagram Hydropsin aliaque insanabilia corporis contagia mirifica arte sustulit et bona sua in pauperes distribuenda locandaque honoravit. Anno MDXXXXI. Die xxiv. Septembris vitam cum morte mutavit.;
  • “Here lies Philip Theophrastus, with the title of Doctor of Medicine, who cured many ulcers, leprosy, gout, dropsy and some incurable contagious diseases of the body with miraculous art and honored the poor with the distribution and giving of his property. In the year 1541, on the 24th day of September, he exchanged life for death.”

Under this inscription one can see the coat of arms of Paracelsus in the form of a silver ray, on which three black balls are located one after the other, and below the words:

  • Pax vivis requies aeterna sepultis.;
  • Peace to the living, eternal rest to the dead.

On the black board on the left side of the monument there is a translation of these words into German. The last two inscriptions were clearly transferred from the original monument, and the one relating to the portrait was added in 1572.

Teachings of Paracelsus

  • He contrasted medieval medicine, which was based on the theories of Aristotle, Galen and Avicenna, with “spagyric” medicine, created on the basis of the teachings of Hippocrates. He taught that living organisms consist of the same mercury, sulfur, salts and a number of other substances that form all other bodies of nature; when a person is healthy, these substances are in balance with each other; disease means the predominance or, conversely, deficiency of one of them. He was one of the first to use chemicals in treatment.
  • Paracelsus is considered the forerunner of modern pharmacology, he owns the phrase: “Everything is poison, and nothing is without poison; Just one dose makes the poison invisible.”(in a popular version: “Everything is poison, everything is medicine; both are determined by the dose").
  • According to Paracelsus, man is a microcosm in which all the elements of the macrocosm are reflected; the connecting link between the two worlds is the force “M” (the name of Mercury begins with this letter). According to Paracelsus, man (who is also the quintessence, or fifth, true essence of the world) is produced by God from the “extract” of the whole world and carries within himself the image of the Creator. There is no knowledge forbidden for a person; he is capable and, according to Paracelsus, even obliged to explore all the entities that exist not only in nature, but also beyond its borders.
The human essence according to Paracelsus includes 7 elements:
  • "elementary body" (material or physical body; "Chat" among the Egyptians and "Guf" among the Jews),
  • "archaeus" (electro-magnetic body giving phosphorous light; the principle without which the physical body can neither exist nor move; "Ankh" of the Egyptians and "Coach-ha-guf" of the Jews);
  • “evestrum” (stellar, astral body; “Ka” of the Egyptians and “Nephesh” of the Jews), whose homeland is the astral world; it is an exact copy of the material body, can leave the physical body, accompanies the spirit of a person after his death;
  • “spiritus animalis” (animal soul, “Hati” or “Ab” of the Egyptians, “Ruach” of the Jews), where base, animal, egoistic instincts and passions are concentrated;
  • “anima intelligens” (rational soul, “Bai, Ba” of the Egyptians and “Neshamah” of the Jews) is the form in which the human soul is clothed in the higher spheres at the moment of reunification with the angelic world;
  • "anima spiritualis" (spiritual soul, spiritual body; "Cheybi" of the Egyptians and "Chaijah" of the Jews) - of divine origin, the seat of all the noblest and sublime aspirations of man,
  • “man of New Olympus” is a spark of the Divine, a part of the divine “I” that resides in man.
  • Paracelsus applied Agrippa's ideas about sympathy and antipathy to medicine and, on the basis of them, built the doctrine of special remedies for each part of the body (arcanum) and the possibility of transferring a disease from a person to a plant or animal, or burying it along with human excretions in the ground.
  • Paracelsus left a number of alchemical works, including: "The Chemical Psalter, or Philosophical Rules about the Stone of the Wise" , "Nitrogen, or About Wood and the Thread of Life" etc. In one of these works he used the term gnome.
  • It was he who gave the name to the metal zinc, using the spelling “zincum” or “zinken” in the book Liber Mineralium II. This word probably goes back to him. Zinke meaning "tooth" (zinc metal crystallites are like needles).

Proceedings

Published during his lifetime

  • Die große Wundarzney. Ulm, Hans Varnier, 1536; Augsburg, Haynrich Stayner (Steyner), 1536; Frankfurt am Main, Georg Raben and Weygand Hanen, 1536.
  • Vom Holz Guaico, 1529.
  • Von der Frantzösischen kranckheit Drey Bücher, 1530.
  • Vonn dem Bad Pfeffers in Oberschwytz gelegen, 1535.
  • Prognostications, 1536.

