QUEBEC-RESEARCH-L Archives

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Subject: March 5, 1815
Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2005 09:41:23 EST

March 5

1815 Innovator of hypnotism dies
Franz Anton Mesmer, a German physician who pioneered the medical field of
hypnotic therapy, dies in obscurity in Meersburg, Swabia (now Germany).
Born in 1734, Mesmer studied religion, philosophy, law, and medicine in
Vienna, Austria, but initially failed to excel at any of these fields. In the
1770s, he became fascinated with Father Glassner, a Swiss Roman Catholic priest
who was well known as a documented faith healer. After observing Glassner's
seemingly miraculous healings, Mesmer concluded that the cures were achieved
by what he called "animal magnetism." Mesmer believed that invisible magnetic
fluids existed in living beings, and that if this invisible magnetic flow was
upset, sickness could occur. He decided that Glassner was correcting
obstructed magnetic flows by achieving a rapport, French for "harmony" or
"connection," with his patients.
In 1772, Mesmer began to develop various therapeutic treatments for curing
what he perceived to be animal magnetism obstructions, which included the use
of ethereal music as a hypnotic device, and intimate group-healing sessions.
Despite obvious errors in Mesmer's scientific theories, his process of
mesmerism, as it came to be known, produced hypnotic states in his patients that
had an extraordinary influence on their physical illnesses. His popularity
grew, but the Viennese Medical Council declared him a fraud, and in 1778 he left
Vienna for the more liberal environment of Paris.
In Paris, Mesmer treated peasants along with wealthy aristocrats and won a
handful of disciples in the scientific community. In 1784, King Louis XVI
appointed a committee of physicians and scientists to investigate his work; among
the commission's members were the American statesman and inventor Benjamin
Franklin and the French chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier. The commission
reported that Mesmer was unable to support his scientific claims, and his
practice subsequently declined. In 1778, he left Paris and retired to obscurity in
his native Swabia.
Despite the eccentricities of his techniques, Mesmer is seen as a major
innovator of hypnotic therapy and also one of the first Western physicians to
safely treat psychosomatic illness and nervous disorders.

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