Samuel Hahnemann 184549 224968879 2008-07-11T06:30:00Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{Infobox Scientist |name = Samuel Hahnemann |box_width = |image =Hahnemann.jpg |image_width =150px |caption = Samuel Hahnemann |birth_date = [[10 April]] [[1755]] |birth_place = |death_date = [[2 July]] [[1843]] |death_place = |residence = |citizenship = |nationality = [[Germany|German]] |ethnicity = |field = [[homoeopathy]] |work_institutions = |alma_mater = |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = |influenced = |prizes = |religion = |footnotes = |signature = }} '''Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann''' ([[10 April]] [[1755]]<ref>Though some sources do state that he was born in the early hours of 11 th April 1755, ''"Hahnemann, was actually born on April 10th at approximately twelve o'clock midnight."'' (Richard Haehl, ''Samuel Hahnemann his Life and Works,'' 2 volumes, volume 1, 1922, p.9)</ref> &ndash; [[2 July]] [[1843]]) was a [[Germany|German]] [[physician]] who created [[homoeopathy]]. [[Image:Samuel Hahnemann 1841.jpg|thumb|Samuel Hahnemann 1841]] [[Image:hahnemann.JPG|thumb|Hahnemann's mausoleum at Cimitière [[Père Lachaise]] (cemetery), [[Paris]], [[France]]]] ==Life== He was born Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann in [[Meissen]], [[Saxony]], a town ''"famous for its [[porcelain]]. His father, uncles and grandfathers were all painters and designers of porcelain."''<ref>Harris L Coulter, ''Divided Legacy, a History of the Schism in Medical Thought,'' volume II, Washington: Wehawken Books, 1977, p.306</ref> Hahnemann showed ''"a marked proficiency in languages, of which he spoke at least nine;"''<ref>William G Rothstein, ''American Physicians in the Nineteenth Century, from Sects to Science,'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ Press, 1972, p.152</ref> "by twenty he had mastered [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin]],"<ref name="skylarkbio">[http://www.skylarkbooks.co.uk/Hahnemann_Biography.htm Hahnemann Biography]</ref> and was making a living as a translator and teacher of languages. He later gained proficiency in "[[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], Chaldaic and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]."<ref name="skylarkbio"/> Hahnemann studied medicine for two years at [[Leipzig]] and ten months at [[Vienna]]. While studying at [[Leipzig]], it was the ''"lack of clinical facilities (that) soon led him to move to [[Vienna]]."''<ref>Martin Kaufman, ''Homeopathy in America, the Rise and Fall of a Medical Heresy,'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ Press, 1972, p.24</ref> He graduated MD at the [[University of Erlangen]] on [[10 August]] [[1779]], after only one term’s further study, qualifying with honors with a thesis on the treatment of cramps, titled ''Conspectus adfectuum spasmodicorum aetiologicus et therapeuticus.''<ref>''A Dissertation on the Causes and Treatment of Cramps;'' Trevor Cook, ''Samuel Hahnemann Founder of Homeopathy,'' UK: Thorsons, 1981, p.36</ref><ref>Richard Haehl, ''Samuel Hahnemann His Life and Works,'' 2 vols, 1922, vol. 2, p.11</ref> It is said that poverty forced him to choose [[Erlangen]] ''only because he had learned that the fees there would be less.''<ref>Haehl, op cit, vol. 1, p.24</ref> In 1781, he took a village doctor’s position in the copper-mining area of [[Mansfeld]], [[Saxony]].<ref>Haehl, op cit, vol. 1, p.26</ref> "Shortly thereafter he married Johanna Henriette Kuchler;"<ref name="skylarkbio"/> they had eleven children. While there are no known living descendants today of Hahnemann himself, there are a few of his older sister Charlotte's (1752-1812).<ref>[http://homeoint.org/seror/articles2/famillesh.htm La famille du Docteur Samuel Frédéric Christian Hahnemann - par le Dr Robert Séror<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Hahnemann claimed that the medicine of his time did as much harm as good: <blockquote>My sense of duty would not easily allow me to treat the unknown pathological state of my suffering brethren with these unknown medicines. The thought of becoming in this way a murderer or malefactor towards the life of my fellow human beings was most terrible to me, so terrible and disturbing that I wholly gave up my practice in the first years of my married life and occupied myself solely with [[chemistry]] and writing.