Posthumous publications

  • Wundt unnd Leibartznei. Frankfurt am Main, Christian Egenolff, 1549; Christian Egenolff, 1555; Christian Egenolff (junior), 1561.
  • Von der Wundartzney: Ph. Theophrasti von Hohenheim, beyder Artzney Doctoris, 4 Bücher. Pietro Perna, 1577.
  • Von den Krankheiten so die Vernunfft Berauben. Basel, 1567.
  • Archidoxa. Krakow, 1569.
  • Kleine Wundartzney. Basel, Peter Perna, 1579.
  • Opus Chirurgicum, Bodenstein. Basel, 1581.
  • Medical and philosophical treatises - four volumes, Basel, Huser, 1589.
  • Surgical works. Basel, Huser, 1591 and Zetzner, 1605.
  • Medical and Philosophical Treatises - Strasbourg Edition, 1603.
  • Kleine Wund-Artzney. Strasbourg, Ledertz, 1608.
  • Opera omnia medico-chemico-chirurgica, 3 volumes. Geneva, 1658.
  • Liber de Nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris et de caeteris spiritibus, 1566
  • Philosophia magna, tractus aliquot, Cologne, 1567.
  • Philosophiae et Medicinae utriusque compendium, Basel, 1568.

Disciples and followers

  • Tourneisser, Leonard (1531-1596) - Swiss physician.
  • Weigel, Valentin ( Weigel; 1533-1588) - German Protestant theologian and philosopher who had many followers (Weigelians).
  • Severinus, Peter ( Peder Sørensen; Peder Soerensen; 1540-1602) - Danish physician, author of the books: “Idea medicinae philosophicae” (1571), “Epistola scripta Th. Paracelso" (1572).
  • Libavius, Andreas ( Libavius; 1555-1616) - German doctor.
  • Khunrath, Heinrich (1560-1605) - German philosopher and alchemist, author of “The Amphitheater of Eternal Wisdom” (1595).
  • Théodore Turquet de Mayerne (1573-1655) - Swiss physician.
  • Fludd, Robert ( Fludd; 1574-1637) - English doctor.
  • Di Capua, Leonardo (1617-1695) - Italian doctor.

The teaching of Paracelsus and his followers is called iatrochemistry, which was also independently developed by:

  • Van Helmont (1580-1644) - Dutch doctor;
  • Tahenius, Otto ( Tachenius; English Otto Tachenius; 1610-1680) - German pharmacist;
  • Silvius, Francis (1614-1672) - Dutch doctor.

Also, Gustav of Sweden (1568-1607), the son of the Swedish king Eric XIV and a former servant, was nicknamed “the second Paracelsus” for his extensive knowledge.

Memory

Since 1941, the Swiss Chemical Society has awarded the Paracelsus Prize for lifetime achievement, which has been awarded to 7 Nobel laureates.

In 1970, the International Astronomical Union named a crater on the far side of the Moon named after Paracelsus.

In fiction and cinema

  • Paracelsus is mentioned in the Harry Potter series of novels written by the English writer J. K. Rowling.
  • In the work of Jorge Luis Borges “The Rose of Paracelsus,” a young man comes to a master who dreams of a student and asks to take him on as a student. The only condition the stranger sets is a demonstration of a miracle - the burning of the rose and its resurrection. After a dialogue filled with philosophical reminiscences, the young man himself burns the rose and demands that Paracelsus confirm his glory and revive it. Paracelsus says that those who claim that he is a charlatan are right, sends the young man away - and revives the rose with one word.
  • In the novel "Frankenstein", the main character was strongly influenced by the works and ideas of Paracelsus, which determined his aspirations.
  • Paracelsus is one of the main characters in the Weiner brothers’ novel “A Medicine for Nesmeyana.”
  • Austrian film director Georg Pabst made the film Paracelsus in 1943.
  • Paracelsus is one of the main characters movie "Enter the Labyrinth".
  • Paracelsus is the prototype for the father of the protagonist Van Hohenheim in the manga and anime Fullmetal Alchemist.
  • A character named Paracelsus is the anti-hero of the last seasons of the series Warehouse 13.
  • Often mentioned in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft as the author of occult works and alchemist, whose works, along with the works of other medieval occult scientists, are used by the heroes for mystical purposes, for example, in resurrecting the dead.
  • Paracelsus is one of the characters in the Japanese visual novel Animamundi: Dark Alchemist. He appears to the protagonist in the form of a boy, an old man and a young man, crowns him with a crown for his achievements in alchemy, and later, at the request of the Archangel Michael, guides him through Purgatory, helping to atone for his sins and return to the mortal world, freed from the influence of Lucifer.
  • Paracelsus is one of the characters in the popular game D"n"D, edited by Makin. Plays the role of a demon alchemist. Sells prisms.
Categories: Scientific field: Place of work: Academic title:

