1. Philip Aureol Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, also known as Paracelsus was the successor to the famous medical dynasty.
2. Paracelsus gave a great importance to the use of chemistry in medicine, and in fact he was a “father” of Iatrochemistry.
3. From 1515, when Paracelsus had received his degree in medicine in Florence, and til 1526, he educated at the medical schools in Paris and Montpellier, visited Italy and Spain, was in Lisbon, then went to England, from there to Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Wallachia, Croatia, he also served as a doctor in the army of the Danish king Christian, and worked as a paramedic in the Dutch army.
4. In 1527 he was invited to the post of city doctor in Basel and professor at the Department of Medicine at the University of Basel. At the very first lecture, he burned the works of Galen and Avicenna before the eyes of amazed students and stated that even the strings of his shoes knew more than these ancient scientists.
5. At the University of Basel, Paracelsus first began lecturing to medical students in German instead of traditional Latin.
6. Paracelsus believed that all substances consist of elements capable of connecting with each other. But, unlike alchemists, Paracelsus emphasized the material nature of the three principles: “sulfur” – the beginning of combustibility, “mercury” – the beginning of volatility, “salt” – the beginning of fire constancy. Paracelsus considered the composition of all bodies, including the human body, and its three main components — body, spirit and soul. Violation of the mutual equilibrium of the main elements leads to illness. The doctor’s task is to find out the relationship between the main elements in the patient’s body and restore their balance. During the decomposition of substances, the elements are disconnected. Therefore, this imbalance can be restored with certain chemicals.
7. Paracelsus gained particular fame, using the mercury-based medicines to treat syphilis which was widespread at that time.
8. The burgomaster of Innsbruck did not believe that the man who appeared in Innsbruck in a tattered dress, like that of a simple peasant, is a medical doctor. He ordered the impostor to leave the city.
9. In 1530, Paracelsus published four books in Nuremberg, but then the city magistrate had unexpectedly decided to prohibit the further printing of his works. The reason was the demand of professors and doctors of the medical faculty of the University of Leipzig who were outraged by the writings of Paracelsus (his works were extra-innovative for them).
10. The philosophical views of Paracelsus can be summarized as following: harmony should exist between nature and man.
11. In 1831, Paracelsus became a saint! At this time, a wave of cholera covered Europe, and people from all around rushed to his grave in Salzburg, and prayed him for a miracle. And, surprisingly, no case of cholera was in Salzburg, Carinthia and Tyrol.
Featured image: Portrait of Dr. medicus Paracelsus by Quinten Metsys (1466–1530)