<ref name="skylarkbio"/></blockquote> After giving up his practice (c.1784) he made his living chiefly as a writer and translator, while resolving also to investigate the causes of medicine's alleged errors. While translating [[William Cullen]]'s ''A Treatise on the Materia Medica'', Hahnemann encountered the claim that [[Cinchona]], the bark of a Peruvian tree, was effective in treating [[malaria]] because of its astringency. Hahnemann claimed that other astringent substances are not effective against [[malaria]] and began to research [[cinchona]]'s effect on the human organism by self-application. He claimed that the drug evoked malaria-like symptoms in himself, and concluded that it would do so in any healthy individual. This led him to postulate a healing principle: "that which can produce a set of symptoms in a healthy individual, can treat a sick individual who is manifesting a similar set of symptoms."<ref name="skylarkbio"/> This principle, ''like cures like'', became the basis for an approach to medicine which he gave the name [[homeopathy]]. Hahnemann tested substances for the effect they produced on a healthy individual and tried to deduce from this the ills they would heal.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} From his research, he initially concluded that ingesting substances to produce noticeable changes in the organism resulted in toxic effects.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} He then attempted to mitigate this problem {{Fact|date=April 2008}} through exploring dilutions of the compounds he was testing. He claimed that these dilutions, when done according to his technique of [[succussion]] (systematic mixing through vigorous shaking) and [[potentization]], were still effective in producing symptoms. {{Fact|date=April 2008}}However, these effects have never been duplicated in [[clinical trials]], {{Fact|date=April 2008}}and his approach has been universally abandoned by modern medicine.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} Hahnemann began practicing this new technique, which soon attracted other doctors c.1792. He first published an article about the homeopathic approach in a [[German language]] medical journal in 1796; in 1810, he wrote his ''Organon of the Medical Art'', the first systematic treatise on the subject. In the Spring of 1811<ref>T L Bradford, ''The Life and Letters of Samuel Hahnemann,'' 1895, p.76</ref> Hahnemann moved his family back to [[Leipzig]] with the intention of teaching his new medical system at the [[University of Leipzig]]. In accordance with the university statutes, he became a faculty member by submitting and defending a thesis on a medical topic of his choice: On 26 June 1812, Hahnemann presented a [[Latin]] thesis, entitled ''"A Medical Historical Dissertation on the Helleborism of the Ancients."''<ref>Bradford, op cit, p.93</ref> Hahnemann continued practicing and researching homeopathy, as well as writing and lecturing for the rest of his life. He died in 1843 in [[Paris]], at 88 years of age, and is entombed in a mausoleum at [[Paris]]'s [[Père Lachaise]] cemetery. == Other work == {{POV|date=January 2008}} [[Image:Hahnemann Memorial at Scott Circle.jpg|thumb|Hahnemann Memorial at [[Scott Circle]], [[Washington]] DC]] Hahnemann published numerous tracts on chemistry and general medicine before he stumbled upon the homeopathic method. His notable works on Homeopathy include: * ''Essay on a New Principle for Ascertaining the Curative Powers of Drugs'' 1796)<ref>http://www.mickler.de/journal/versuch-prinzip-1.htm Online etext of ''Versuch über ein neues Prinzip zur Auffindung der Heilkräfte der Arzneisubstanzen, nebst einigen Blicken auf die bisherigen'' (German only)]</ref> *''[[Fragmenta de viribus]] medicamentorum positivis,'' a collection of 27 drug provings published in [[Latin]] in 1805.<ref>http://www.hahnemann.de/frontend1/media/pdf/fragmenta_leseprobe.pdf ''Fragmenta de viribus'' full text in [[German language|German]]</ref><ref>http://www.homeoint.org/seror/pathohahn/index.htm ''Fragmenta de viribus'' and ''Materia Medica Pura'' full-text in [[French language|French]]</ref> *''[[The Organon of the Healing Art]]'' (1810), a detailed delineation of what he saw as the rationale underpinning homeopathic medicine, and guidelines for practice. Hahnemann published the 5th edition in 1833; a revised draft of this (1842) was discovered after Hahnemann's death and finally published as the 6th edition in 1921.