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Alessandro Cagliostro

Italian occultist, alchemist, and impostor (1743-1795) · France · Doctors · Died at 52

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Giuseppe Balsamo talked his way into the palaces of Europe by calling himself a count and promising alchemy, prophecy, and healing - then watching it unravel into the most celebrated con of the eighteenth century.

Business ProfessionalsDoctorMedicineFranceEuropeEarly Modern Era

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Portrait of Giuseppe Balsamo (called Count Alessandro Cagliostro) LACMA 62.18 (1 of 2)Portrait of Giuseppe Balsamo (called Count Alessandro Cagliostro) LACMA 62.18 (1 of 2)Giuseppe Balsamo comte de CagliostroGiuseppe Balsamo comte de CagliostroGiuseppe Balsamo, comte de CagliostroGiuseppe Balsamo, comte de CagliostroA Masonic anecdote' (Alessandro, Count of Cagliostro (Giuseppe Balsamo)) by James GillrayA Masonic anecdote' (Alessandro, Count of Cagliostro (Giuseppe Balsamo)) by James GillrayAlchemy, ancient and modern (1922) (14595322920)Alchemy, ancient and modern (1922) (14595322920)Alessandro Cagliostro Lotterie Paris 1788Alessandro Cagliostro Lotterie Paris 1788Alessandro CagliostroAlessandro CagliostroAlexandre comte de Cagliostro, G.9075Alexandre comte de Cagliostro, G.9075

In their own words 10

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Alessandro Cagliostro
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10 statements, newest first

  1. I cannot speak. Some things must not be told to princes... My wizard is worn out... Nothing is to follow but the gold turning into dry leaves, as in the Arabian tale.

    Balsamo the Magician (or The Memoirs of a Physician) by Alex. Dumas (1891), Own words

  2. Your highness shall know your fate, since your blindness drives you to it... Let her hear, for since she wanted to know, know she shall!

    Balsamo the Magician (or The Memoirs of a Physician) by Alex. Dumas (1891), Own words

  3. Do not try to irritate me. I am but the instrument of a higher Power, used to enlighten you. Insult fate and it will revenge itself, well knowing how.

    Balsamo the Magician (or The Memoirs of a Physician) by Alex. Dumas (1891), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

In their orbit

Spouse: Seraphina Cagliostro

About this person

Born Giuseppe Balsamo on 2 June 1743, he shed his real name for the invented title Count Alessandro di Cagliostro and began working the royal courts of Europe as an occultist and self-styled magician. He offered psychic healing, alchemy, and scrying - enough spectacle to keep the fascination alive and the invitations coming. The trick held until it didn't. By the time Thomas Carlyle sat down to write about him in 1833, decades after Cagliostro died on 26 August 1795, the verdict was already in: "Quack of Quacks."

Country
France
Category
Doctors
Type
Doctor
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1743 to 1795 · aged 52

Doctors from France 6

Ambroise Paré56.3Jean-Martin Charcot56.1Philippe Pinel56.6André Frédéric Cournand56.1Charles-Henri Sanson57.1Franz Joseph Gall55.8

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