Professor of Physics, Medicine and Surgery

Alma mater:

Paracelsus was born into the family of a doctor who came from an old but impoverished noble family. Mother worked as a nurse at the abbey. He was very frail-looking, with a large head and thin crooked legs. In the family, Paracelsus received an excellent education in the field of medicine and philosophy. By the age of 16, Paracelsus knew the basics of surgery, therapy and was well versed in the basics of alchemy. At the age of 16, Paracelsus leaves home forever and goes to study at the University of Basel. After this, in Würzburg, with Abbot Johannes Trithemius, one of the greatest adepts of magic, alchemy and astrology, Paracelsus studied the ancient secret teachings. Paracelsus received his university education in Ferrara, where he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

Wandering

Since 1517, Paracelsus undertook numerous travels (and may have been the predecessor or founder of the secret societies that appeared in the 17th century in Europe), visited various European universities, participated as a physician in military campaigns, visited imperial lands, France, England , Scotland, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavian countries, Poland, Lithuania, Prussia, Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, the states of the Apennine Peninsula (there were rumors that he visited North Africa, Palestine, Constantinople, Russia and in Tatar captivity).

In subsequent years, Paracelsus traveled a lot, wrote, treated, researched, performed alchemical experiments, and conducted astrological observations. In 1530, at Beratzhausen Castle, he completed work on the Paragranum (1535). After a short stay in Augsburg and Regensburg, he moved to St. Gallen and at the beginning of 1531 he completed here a long-term work on the origin and course of diseases “Paramirum” (1532). In 1533 he stopped at Villach, where he wrote The Labyrinth of the Misguided Physicians (1533) and the Chronicle of Carinthia (1535).

Last years

In the last years of his life, the treatises “Philosophy” (1534), “Hidden Philosophy” (the first edition was translated into Flemish, 1533), “Great Astronomy” (1531) and a number of small natural philosophical works, including “The Book of nymphs, sylphs, pygmies, salamanders, giants and other spirits" (1536). After this, he visited Meren, Carinthia, Carinthia and Hungary and eventually settled in Salzburg, where he was invited by Duke Ernst, Count Palatine of Bavaria, a great lover of the secret sciences. There Paracelsus was finally able to see the fruits of his labors and gain glory. Finally, he can practice medicine and write works, without worrying that tomorrow he may have to move to another city. He has his own small house on the outskirts, he has an office, his own laboratory. He now has everything except one thing - health. A fatal illness awaits him one September day in 1541.

On September 24, 1541, after a short illness, he died (at the age of 48 years and three days) in a small room at the White Horse Hotel on the embankment, and his body was buried in the cemetery of St. Sebastian. The circumstances of his death are still unclear, but the latest research confirms the version of his contemporaries, according to which Paracelsus, during a dinner party, was treacherously attacked by bandits hired by one of the doctors, his enemies, and as a result of falling on a stone, he broke his skull, which a few days later and led to death. The German doctor S. T. von Semmering examined the skull of Paracelsus, which, thanks to its unusual structure, cannot be confused with any other, and noticed a crack passing through the temporal bone (the skull was often touched, and over time it increased and became clearly visible). He is sure that such a crack could only have occurred during the lifetime of Paracelsus, since the bones of a hard, but old and dried out skull could not be divided in this way.

The remains of Paracelsus were exhumed in 1572 during the reconstruction of the building of the Church of St. Sebastian and reburied behind the wall that surrounds the courtyard in front of the chapel of St. Philip Neri, attached to the church, where a monument to him now stands. In the center of the destroyed white marble pyramid there is a recess with his portrait, and above there is an inscription in Latin: Philippi Theophrasti Paracelsi qui tantam orbis farnam ex auro chymico adeptus esf effigies et ossa donee rursus circumdabitur pelle sua. - Ion. cap. xix.(Phillip Theophrastus Paracelsus, who gained such great fame in the world for [the discovery of] chemical gold, image and bones; and until he again covered himself with his flesh. - Approx.)

