Felix Leopold Oswald (December 6, 1845 – September 27, 1906) was a Belgian American
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
secularist
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...
Namur, Belgium
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Na ...
. He graduated from Brussels University in 1865. He studied at Gottingen and Heidelberg where he obtained his
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
and
M.D.
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...
degrees. In 1866, as a military doctor he joined a corps of Belgian volunteers in support of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. He travelled in Mexico and later settled in the United States.Troelstra, Anne S. (2016). ''Bibliography of Natural History Travel Narratives''. KNNV Publishing. p. 328.
Oswald was a conservationist. He was concerned about the negative effects of
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
. He urged a legislative act to protect "the woods of all the upper ridges in hill countries." His writings on natural history experienced an extensive international readership.
He wrote many scientific articles. His articles were published in the '' Popular Science'' magazine, ''
The Monist
''The Monist: An International Quarterly Journal of General Philosophical Inquiry'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of philosophy. It was established in October 1890 by American publisher Edward C. Hegeler.
History
Init ...
North American Review
The ''North American Review'' (NAR) was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until revived at ...
''.
Oswald lived as a
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
and traveller, cooking his meals over an open fire. He was dubbed "the monkey man" as he had two or three
pet monkey
A pet monkey is a monkey kept as a pet. The practice of keeping monkeys as pets is controversial.
Monkeys have often been favorite pets of queens such as Catherine de' Medici and Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I.
Ship's monkeys
When the Britis ...
s that he allowed to move freely in his house. In 1905, his house including his monkeys were set on fire and destroyed.
Natural hygiene
Oswald was supportive of natural hygiene, a movement which advocated
fasting
Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...
, vegetarian dieting, pure water, clean air and exercise. In 1889, Oswald wrote a series of articles under the general title, ''International Health Studies'' for
John Harvey Kellogg
John Harvey Kellogg (February 26, 1852 – December 14, 1943) was an American medical doctor, nutritionist, inventor, health activist, eugenicist, and businessman. He was the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. The ...
's ''Good Health'' journal. Oswald was an anti-vaccinationist and associated with
Bernarr Macfadden
Bernarr Macfadden (born Bernard Adolphus McFadden, August 16, 1868 – October 12, 1955) was an American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories. He founded the long-running magazine pu ...
. In 1901, Macfadden's publishing company released Oswald's book ''Vaccination a Crime''.
Oswald was influenced by Sylvester Graham, he referred to fasting as "the Graham starvation cure."
Religion
Oswald was a freethought writer and naturalist who did not believe in the supernatural."Dr. Felix Leopold Oswald" ''Blue-Grass Blade''. March 21, 1909. p. 2 Oswald has been described as an outspoken freethinker and one of the greatest advocates of the American freethought world.
He authored the book ''The Secret of the East'' in 1883 and an article in 1891 that argued
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
was of
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
origin. Lewis G. Janes suggested that this idea was "discredited at the outset by the totally different conceptions of the God idea and the destiny of man after death in the two religions."
James Thompson Bixby
James Thompson Bixby (July 30, 1843 – December 26, 1921) was a United States Unitarian minister and writer.
Biography
He was born at Barre, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard College (1864) and Harvard Divinity School (B.D., 1870). He ...
wrote a rebuttal to Oswald's article. He argued that "the resemblances alleged by Dr. Oswald, even if granted, would be insufficient to prove his case... the differences between the Gospel and Buddhism run deeper and are more positive than the like-nesses."
Edwin Arnold
Sir Edwin Arnold KCIE CSI (10 June 183224 March 1904) was an English poet and journalist, who is most known for his work '' The Light of Asia''.secular humanism, and that writers such as Oswald who wanted to "prove that Christianity was derived from Buddhism was a way of undermining its authority." Biblical scholars have rejected the theory that Christianity originated from Buddhism.
Oswald was influenced by the research of Rudolf Seydel. Orientalist
Friedrich Max Müller Friedrich may refer to:
Names
* Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich''
* Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich''
Other
* Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...
rejected Oswald's thesis but respected his dedication to the subject. Müller commented that Oswald was "one of the more conscientious and fair-minded students of Buddhism."
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
'' 24 (614): 446–448. Obituaries have described it as a tragic accident, whilst railway employees reported that he had committed suicide.
Selected publications
* Oswald, F. L. (1877). ''The Climatic Influence of Vegetation — A Plea for Our Forests''. ''
Popular Science Monthly
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...