Also known as Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, Paracelsus was a physician and alchemist who made significant strides in the field of medicine. He applied his knowledge of chemistry toward matters of healing, thus establishing the science as a significant tool for physicians. He wrote dozens of scientific works, most notably Der grossen Wundartzney ("Great Surgery Book"), and made groundbreaking advances in understanding and treating wounds and diseases.
Born in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, Paracelsus was the only son of a German doctor and chemist. His mother died when he was very young, and he and his father then moved to Villach (in southern present-day Austria), where Paracelsus attended the Bergschule. Here the young man was trained in the skills required for overseeing mining operations and analyzing metals. His early understanding of metallurgy and chemistry would lay the groundwork for his later discoveries in the field of chemotherapy.
At age 14 Paracelsus set off to find the best teachers in the area. He is believed to have attended the universities at Basel, Cologne, Heidelberg, Leipzig, Tübingen, Vienna and Wittenberg, but none met his expectations. He would later write that he wondered how "the high colleges managed to produce so many high asses." He realized that the "universities do not teach all things" and that experience was more valuable than the dry scholasticism of ancient tomes.
Paracelsus may have graduated from the University of Vienna at the age of 17 with a baccalaureate in medicine. He then attended the University of Ferrara where, he claimed, he received his doctorate in 1516 (for which year university records are missing). It is at Ferrara that he is believed to have begun using the name "para-Celsus" ("above or beyond Celsus"), because he saw himself as even greater than the 1st-century Roman doctor of that name.
Shortly after attaining his doctoral degree, Paracelsus began his journeys throughout Europe and Britain. He served as an army surgeon in the Netherlands, and though valuable it was not an esteemed post; and later, in 1521, he again served as an army surgeon in Italy. In between he spent some time in Russia, where he was captured by Tatars but escaped to Lithuania. Paracelsus traveled to Arabia, Egypt, the Holy Land and Constantinople, always seeking out the most learned practitioners of the alchemical arts. Not only was he interested in effective medical treatments, but he sought to discover "the latent forces of Nature" and how they might best be used.
In 1524 Paracelsus returned home to Europe to find that his reputation as a great doctor had preceded him. When he took a post at the University of Basel, his fame drew students from all over Europe. He scoffed at the common methods of treating wounds that prevented natural draining, insisting (quite rightly) that if infection is prevented, nature would heal the wound itself. He lectured and wrote in German instead of Latin. His classes were filled to overlflowing.
Paracelsus was nothing if not provocative. In June of 1527, he pinned a program of a forthcoming lecture on the university's notice board and invited not just students but anyone interested, an act that scandalized the authorities. Several weeks later he burned the books of Avicenna (the Arab "Prince of Physicians") and Galen (the renowned 2nd-century Greek physician) in front of the University. Both actions reminded his adversaries of Martin Luther, who had pinned his theses to the Church door at Wittenberg and burned the Papal bull that excommunicated him in public. The students loved him; the faculty was less than pleased.
His disruptive behavior had made Paracelsus too many enemies. In the spring of 1528 he was forced to flee for his life in the middle of the night. Lacking any funds, he relied on the kindness of friends to put him up at various places throughought central Europe, where he wrote frequently, and never stayed more than a year in any one town.
In 1536 Paracelsus published his masterwork Der grossen Wundartzney, which restored his reputation virtually overnight. He grew wealthy, was sought by royalty and the elite, and his fame reached greater heights than ever before. In 1541 he ceased his wanderings to take an appointment under the prince-archbishop, Duke Ernst of Bavaria, in Salzburg. Shortly thereafter he died in mysterious circumstances at the White Horse Inn. He was 48.
Due to his interest in alchemy, philosophy, and the mystical aspects of science that were prevalent in the medieval and Renaissance worldview, Paracelsus has become an iconic figure for those interested in the occult and new-wave subjects. But it's important to remember that, in his time, this somewhat flamboyant and arrogant celebrity was also a serious scholar, teacher, writer and doctor who made outstanding advances in medical science.
