Alexander von Suchten

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alexander von Suchten (* around 1520 in Dirschau (Tczew) or Danzig (Gdańsk), † November 7, 1575 in Linz ) was a famous alchemist , doctor and poet of his time .

Life

"Despite [...] various efforts, Suchtens curriculum vitae is still only incompletely secured". The family of Alexander von Suchten (mostly Zuchta in Polish ) originally came from the Lower Rhine, moved to Gdansk around 1400 and gained great influence there. Some became councilors and mayors. His parents were Georg von Suchten and Euphemia Schultz. An uncle on his father's side, Christoph Suchten, was secretary to the Polish King Sigismund I , and an uncle on his mother's side, Alexander Schultze (Scultetus), one of the few friends of Nicolaus Copernicus , was Canon of Frauenburg .

After 1535 Alexander attended the grammar school in Elbing . In December 1538 he received a canonical in Frauenburg from his uncle Alexander Schultze . When this position was closed to non-academics a little later, however, he enrolled in Leuven on January 19, 1541 , where he studied philosophy and medicine. Around 1545 he stayed at the court of Albrecht of Prussia in Königsberg , where his poem Vandalus (Polish tribal legend about Queen Wanda) appeared. Between 1549 and 1552 he worked as an alchemist for Ottheinrich von der Pfalz. From around 1554 to 1557 he stayed at the Polish royal court in Krakow . Then he is said to have obtained a doctorate in medicine at an Italian university (probably in Ferrara ). In 1563 he tried unsuccessfully to get the post of personal doctor in Königsberg. After 1567 he worked with the Strasbourg doctor Michael Toxites in Alsace and on the Upper Rhine. In the autumn of 1574, Alexander von Suchten finally took over the position of a landscape doctor in Linz in Upper Austria, where he died on November 7, 1575.

His work was closely based on Paracelsus , whereby he expressly opposed charlatanism - especially against the possibility of a transmutation of metals (making gold) - in the field of chemistry and the art of healing.

Works (selection)

  • De Secretis Antimonij liber vnus, Strasbourg 1570
  • Two tracts, Vom Antimonio, Mömpelgard 1604
  • Antimonii Mysteria Gemina, Leipzig 1604
  • Chymische Schrifften Alle, Hamburg 1680 (also contains texts that are controversial in their authenticity)

literature

  • Carl Molitor: Alexander von Suchten, a doctor and poet from the time of Duke Albrecht . In: Old Prussian monthly . No. 19 , 1882, p. 480-488 .
  • Wilhelm Haberling: Alexander von Suchten, a Danzig doctor and poet of the 16th century. In: Journal of the West Prussian History Association . No. 69 , 1929, pp. 177-230 .
  • Wilhelm Haberling: News from the life of the Danzig doctor and poet Alexander von Suchten . In: Sudhoff's archive for the history of medicine and the natural sciences . No. 24 , 1931, pp. 117-123 .
  • Włodzimierz Hubicki: Alexander von Suchten . In: Sudhoff's archive for the history of medicine and the natural sciences . No. 44 , 1960, pp. 54-63 .
  • Helmut Strehlau: The Danzig patrician family von Suchten . In: East German family studies . No. 6 (1971/73) , pp. 326-329 .
  • Rudolph Zaunick: The Saxon Paracelsist Georg Forberger : with bibliographical contributions on Paracelsus, Alexander von Suchten, Denys Zacaire, Bernardus Trevirensis , Paolo Giovio, Francesco Guicciardini and Natale Conti . Steiner, Wiesbaden 1977.
  • Ralf Bröer: blood circulation and trinity . In: Reports on the history of science . No. 29 , 2006, p. 21-37 and 137-154 .
  • Oliver Humberg: The estate of the Upper Austrian landscape doctor Alexander von Suchten († 1575) . In: Wolfenbütteler Renaissance-Mitteilungen . No. 31 , 2007, p. 31-51 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Humberg, p. 31.
  2. ↑ Strehlau, p. 326.
  3. ^ Entry in Robert A. Hatch's database The Scientific Revolution
  4. ↑ Wilhelm Gnapheus, Prima Aelbingensis scholae foetura ..., Gdansk in 1541; and Molitor, p. 484 f.
  5. ↑ Humberg, p. 31.
  6. ↑ That Alexander received a master's degree in philosophy in Cracow as early as 1521 (!) - as is often claimed by Polish authors, for example: Hubicki, p. 54 - is therefore wrong.
  7. ↑ In detail about his poetry cf. Molitor.
  8. ↑ Humberg, p. 32. Hubicki, p. 55, on the other hand, claims that Suchten's studies in Italy took place between 1543 and 1545. He also says that Suchten received his doctorate for his theses 'De Galeni placitis' in Padua . This goes back to the satirical dialogue , which is controversial in terms of its authenticity , and so far there is no documentary evidence of this.
  9. ↑ For details on his activities there, his death and his estate, see Humberg.
personal data
SURNAME Wanted, Alexander von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Suchtenus, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Alchemist
DATE OF BIRTH around 1520
PLACE OF BIRTH Dirschau or Danzig
DATE OF DEATH November 7, 1575
Place of death Linz