Below the portrait are written the following words: Sub reparatione ecclesiae MDCCLXXII. ex sepulchrali eruta heic locata sunt.(Due to the renovation of the church [in the year] 1772, [the bones of Paracelsus] were dug up from the grave decay due to an epidemic and placed here. - Approx.)

On the base of the monument there is an inscription: Conditurhic Philippus Theophrastus insignis Medicinae Doctor qui dira ilia vulnera Lepram Podagram Hydropsin aliaque insanabilia corporis contagia mirifica arte sustulit et bona sua in pauperes distribuenda locandaque honoravit. Anno MDXXXXI. Die xxiv. Septembris vitam cum morte mutavit.(Here lies Philip Theophrastus, rank of Doctor of Medicine, who cured many ulcers, leprosy, gout, dropsy and some incurable contagious diseases of the body with miraculous art and honored the poor with the distribution and giving of his property. In the year 1541, on the 24th day of September, he changed his life to death. - Note per.)

Under this inscription one can see the coat of arms of Paracelsus in the form of a silver ray, on which three black balls are located one after the other, and below are the words: Pax vivis requies aeterna sepultis.(Peace to the living, eternal rest to the dead. - Note per.)

On the black board on the left side of the monument there is a translation of these words into German. The last two inscriptions were clearly transferred from the original monument, and the one relating to the portrait was added in 1572.

Teachings of Paracelsus

  • He contrasted medieval medicine, which was based on the theories of Aristotle, Galen and Avicenna, with “spagyric” medicine, created on the basis of the teachings of Hippocrates. He taught that living organisms consist of the same mercury, sulfur, salts and a number of other substances that form all other bodies of nature; when a person is healthy, these substances are in balance with each other; disease means the predominance or, conversely, deficiency of one of them. He was one of the first to use chemicals in treatment.
  • Paracelsus is considered the forerunner of modern pharmacology, he owns the phrase: “Everything is poison, and nothing is without poison; Just one dose makes the poison invisible.”(in a popular version: “Everything is poison, everything is medicine; both are determined by the dose").
  • According to Paracelsus, man is a microcosm in which all the elements of the macrocosm are reflected; the connecting link between the two worlds is the force “M” (the name of Mercury begins with this letter). According to Paracelsus, man (who is also the quintessence, or fifth, true essence of the world) is produced by God from the “extract” of the whole world and carries within himself the image of the Creator. There is no knowledge forbidden for a person; he is capable and, according to Paracelsus, even obliged to explore all the entities that exist not only in nature, but also beyond its borders. Paracelsus left a number of alchemical works, including: “The Alchemical Psalter”, “Nitrogen, or On Wood and the Thread of Life”, etc.
  • He is believed to have been the first to formulate the principle of similarity, which underlies modern homeopathy.

Paracelsus in literature

  • He is one of the main characters in the Weiner brothers' novel "The Cure for Fear".
  • One of the works of Jorge Luis Borges is called “The Rose of Paracelsus”, where a young man comes to a master who dreams of a student and asks to take him on as a student. The only condition the stranger sets is a demonstration of a miracle - the burning of the rose and its resurrection. After a dialogue filled with philosophical reminiscences, the young man himself burns the rose and demands that Paracelsus confirm his glory and revive it. Paracelsus says that those who claim that he is a charlatan are right, sends the young man away - and revives the rose with one word.
  • Often mentioned in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft as the author of occult works and alchemist, whose works, along with the works of other medieval occult scientists, are used by the heroes for mystical purposes, for example, in resurrecting the dead.
  • It is also mentioned in Somerset Maugham's novel The Magician, which describes his experiment to create a homunculus.
  • The group "Triad" has a song "Rose of Paracelsus".
  • The rapper "Johnyboy" has a song "Don't Burn Your Memory", which mentions the "Rose of Paracelsus"
  • In Evgeniy Nemets’s story “The Three Deaths of Paracelsus”

Paracelsus in cinema

  • He is one of the main characters in the film “Enter the Labyrinth”.
  • He is the prototype of the father of the main character Hohenheim (Hohenheim) in the manga and anime "Fullmetal Alchemist"

Paracelsus is mentioned in the film Mary Shaley's Frankenstein during an argument between Victor Frankenstein and a professor in a student audience.