<ref>Online etext of Hahnemann's ''Organon der Heilkunst''</ref><ref>http://www.vithoulkas.com/homeopathy/organon/index.html Organon of Homeopathy, 6th version] English version, full text online</ref> <ref>http://www.homeoint.org/books4/organon/ German original] ([http://www.med-serv.de/medizin-buch-hahnemann_organon_heilkunst-0-2-1.html other format])</ref> <ref>http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html English translation</ref> *''[[Materia Medica Pura]]'' is a compilation of [[homoeopathic proving]] reports, published in six volumes between vol. I in 1811 and vol. VI in 1827. Revised editions of volumes I and II were published in 1830 and 1833, respectively.<ref>http://www.hpathy.com/materiamedica/hahnemann-materia-pura/index.asp Hahnemann's Materia Medica Pura full-text in English</ref> *''Chronic Diseases'' (1828) is an elucidation of the root and cure of [[chronic disease]], according to the theory of [[miasm]]s, together with a compilation of [[homoeopathic proving]] reports, published in five volumes during the 1830s. *''[http://www.minutus.org/library/article_showall.asp?cat_id=1&parent_id=1&parent_name=Articles&sub_name=Samuel+Hahnemann Lesser Writings of Samuel Hahnemann]'' which were gathered by Dudgeon. Hahnemann "recommended the use of fresh air, bed rest, proper diet, sunshine, public hygiene and numerous other beneficial measures at a time when many other physicians considered them of no value."<ref>Rothstein, op cit, p.158</ref><ref>''The Friend of Health'', Samuel Hahnemann, 1792</ref> Hahnemann was also campaigned for the humane treatment of the [[insane]] in 1792.<ref>''Description of Klockenbring During his Insanity'', Samuel Hahnemann, 1796</ref> Additionally, he discovered a common test for arsenic. Hahnemann also published tracts in which he conceived that [[cholera]] was caused by ''"excessively minute, invisible, living creatures."''<ref>[http://www.minutus.org/library/article_read.asp?id=13 Asiatic Cholera], Samuel Hahnemann, 1831</ref> ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==Bibliography== *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:18354994 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18354994 |last=Brockmeyer |first=Bettina |publication-date=2007 |year=2007 |title=[Representations of illness in letters addressed to Samuel Hahnemann: gender and historical perspectives] |volume=29 |issue= |periodical=Medizin, Gesellschaft, und Geschichte : Jahrbuch des Instituts für Geschichte der Medizin der Robert Bosch Stiftung |pages=211-21, 259 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:17153748 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17153748 |last=Kayne |first=Steven |publication-date=2006 Jun |year=2006 |title=Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843): the founder of modern homeopathy. |volume=36 |issue=2 Suppl |periodical=Pharmaceutical historian |pages=S23-6 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:17153289 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17153289 |last=Brockmeyer |first=Bettina |publication-date=2005 |year=2005 |title=[Writing about oneself and others: men and women in letters to doctor Samuel Hahnemann 1831-1835] |volume=24 |issue= |periodical=Würzburger medizinhistorische Mitteilungen / im Auftrage der Würzburger medizinhistorischen Gesellschaft und in Verbindung mit dem Institut für Geschichte der Medizin der Universität Würzburg |pages=18-28 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:15871338 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15871338 |publication-date=2005 Mar |year=2005 |title=[Biographic synopsis on Samuel Hahnemann] |volume=28 |issue=3 |periodical=Revista de enfermería (Barcelona, Spain) |pages=10-6 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:15822443 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15822443 |last=Eschenbruch |first=Nicholas |publication-date=2005 Mar 16 |year=2005 |title=[Rationalist, magician, scharlatan? 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