Béla Bicsérdy ( Zenta, February 22, 1874 –

Billings Billings is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billin ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, December 7, 1951) was a Hungarian pioneer in health culture, lifestyle reformer,

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

advocate, lecturer, author of many books, athlete, supporter of rawism,

fasting Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...

and

holistic therapies Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices ar ...

Life and career

According to Bicsérdy, after medical doctors couldn't cure him from his illnesses, he became a raw foodist and took long fasts. Bicsérdy claimed that he cured himself from all his illnesses, and his hair and lost teeth grew back. In the 1920s, Bicsérdy inspired a great many people in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

promoting a regime of a raw vegetarian diet (mostly fruits with some bread and raw milk), regular fasting, sunbathing, daily outdoor exercising and regular water-cure."History of Alternative Medicine in Hungary in 19th and Early 20th Century"
, Erika Koltay. In ''Orvostörténeti Közlemények: Communicationes de historia artis medicinae, Volumes 188-189'', 2004 He claimed that any person who followed his regime will be cured of illness and will live hundreds of years, just as known possible from ancient times (the Bible for example reported many long-lived people). Bicsérdy delivered lectures throughout Transylvania where he had his greatest following. The method became known as ''bicsérdism'' and by 1925 he had 120 to 150 thousand followers in Transylvania alone. He wrote a popular book on the subject which was inspired by mazdaznan philosophy, and in which he compared his own beliefs with the

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

Zend Avesta Zend or Zand () is a Zoroastrian term for Middle Persian or Pahlavi versions and commentaries of Avestan texts. These translations were produced in the late Sasanian period. ''Zand'' glosses and commentaries exist in several languages, including ...

''. In addition to the book there was a periodical that was first published in 1925, as ''On Behalf of Mankind'' and later under the title ''Bicsérdism''. After a few people died due to long fasting he received serious criticism. At the end of the 1920s, he withdrew from public life. By the mid 1940s, ''bicsérdism'' had largely been forgotten. At the end of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he moved with his fifth wife, Kató Jaschke to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and then in 1951 to the USA, where he died in the same year, at the age of 79.Romániai Magyar Irodalmi Lexikon
/ref>

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bicserdy, Bela 1874 births 1951 deaths Fasting advocates Naturopaths Orthopaths Pseudoscientific diet advocates Raw foodists Vegetarianism activists Hungarian emigrants to the United States People from Senta