Paracelsus in culture

  • "Rose of Paracelsus" by Jorge Luis Borges
  • "Paracelsus" film by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
  • “Rose of Paracelsus” album of the Dramatic Music Ensemble “Period of Ice” with poems by Igor Svezhentsev.
  • “Rose of Paracelsus”, “Rose of Paracelsus. Finding" - songs of the Russian rap group "Triad"
  • Mentioned in the game Knights Contract as the creator of homunculi and a magic sword
  • Mentioned in Johnyboy's song - “Don't Burn the Memory”

Notes

Literature

  • Volodarsky V. M. Social utopia of Theophrastus Paracelsus // History of socialist teachings. M., 1985.
  • Volodarsky V. M. The image of nature in the works of Paracelsus // Nature in the culture of the Renaissance. M., 1992.
  • Volodarsky V. M. Leonardo da Vinci and Paracelsus on magic and alchemy // Leonardo da Vinci and the culture of the Renaissance. M.: Nauka, 2004.- P.176-183. ISBN 5-02-032668-2
  • Jole Shackelford. A Philosophical Path for Paracelsian Medicine: The Ideas, Intellectual Context, and Influence of Petrus Severinus (1540-1602). Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2004. Pp. 519.
  • Pagel, Walter (1982). Paracelsus: An Introduction to Philosophical Medicine in the Era of the Renaissance. Karger Publishers, Switzerland. ISBN 3-8055-3518-X.
  • Paracelsus // Delphis No. 24 (4/2000)
  • Franz Hartmann. The life of Paracelsus and the essence of his teachings. M.: New Acropolis, 2009
  • Paracelsus on the website hrono.ru

Paracelsus and his contribution to the development of pharmacy are briefly summarized in this article.

Paracelsus' contribution to medicine

Paracelsus's full name is Philip Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim Paracelsus. There were legends about him that the healer knew how to grow pearls and precious stones, make the elixir of youth and gold, and travel through the air on a flying horse. He called himself “the holy doctor.” But it’s difficult to judge this, so let’s focus on his achievements in medicine.

Paracelsus was the first physician who used minerals in medicine and chemical substances . He was a fan of alchemy and believed that illness and health in the body depended on the harmony of nature and man. He was also of the opinion that there are fossil remains in the human body, so some ailments can be cured by chemicals.

Paracelsus developed a hermetic idea in which the macrocosm of the universe exists in every person and is called the microcosm. The healer created the microcosm-macrocosm theory, based on the interaction of space and man. He believed that all diseases were caused by poisons that came to Earth from the stars. But they are not necessarily negative, it all depends on the dose of its effect on the human body. Such ailments can be cured by taking the same stellar poison contained in minerals, herbs and chemical combinations. Such views of Paracelsus were contrary to the church.

His main job"Die große Wundarzney" laid the foundation for the future development of antiseptics. Although it is not historically proven that Paracelsus was the first to use opium as an anesthetic, it is assumed that he was one of the first. The doctor used opium to treat the wounds of soldiers.

His most underrated achievement in medicine is his systematic study of the healing properties of mineral alpine springs and minerals. Paracelsus believed that alchemy was needed not only to make silver and gold, but also to study the power of medicines. The doctors of that time were confident of the following: all illnesses are caused by an imbalance of the 4 humors - phlegm, blood, yellow bile and black bile. To achieve a balance of humors, it is necessary to perform bloodletting and adhere to a specific diet that cleanses the body’s stomach of decomposed juices. And Paracelsus argued the following - diseases are caused by external agents that attack the body. He opposed bloodletting, since this process destroys the harmony in the system, and besides, the blood cannot be purified if its quantity is reduced. With these views, he turned leading healers against himself with hostility.

Paracelsus also refuted the prevailing theory that infection was a natural part of wound healing. The doctor advocated the protection and cleanliness of wounds and the regulation of diet. He is credited with explaining the hereditary nature of syphilis. In his brochure, he described the clinic of syphilis and the method of treating it with doses of mercury.

