List of alchemists
Encyclopedia
An alchemist is a person versed in the art of alchemy
, an ancient branch of natural philosophy
that eventually evolved into chemistry
and pharmacology
. Alchemy flourished in the Islamic world
during the Middle Ages
, and then in Europe from the 13th to the 18th centuries, And is still practiced today by few.
We know the names and doings of a large number of alchemists, thanks to the numerous alchemical manuscript and books that survived; some of those names are listed below.
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, an ancient branch of natural philosophy
Natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science...
that eventually evolved into chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
. Alchemy flourished in the Islamic world
Islamic Golden Age
During the Islamic Golden Age philosophers, scientists and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to technology and culture, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations...
during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, and then in Europe from the 13th to the 18th centuries, And is still practiced today by few.
We know the names and doings of a large number of alchemists, thanks to the numerous alchemical manuscript and books that survived; some of those names are listed below.
Legendary alchemists
- EnkiEnkiEnki is a god in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology. He was originally patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to the Canaanites, Hittites and Hurrians...
(ca. 3000 BC) - Hermes TrismegistusHermes TrismegistusHermes Trismegistus is the eponymous author of the Hermetic Corpus, a sacred text belonging to the genre of divine revelation.-Origin and identity:...
- Mary the JewessMary the JewessMaria the Jewess is estimated to have lived anywhere between the first and third centuries AD...
- Nicolas Flamel
Persian Empire alchemists
- Ostanes, the PersianPersian peopleThe Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
- Jābir ibn Hayyān, the PersianPersian peopleThe Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
- Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn SinaAvicennaAbū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
, "Avicenna" (980 – 1037), a critic of alchemy , Father of modern Medicine - Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi, "Rhazes" (864 – 930)
Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Empire alchemists
- PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
(ca. 360 BC) - Zosimos of PanopolisZosimos of PanopolisZosimos of Panopolis was an Egyptian or Greek alchemist and Gnostic mystic from the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th century AD. He was born in Panopolis, present day Akhmim in the south of Egypt, ca. 300. He wrote the oldest known books on alchemy, of which quotations in the Greek language...
(ca. 300 AD) - Olympiodorus of ThebesOlympiodorus of ThebesOlympiodorus was an historical writer of classical education, a "poet by profession" as he says of himself, who was born at Thebes in Egypt, and was sent on a mission to the Huns on the Black Sea by Emperor Honorius about 412, and later lived at the court of Theodosius II, to whom his History was...
(ca. 400) - Cleopatra the AlchemistCleopatra the AlchemistCleopatra the Alchemist , was an Egyptian alchemist and author. The dates of her life and death are unknown, but she was active in Alexandria in the 3rd century or the 4th century....
- AristotleAristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
- A student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great
Islamic alchemists
- Khalid ibn YazidCalidCalidAlso Kalid, possibly Galid. Haly or Hali is likely Haly Abenragel. is a medieval Latin transcription of the Arabic name Khalid .-Khalid ibn Yazid:...
, "Calid" (d. 704) - Jābir ibn Hayyān, "Geber" (c. 721 – 815)
- Al-FarabiAl-Farabi' known in the West as Alpharabius , was a scientist and philosopher of the Islamic world...
, "Alfarabi" (870 – 950/951) - Al-KindiAl-Kindi' , known as "the Philosopher of the Arabs", was a Muslim Arab philosopher, mathematician, physician, and musician. Al-Kindi was the first of the Muslim peripatetic philosophers, and is unanimously hailed as the "father of Islamic or Arabic philosophy" for his synthesis, adaptation and promotion...
, "Alkindus" (801 – 873), a critic of alchemy - Ibn Umail, circa 900 AD
- Al-TughraiAl-TughraiMu'ayyad al-Din Abu Isma‘il al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Tughra'i was an 11th–12th century Persian physician.Mu'ayyad al-Din al-Tughra'i, was born in Isfahan in 1061CE, and was an important alchemist, poet, and administrative secretary...
(1061–1121, Persia) - Abu' l-Qasim al-Iraqi, circa 1300 AD
Western alchemists
Revival and modern alchemists
- Frater AlbertusFrater AlbertusFrater Albertus Spagyricus ; founder of the Paracelsus Research Society in Salt Lake City, which later evolved into the Paracelsus College. Based on the Paracelsian concept of three essentials, Body, Soul and Spirit, Frater Albertus developed a system of teaching alchemical concepts using the...
