Who Started
Homeopathy?
Who Started Homeopathy?
Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, A German Physician, discovered
Homeopathy
The
history of Homeopathy begins with its founder, Samuel Hahnemann. He was born in
Meissen, Germany in 1755, the second child of a famous porcelain painter. A
thin, delicate and highly intelligent child, Samuel did not enjoy robust health
during childhood. He showed an early interest and capacity for the study of
languages as well as the study of botany. His upper middle class family life
was shattered by the outbreak of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) which caused
the collapse of the famous porcelain trade in Meissen and forced young Samuel
to interrupt his early education and take menial jobs to support his family.
His early teachers noticed his great intellectual capacity and taught him
despite his family’s inability to pay for his studies. He entered the Prince’s
School in 1771, after his father pleaded with Frederick, Archduke of Saxony for
his son’s admission.
He
excelled at his studies and later entered the University of Leipzig in 1775 to
Study medicine. He maintained a meager existence at the university by teaching
German and English and by translating Greek and English texts into German. He
was a loner, and preferred to acquire his knowledge from medical texts rather
than attending lectures. Disappointed by the lack of intellectual stimulation
and the lack of practical clinical experience at Leipzig, Hahnemann left for
Vienna in 1776. Vienna, the capital of the Hapsburg Empire was a center of the
arts, music, and learning and it was during this time that Mozart gave several
public recitals. There Hahnemann worked under Dr. Quarin, senior physician of
the Brothers of Mercy Hospital in Leopoldstadt, a suburb of Vienna. Dr. Quarin
was the personal physician to Empress Maria Theresa, ruler of the Hapsburg
Empire and young Hahnemann was allowed to accompany the senior doctor in
attending his rich and famous patients. Hahnemann was later introduced to the
wealthy Baron Samuel von Brukenthal who gave Hahnemann a two year appointment
as his librarian. During this period he enriched his study of chemistry and botany
and furthered his already extensive knowledge of literature and foreign
languages. He left his benefactor to complete his medical studies at the
University of Erlangen in Bavaria. In 1779, at the age of twenty-four,
Hahnemann was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
Hahnemann
established his first practice in 1780 in the mining town of Hettstedt. It
lasted all of nine months before he moved on to the town of Dessau. During this
period the seeds of his philosophical rebellion were planted. The current
therapies of bloodletting, purging, puking and the administration of heroic
doses of harsh drugs were barbaric and inhumane to Hahnemann. He was more
interested in the study of the newly emerging science of chemistry and in
writing articles for medical journals. In 1782, while in Dessau he married the
pharmacist’s stepdaughter, Johanna Henrietta Leopoldine Kuchler, who would
remain his constant companion for the next 48 years.
During the years 1782 to 1805 Hahnemann moved his family no less than twenty times, sometimes spending only months in a town before moving to the next. This was a highly unusual and dangerous undertaking considering the risk to his family from thieves who preyed upon travelers in those days. His wife bore him nine children and he barely managed to feed them by the intermittent practice of medicine, translating medical texts, and for one year managing an insane asylum. During this time he also wrote some original articles on chemistry, the distillation of liquor, diet, hygiene, children’s health, and critiques of current modes of therapy. He maintained a small medical practice and for a period was the Medical Officer of Health for the city of Dresden where he supervised physicians, midwives, and surgeons.
During the years 1782 to 1805 Hahnemann moved his family no less than twenty times, sometimes spending only months in a town before moving to the next. This was a highly unusual and dangerous undertaking considering the risk to his family from thieves who preyed upon travelers in those days. His wife bore him nine children and he barely managed to feed them by the intermittent practice of medicine, translating medical texts, and for one year managing an insane asylum. During this time he also wrote some original articles on chemistry, the distillation of liquor, diet, hygiene, children’s health, and critiques of current modes of therapy. He maintained a small medical practice and for a period was the Medical Officer of Health for the city of Dresden where he supervised physicians, midwives, and surgeons.