Besides, Paracelsus is called the father of toxicology. In his work “The Dose Makes the Poison,” the healer considered such substances, although toxic, to be harmless in small doses. Conversely, harmless toxic substances can become lethal if consumed in excessive doses.

Also Paracelsus contributed to psychotherapy– he was the first to scientifically describe unconscious processes as a source of diseases in adults and children. The same alchemy served as a tool for psychotherapy. Another important discovery of the doctor is hydrogen gas, a by-product from the action of acids on metals.

We hope that from this article you learned what contribution Paracelsus made to medicine.

Paracelsus (real name Philip Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, von Hohenheim) (December 17, 1493, Einsiedeln, canton of Schwyz - September 24, 1541, Salzburg), famous physician, naturalist, natural philosopher and alchemist of the Renaissance, one of the founders of iatrochemistry.
He was born into the family of a doctor who came from an old but impoverished noble family. Paracelsus's first teacher was his father, who introduced him to the basics of the art of medicine. One of Paracelsus' mentors was Johannes Trithemius, known for his advocacy of "natural magic." Paracelsus received his university education in the Italian city of Ferrara, where he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
Since 1517, Paracelsus undertook numerous travels, visited various universities in Europe, participated as a physician in military campaigns, and visited imperial lands, France, England, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, and the Scandinavian countries.

He visited Poland, Lithuania, Prussia, Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, the states of the Apennine Peninsula (there were rumors that he visited North Africa, Palestine, Constantinople, Muscovy and Tatar captivity). In 1526, Paracelsus acquired the rights of a burgher in Strasbourg, and in 1527, under the patronage of the famous book publisher Johann Froben, he became the city physician of Basel. At the University of Basel, he lectured in German rather than in traditional Latin, which was then an unheard-of audacity. His lectures attracted many listeners and became widely known; at the same time, Paracelsus acquired many enemies among doctors and pharmacists, since in his lectures he sharply opposed scholastic medicine and blind reverence for the authority of Galen; publicly burned a medical textbook written on the basis of the ideas of ancient scientists. In 1528, as a result of a conflict with the city authorities, Paracelsus moved to Colmar.

In subsequent years, Paracelsus traveled a lot through the cities and lands of the Holy Roman Empire and Switzerland, wrote, preached, treated, researched, conducted alchemical experiments, and conducted astrological observations. In 1530, at Beratzhausen Castle, he completed the Paragranum (1565). After a short stay in Augsburg and Regensburg, he moved to St. Gallen and at the beginning of 1531 he completed here a long-term work on the origin and course of diseases - the treatise “Paramirum” (1562). In 1533 he stopped in the city of his childhood, Villach, where he wrote “The Labyrinth of Misguided Physicians” (1553) and “The Chronicle of Carinthia” (1575).

In the last years of his life, the treatises “Philosophy” (1564), “Hidden Philosophy” (the first edition was translated into Flemish, 1553), “Great Astronomy” (1571) and a number of small natural philosophical works, including “The Book”, were created about nymphs, sylphs, pygmies, salamanders, giants and other spirits" (1566). In 1541, Paracelsus settled in Salzburg, finding a patron in the person of the archbishop; here he soon died.
Bringing chemistry and medicine together, Paracelsus considered the functioning of a living organism as a chemical process, and found the calling of an alchemist not in the extraction of gold and silver, but in the manufacture of medicines that give people healing. He taught that living organisms consist of the same substances - mercury, sulfur, salt - that form all other bodies of nature; when a person is healthy, these substances are in balance with each other; disease means the predominance or, conversely, deficiency of one of them.

Paracelsus proceeded from the idea of ​​the unity of the universe, the close connection and kinship of man and the world, man and God. He called man not only a “microcosm,” a small world that contains the properties and nature of all things, but also the “quintessence,” or the fifth, true essence of the world. According to Paracelsus, man is produced by God from an “extract” of the whole world, as if in a grandiose alchemical laboratory, and carries within himself the image of the Creator. There is no knowledge forbidden for a person; he is capable and, according to Paracelsus, even obliged to explore all the entities that exist not only in nature, but also beyond its borders. He should not be stopped or embarrassed by their unusualness, for nothing is impossible for God, and these entities are evidence of his omnipotence, like nymphs, sylphs, gnomes, salamanders, sirens, giants, dwarfs and other creatures inhabiting the four elements.

Literature
Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
encyclopedic Dictionary. Brockhaus F.A., Efron I.A.

Gearbox