(Dr. Albert Reidel) (1911–1984) Frater Albertus Spagyricus was the nom de plume of laboratory alchemist, spagyrist and teacher Dr. Albert Reidel who published several books and rare manuscripts, at least one of which purported to produce the true Stone, the results of which were photographed and displayed only temporarily on a website (The manuscript was The Hermetic Art by Volpierre (Nikolaus Burtschell 1892–1952) in the Golden Manuscript Series). - Eugène CanselietEugène CanselietEugène Léon Canseliet , was a French writer and alchemist. He was the only student of the mysterious alchemist known as Fulcanelli, and may have been Fulcanelli himself...
(1899–1982) was a hermetic alchemist and a member of the Frères d'Heliopolis. He claimed to be a former student of the famous alchemist Fulcanelli. - Jean Dubuis (1919–2010) French alchemist and founder of the esoteric group Les Philosophes de la Nature (LPN), which, while teaching Qabalah and general esotericism as well, primarily focused on the study and practice of laboratory alchemy.
- Marie-Louise von FranzMarie-Louise von FranzMarie-Louise von Franz was a Swiss Jungian psychologist and scholar.-Early life and education:Von Franz was born in Munich, Germany, the daughter of an Austrian baron. In Switzerland, she was known by a pet form of her Christian name, Marlus.-Career:Von Franz worked with Carl Jung, whom she met in...
(1915–1998) studied the psychological aspects of alchemy. - Terrence McKenna (1946–2000) a more modern version of Timothy Leary, he believed the Stone to be a mental state of mind.
- Diane Di PrimaDiane di PrimaDiane Di Prima is an American poet.-Early life:Di Prima was born in Brooklyn. She attended Hunter College High School and Swarthmore College before dropping out to be a poet in Manhattan...
(1932 – ) a poet.
Fictional alchemists
- Edward ElricEdward Elric, commonly nicknamed , is a fictional character and the main character of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime and manga series created by Hiromu Arakawa. Edward, titled , is the youngest State Alchemist in the history of the fictional country of Amestris...
, Fullmetal AlchemistFullmetal Alchemist, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution...
(As well as other State Alchemists on the show) - Riccardo Belli
- Ivy Valentine, Soul CaliburSoul Caliburis a 3D, weapons-based fighting game developed by Project Soul and produced by Namco. It is the second game in the Soul series, preceeded by Soul Edge. It was released in arcades in 1998, and it ran on the Namco System 12 hardware. In 1999 it was ported to the Dreamcast with improved graphics and...
- MagnusMagnusMagnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was sometimes used as a first name among Romans but was not particularly common among them. The best-known Roman bearing the name was the third-century usurper. The name gained wider popularity in the Middle Ages, various European peoples, and their royal houses,...
, The Vampire ChroniclesThe Vampire ChroniclesThe Vampire Chronicles is a series of novels by Anne Rice that revolves around the fictional character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a vampire in the 18th century....
(Vampire) - The Alchemist, The Venture Bros.The Venture Bros.The Venture Bros. is an American animated television series that premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on February 16, 2003. The series mixes action and comedy together while it chronicles the adventures of the Venture family: well-meaning but incompetent teenagers Hank and Dean Venture; their...
- Daitokuji, Yu-Gi-Oh! GXYu-Gi-Oh! GXYu-Gi-Oh! GX, known in Japan as , is an anime spin-off and sequel of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime. It aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between October 6, 2004 and March 26, 2008, and was succeeded by Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's...
- Albus DumbledoreAlbus DumbledoreProfessor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a major character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. For most of the series, he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts...
, Harry PotterHarry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry... - Tyler Mason, Real LifeReal LifeReal Life may refer to:*Real life, the state of existence outside of online or artificial interactionsIn music:* Real Life * Real Life * Real Life * Real Life...
- Sydney Sage, Vampire AcademyVampire academy*Vampire Academy , a paranormal romance novel from Richelle Mead.*Vampire Academy , the novel series of Richelle Mead's novel.*Vampire Academy , a Romance Fantasy drama film based on the novel....
- Alphonse ElricAlphonse Elric, commonly called , is a fictional character in the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series created by Hiromu Arakawa its respective adaptations. Alphonse is a child who lost his body during an alchemic experiment to bring his deceased mother back to life, and had his soul "attached" to a suit of armor...
, Fullmetal AlchemistFullmetal Alchemist, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution... - Roy MustangRoy Mustangis a fictional character from the Fullmetal Alchemist anime and manga series authored by Hiromu Arakawa. In the series, Mustang is a State Alchemist of Amestris' State Military as well as the superior of the series' protagonist, Edward Elric. Roy holds the title of the for his ability to create...
, Fullmetal AlchemistFullmetal Alchemist, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution...