Gerhard Dorn

Gerhard Dorn (* 1530 in Mechelen, † 1584 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a physician, alchemist, translator and editor.

He was 1530-1535 in Mechelen ( Burgundian Netherlands) born. End of the 50s of the 16th century, he studied medicine at the University of Tübingen and acquired soon after the doctoral degree. In 1565 he wrote in Besançon a first handwritten version of the alchemical writing " Clavis totius Philosophiae Chymisticae ", for which he would later become famous, and dedicated it to the Cardinal de Granvelle Antoine Perrenot. For a stay in Lyon he learned may Adam von Bodenstein know who had it printed in 1567 mandrel manuscript and made him familiar with the teachings of Paracelsus. From 1568 to 1578 Dorn held up in Basel and edited the " Philosophia magna " of Paracelsus, which he dedicated to the Margrave Charles of Baden. In addition, he worked as a translator for the Basel publisher Peter Perna. 1581 he moved to Frankfurt am Main. In the years until his death in 1584 he published further writings of Paracelsus, which he often dedicated to his friend Samuel Eisenmenger. 1602 appeared the first volume of the " Theatrum Chemicum " posthumously some thorn attributed tracts.