Samuel Hahnemann - Definition and Overview

Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, M.D. (10th April 1755 - 2nd July 1843), born in Meissen, Saxony [now Germany]. He was best known as Samuel Hahnemann, a Saxon physician who, beginning with an article he published in a German medical journal in 1796, founded homoeopathic medicine. Hahnemann is also credited with introducing the practice of quarantine to the Kingdom of Prussia during his employment with the Duke of Anhalt-Köthen. Hahnemann is entombed in a mausoleum at Paris's Père Lachaise cemetery.

Hahnemann's notable works include:

• Versuch über ein neues Prinzip zur Auffindung der Heilkräfte der Arzneisubstanzen, nebst einigen Blicken auf die bisherigen, (Hufelands Journal der practischen Arzneykunde, 1796)
• Organon der Heilkunst (1810) explains the theory of homeopathic medicine. Hahnemann published the 5th edition in 1833; an unfinished 6th edition was discovered after Hahnemann's death but not published until 1921.
• Materia Medica Pura is a compilation of homoeopathic proving reports, published in six volumes during the 1820s (vol. VI in 1827.) Revised editions of volumes I and II were published in 1830 and 1833, respectively.
• Chronic Diseases is an elucidation of the root and cure of chronic disease together with a compilation of homoeopathic proving reports, published in five volumes during the 1830s.

Etext links

• Online etext of Hahnemann's Organon der Heilkunst:
  • German original (http://www.homeoint.org/books4/organon/)
  • English translation (http://www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/organon/organon.html)
• Online etext of Versuch über ein neues Prinzip zur Auffindung der Heilkräfte der Arzneisubstanzen, nebst einigen Blicken auf die bisherigen (German only) (http://www.mickler.de/journal/versuch-prinzip-1.htm)