Louis Claude de Saint-Martin
Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (born January 18, 1743 in Amboise , Touraine , today the Indre-et-Loire department ; † October 13, 1803 in Aulnay, now Châtenay-Malabry , the Hauts-de-Seine department ) was a French Freemason , Philosopher , theosophist and mystic .
Life
Louis Claude de Saint-Martin was born into an impoverished noble family and was often ill during his childhood. He attended a Jesuit school and was later forced by his father to attend the Orléans Law School . His father hoped that Louis Claude would pursue a career in the civil service in order to regain the lost family fortune. After working as a lawyer for six months, Saint-Martin resisted his father and forced his father's consent to pursue a military career. He received an officer's license in the Regiment de Foix, which was stationed first in Tours and later in Bordeaux .
Most of the officer corps consisted of Freemasons from the Order of Elus Coëns by Martinez de Pasqually . A grenadier captain introduced Saint-Martin de Pasqually, whose secretary (in the Martinist order ) he became. In 1765 Louis Claude was accepted by the Elus Coëns , which he later described as a turning point in his life. Around 1770 he had spread a system of the so-called Illuminisme under Pasqually in France , which - in contrast to the German Illuminati Order - aimed for counter-Enlightenment goals and was close to the Gold and Rosicrucians .
In 1768 Saint-Martin became master of the chair of the lodge in Bordeaux. He finished his military career in 1771 to work as Pasqually's secretary. When Pasqually moved to Haiti in 1772 , Saint-Martin became the actual administrator of the order, and officially after Pasqually's death in 1774.
In 1773, Saint-Martin moved to Lyon , where he published his first book Des ereurs et de la vérité , which became a great success in Masonic and magical circles thanks to its enigmatic and symbolic language . The success of the book gave Saint-Martin access to the upper classes of society, where he was able to secure the support of influential patrons through his intelligence and charm. In 1782, at the insistence of his friends, his second book was published with the title Tableau naturel des raports qui existent entre Dieu, l'homme et l'universe .
In 1784 he began to be interested in mesmerism and joined Franz Anton Mesmer's lodge. But soon his interest in mesmerism left him, and he was again occupied with the spiritual search. On a trip through England , Germany , Switzerland and Italy , he came across the ideas of Jakob Böhme , from whom he also translated several works into French. Through his preoccupation with Böhme, he alienated himself from Masonic ideas. In 1790 he resigned from all masonry offices.
In 1792, the year his father died, Saint-Martin returned to Amboise, where he spent the rest of his life mainly translating. He died while visiting a friend.
Works (selection)
- Des ereurs et de la verite . 1773. (German translation by Matthias Claudius , Breslau 1782)
- Tableau Naturel des Rapports qui existent entre Dieu, l'Homme et l'Universe . 1782.
- L'homme de desir . Lyon 1790. (German translation "Des Menschen Sehnen und Ahnden", Leipzig 1813, in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Digital Library)
literature
- John Michael Greer et al. a .: Encyclopedia of the Secret Doctrines ("The new encyclopedia of the occult"). Ansata Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-7787-7270-8 .
- Rahel Varnhagen von Ense , Karl August Varnhagen von Ense : Angelus Silesius and Saint-Martin . Ferdinand Dümmlers bookstore, Berlin ³1849.
- Gerhard Wehr : Louis Claude de Saint-Martin. The "unknown philosopher" . Zerling, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-88468-062-5 (Biography series; 4).
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Saint-Martin, Louis Claude de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French freemason, philosopher and mystic |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 18, 1743 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Amboise , Touraine , France |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 13, 1803 |
| Place of death | Aulnay , Hauts-de-Seine department , France (today: Châtenay-Malabry ) |