Franc Mesmer

Franc Mesmer

Austrian physician, forerunner of modern hypnosis techniques.
Date of Birth: 23.05.1734
Country: Austria

Biography of Franz Mesmer

Franz Anton Mesmer, an Austrian physician, was born on May 23, 1734. He spent much of his life searching for his true calling. He dreamed of becoming a great musician, then a philosopher, and later an advocate. Eventually, he passed away as a respected physician, recognized by both friends and adversaries. However, his most significant discovery was not understood by his contemporaries.

After graduating from the medical school at the University of Vienna, Mesmer married a wealthy widow. With his material needs satisfied, he turned his attention to the arts, particularly music. His friends, including Haydn, Gluck, and Mozart, supported his musical ambitions. However, Mesmer did not achieve greatness as a musician and eventually returned to his medical career, where he became known as Franz Mesmer, the founder of numerous schools of "mesmerism," "hypnotism," and other related practices.

On July 28, 1774, a significant event occurred in Mesmer's life. A patient named Fraulein Oesterlin, who suffered from severe headaches, convulsions, partial paralysis, delirium, continuous vomiting, and found no relief from any medications prescribed by Mesmer, became the catalyst for his experiment. Mesmer, influenced by the theories of Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, commonly known as Paracelsus, decided to test the effects of magnets on his patient. Placing several strong magnets on Oesterlin's chest, the results were horrendous, as she experienced violent convulsions. However, moments later, the seizure subsided, even though it typically lasted for hours.

During the next episode, Mesmer confidently used magnets. After a few sessions, Oesterlin recovered, allowing Mesmer to demonstrate his healing method to Jan Ingenhousz, a renowned scholar and member of the Royal Society in London. The academy member was impressed by what he saw, but still published a critical article about Mesmer's method. Nevertheless, Mesmer was undeterred by the academic criticism. He opened a clinic where hysteric women flocked seeking treatment. Mesmer even developed a theoretical framework called "animal magnetism," which explained the causes of illnesses and recommended methods for their treatment. According to this theory, the entire universe and all living organisms were permeated by "magnetic fluid," and the proper flow of this fluid within the human body determined one's excellent health. Any disruption in the flow resulted in non-ideal patterns and whirlpools. To correct the situation, magnets were applied to redirect the magnetic fluid along the desired path.

This theory gained some recognition, and Mesmer acquired followers and disciples. James Graham, a physician from Edinburgh, even opened a health facility in London in 1780, named the "Temple of Health," where spending a night cost a considerable sum of money for that time. Many famous writers and aristocrats sought treatment from Mesmer. Gold flowed into Mesmer's hands. However, problems soon arose. A group of members from the Paris Medical Academy underwent treatment with Mesmer and claimed to have felt nothing but nervous exhaustion and stomach pains. They openly condemned Mesmer and expelled (or nearly expelled) a professor who defended him.

Mesmer decided to lend scientific credibility to his work. He settled in Montmartre, a poor area of Paris at the time, and treated patients mainly from the lower classes. However, he went further in his techniques and began "magnetizing" entire trees, parks, and forests. He regained authority, although not where he had hoped, even though King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were initially supporters of Mesmer. However, they eventually cooled towards him and ordered the Academy of Sciences and the Medical Faculty to verify the effectiveness of his therapeutic methods.

The commission included prominent figures such as Benjamin Franklin (who was then the American ambassador to Europe), Antoine Lavoisier (who discovered oxygen), Jean Bailly (an astronomer), and a certain Dr. J. Guillotin, the inventor of the guillotine. These members themselves had the opportunity to experience the effectiveness of the guillotine. The commission's ultimate conclusion was that the magnetic fluid did not exist and that all the effects achieved by Mesmer were due to the power of suggestion. They also claimed that the consequences of Mesmer's treatments were terrible, leading to convulsions, and the birth of deformed offspring. The Academy prohibited its members from practicing mesmerism.

The decision of the commission was significant for its time. The belief in the possibility of complete and definitive understanding of all phenomena was prevalent among its members. They did not want to acknowledge anything that could not be measured, touched, explained, or proven through their known experiments. However, some of the commission's conclusions were correct and still hold true today, such as the understanding that magnets primarily affect the nervous system rather than tissues and external organs. Mesmerism was discredited as a result, but subsequent research has confirmed the accuracy of some of the commission's findings based on numerous experiments.

Mesmer fled to Austria, his homeland, to escape failure and regather his strength for a new approach. He did not return to Paris, as the French Revolution began and many high-ranking aristocrats and favorites of the royal family faced the improvement of Dr. Guillotin's device. The path to the capital city was closed to the former idol of the Parisian aristocracy, although Mesmer sympathized with the French Revolution. Shortly after, he was expelled from Austria due to his sympathies and settled in a small town near Zurich. There, he lived so inconspicuously that many of his followers believed their idol had long since passed away. The country doctor Mesmer dedicated his last years to music. He passed away in 1815 at the age of 81.

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