List of alchemists

An alchemist was a person versed in the art of alchemy, an ancient branch of natural philosophy that eventually evolved into chemistry and pharmacology. Alchemy flourished in the Islamic world during the Middle Ages, and then in Europe from the 13th to the 18th centuries.

We know the names and doings of a large number of alchemists, thanks to the numerous alchemical manuscript and books that survived; some of those names are listed below. Possibly there were many more, bent on experimenting than writing, who have left no trace in history.

Legendary alchemists

*Enki, one of the Anunnaki (ca. 3000 BC)
*Hermes Trismegistus
*Mary the Jewess
*Nicolas Flamel
*Ostanes
*Truett Ray

Persian Empire alchemists

*Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina, "Avicenna" (980 - 1037), a critic of alchemy , Father of modern Medicine
*Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi, "Rhazes" (864 - 930)

Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Empire alchemists

* Plato (ca. 360 BC)
*Zosimos(ca. 300 AD)
* Olympiodorus of Thebes (ca. 400)

Indian alchemists

* Nagarjuna, the 10th century South Indian king
* Yogi Vemana

Chinese alchemists

*Zhang Guo the Elder (ca. 600)

Islamic alchemists

*Khalid ibn Yazid, "Calid" (d. 704)
*Jabir Ibn Hayyan, the "true Geber" (Iraq, c. 721 - 815)
*Al-Farabi, "Alfarabi" (870 - 950/951)
*Al-Kindi, "Alkindus" (801 - 873), a critic of alchemy
*Ibn Umail, circa 900 AD
*Al-Tughrai (1061 - 1121, Persia)
*Abu' l-Qasim al-Iraqi, circa 1300 AD

Western alchemists

*Artephius (12th century)
*Alain de Lisle (Born from 1115 to 1128 - died in 1202(1203?))
*Albertus Magnus (1193-1280)
*Roger Bacon (1214-1294)
* Ramon Llull (Raymond Lulli) (1235-1315)
*Pope John XXII (1249-1334)
*Arnold of Villanova (1245-?(before 1311))
*Pietro d'Apone (1250-?)
*Jean de Meung (c.1250-c.1305)
*Pseudo-Geber (Spain, 14th century)
*Gilles de Rais (1401-1440)
* Bernard Trevisan (Bernard of Treves) (1406-1490)
*Tomasso Masini da Peretola (15th century)
* George Ripley (England, 15th century)
*Thomas Norton (15th century)
*Johannes Trithemius (1462-1516)
*Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535)
*Paracelsus (1493-1541)
* Basilius Valentinus (Basil Valentine) (15th century)
*Jacob Boehme (1575-1624)
*Nicolas Flamel (15th century)
*Edward Kelley (1555 - 1597)
*Johann Georg Faust (ca. 1480 - 1540)
*François Hotman (1524-1590)
*Richard Stanihurst (Irish poet and historian, 1547-1618. In his treatise on alchemy dedicated to King Phillip II of Spain he claims to have witnessed 15 transmutations: of copper into silver fourteen times, and of mercury into gold one time)
*Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
*Heinrich Khunrath (circa 1560 - 1605)
*Michael Maier (1568–1622)
*Michał Sędziwój (1566-1636)
*Jan Baptist van Helmont (1577-1644)
*Arthur Dee (1579-1651)
*Edward Dyer (d. 1607)
*Elias Ashmole (1617-1692)
*George Starkey (alchemist) (1628 - 1665)
*Claude Duval (1643-1670)
*Henning Brand (c.1630-1710)
*Robert Boyle (1627–1691)
*Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
*Edmund Dickinson (1624-1707)
*Theodorus Mundanus (pseudonym; fl. late 17th century)
*Johann Kunckel (chemist interested in alchemical issues, 1630 - 1703; claimed to have achieved several transmutations)
*Johann Seger von Weidenfeld (fl. late 17th century and early 18th century)
*Johann Heinrich Pott (18th century chemist interested in alchemical claims, 1692 - 1777)
*Francisco Antonio de Texeda (sometimes wrote under the pseudonym "Theophilo", fl. early 18th century)
*Alessandro Cagliostro (1743-1795)
*Count of St Germain (d. 1784)
*Dr. Gaspar Pons (anatomist and medical adviser, interested in alchemical issues, fl. second half of the 18th century)
*Christoph Bergner (18th century chemist and assayer interested in alchemical issues, d. 1793; claimed to have achieved some transmutations)
*Johann Christoph von Wöllner (1732-1800)
*Ernest Rutherford (1839-1937)
*August Strindberg (1849-1912)
*Adiramled (pseudonym; fl. late 19th century - early 20th.)
*Fulcanelli (pseudonym; dates unknown: Late 19th century - early 20th.)
*Simón H. (pseudonym; his books started to be published in the 1980s)
*Truett R. (United States, Currently Living)

Revival and modern alchemists

If you research the people on this list, you will find the label "alchemist" is a broad and speculative term, with each person having their own idea of what an alchemist might be. For those who are oblvious to the practical work that can take place in the lab and the physical creation of the Stone, they tend to wonder off towards a more philosophical concept of what alchemy might be. Rarely do you find anyone who practices physical laboratory alchemy, and even rarer are the accomplished alchemists who have succeeded in the Great Work of making the Stone. And still rarer yet are the ones who will share that knowledge with you.

*Alexander Shulgin (1925- ) In 1991 and 1997, he and his wife Ann Shulgin authored the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL on the topic of psychoactive drugs. Like Terrence McKenna, he believed the Stone to be a mental state of mind and not something which could be produced in the lab.
*Terrence McKenna (1946-2000) a more modern version of Timothy Leary, he believed the stone to be a mental state of mind
*Frater Albertus Spagyricus (Dr. Albert Reidel) (1911-1984) A laboratory alchemist and teacher who published several books and rare manuscripts, at least one of which purported to produce the true Stone, the results of which were photographed and displayed only temporarily on a website (The manuscript was The Hermetic Art by Volpierre (Nikolaus Burtschell 1892 - 1952) in the Golden Manuscript Series)
*Manfred M. Junius (1929-2004)
*G. I. Gurdjieff (1866-1949)
*Diane Di Prima (1932- ) a poet
*Marie-Louise von Franz (1915-1998) studied psychological alchemy
*Robert Allen Bartlett (1950- )
*Verônica de Thule (1973- )
*Dennis Hauck (19?- )
*Angel m Zayas jr (1991- )

Fictional alchemists

*Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric
*Atelier Iris, Klein Kliesing, Iris Fortner, Viese and Felt Blanchimont
*Reen, Dragonfable
*Baccano!, Szilard Quates (Immortal)
*Maiza Avaro (Immortal)
*Riccardo Belli
*Ivy Valentine, Soul Calibur
*Magnus, The Vampire Chronicles (Vampire)
*Lezard Valeth
*The Alchemist, The Venture Brothers

ee also

*Rudolf Steiner
*Arthur Edward Waite