Quotes:Hahnemann, Samuel Friedrich Christian

Zirkoff, Boris

Hahnemann, Samuel Friedrich Christian. German physician and founder of the Homeopathic School of medicine. He was born at Meissen, April 10, 1755, the son of a porcelain painter, and died at Paris, July 2, 1843. Graduated, 1775, from the well-known Fürstenschule in his native town. After further studies in Leipzig and Vienna, became an M.D. in 1779. In the period of 1779-1816, he lived in various cities of Germany, practicing medicine, translating foreign medical works, and writing himself. His principal work, Organon der Heilkunst was published at Dresden in 1810; this was followed by Reine Arzneimittellehre (Six Parts, Dresden, 1811-20). His practice in Leipzig, 1816-22, was crowned with great success and a number of physicians came to him to learn the principles of his method. Naturally enough, he encountered opposition and persecution from other members of the profession, as well as the local druggists, and his own rather dogmatic attitude led to a conflict between him and some of his followers. In 1835, Hahnemann married a second time; his wife being French, he settled in Paris and acquired a large following in that City. He was buried in the famous Père La (liaise Cemetery. In 1851 a monument in his honor was erected at Leipzig.

Hahnemann challenged the entrenched dogmatism of the established medical profession, and considered illnesses to be caused by conditions in the psychological part of man’s constitution. He looked upon the healing process as something spiritual and the action of his minute dosages of remedies could not be fully explained by means of purely material concepts. After his death, the practice of homeopathy spread far and wide and with remarkable results; however, even today the medical profession exhibits at times opposition against its practitioners.

Consult Richard Haehl, Samuel Hahnemann, sein Leben, und Schaffen, Leipzig, 1922, 2 vols, and T. L. Bradford, The Life and Letters of Samuel Hahnemann (with portrait), Philadelphia, 1895. Also Μ. Gumpert, Hahnemann: The Adventurous Career of a Medical Rebel, New York, 1945.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 4, p. 650