Charles Julius Hempel (5 September 1811 in

Solingen Solingen (; li, Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located some 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and, with a 2009 population of 161,366, ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

– 25 September 1879 in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

) was a German-born

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

and

homeopathic Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dise ...

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 ...

who worked in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Biography

After completing his collegiate course at Solingen, he attended lectures at the

Université de France The University of France (french: Université de France; originally the ''Imperial University of France'') was a highly centralized educational state organization founded by Napoleon I in 1808 and given authority not only over the individual (previ ...

and

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and financed his schooling by translating. At the Université de France, he assisted

Jules Michelet Jules Michelet (; 21 August 1798 – 9 February 1874) was a French historian and an author on other topics whose major work was a history of France and its culture. His aphoristic style emphasized his anti-clerical republicanism. In Michelet's ...

, who succeeded

François Guizot François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (; 4 October 1787 – 12 September 1874) was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848. A conservative liberal who opposed the a ...

as professor of history, in the publication of his ''Histoire de la France'' ("History of France"). He came to the United States in 1835, and for ten years resided in the family of Piero Maroncelli, the intimate friend of the revolutionist

Silvio Pellico Silvio Pellico (; 24 June 1789 – 31 January 1854) was an Italian writer, poet, dramatist and patriot active in the Italian unification. Biography Silvio Pellico was born in Saluzzo (Piedmont). He spent the earlier portion of his life at Pin ...

. There he imbibed an ardent love for

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and

Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italian people, Italians or in Languages of Italy, other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely re ...

and got to know the

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay and Ru ...

refugees in America. Other significant influences were the social theorist

Albert Brisbane Albert Brisbane (August 22, 1809 – May 1, 1890) was an American utopian socialist and is remembered as the chief popularizer of the theories of Charles Fourier in the United States. Brisbane was the author of several books, notably ''Social D ...

and the theologian

George Bush George Bush most commonly refers to: * George H. W. Bush (1924–2018), 41st president of the United States and father of the 43rd president * George W. Bush (born 1946), 43rd president of the United States and son of the 41st president Georg ...

. While attending medical lectures at the University of New York, where he graduated in 1845, he became associated with several eminent homeopathic practitioners, and soon after his graduation he began to translate some of the more important works relating to homeopathy. In 1855 he married Mary (Coggeshall) Calder, daughter of George Coggeshall of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was appointed professor of materia medica and therapeutics in the

Hahnemann Medical College Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The medical school represents the consolidation of two medical schools: the first U.S. medical school f ...

of Philadelphia in 1857. He had an approach to homeopathy distinct from the Hahnemann school. His translations could be a source of controversy in the homeopathic community; in particular

Constantine Hering Constantine J. Hering (January 1, 1800 – July 23, 1880) was a physician who was an early pioneer of homeopathy in the United States. Biography Hering was born in Oschatz, and studied medicine at the University of Leipzig where his interest ...

and

Adolph Lippe Adolph Lippe (11 May 1812 near Goerlitz, Prussia – 23 January 1888 in Philadelphia) was a homeopathic physician who worked in the United States. Biography His parents were Count Ludwig (1781–1860) and Countess Auguste (1795–1856) of Lippe- ...

raised objections because of errors in Hempel's early translations and unauthorized additions from his own experience. When the Hahnemann Medical College was reorganized in 1860, Hempel and some others left. During his stay in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, he also published his book, ''Materia Medica and Therapeutics''. On the death of his father-in-law in 1861, he went to Grand Rapids to settle up the estate. He decided to make the change of location permanent and soon had a large homeopathic practice in that city. His health failing, he traveled to Italy and Germany in 1872, but the change was not beneficial, and he returned to Grand Rapids, where he died. Hempel was one of the earliest honorary members of the British Homeopathic Society, and was the recipient of diplomas and certificates of membership from many medical colleges and associations. His translations and original works permit him to be called the father of English homeopathic literature.

Works

* ''Life of Christ'' (1848) * ''The True Organization of the New Church'' * ''New Grammar of the German Language'' * ''Christendom and Civilization'' (1840) * ''A New and Comprehensive System of Materia Medica and Therapeutics'', his chief work (1859) * ''Homœopathic Theory and Practice in Surgical Disease'', with J. Beakly (1865) * ''The Science of Homœopathy'' (1874) He published numerous translations, including: *

Samuel Hahnemann Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (; 10 April 1755 – 2 July 1843) was a German physician, best known for creating the pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine called homeopathy. Early life Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann was ...

, ''Chronic Diseases'' (5 vols., Philadelphia, 1846) *

Franz Hartmann Franz Hartmann (22 November 1838, Donauwörth – 7 August 1912, Kempten im Allgäu) was a German medical doctor, theosophist, occultist, geomancer, astrologer, and author. Biography Hartmann was an associate of Helena Blavatsky and was C ...

, ''Acute and Chronic Diseases'' (4 vols., 1849) *

George Heinrich Gottlieb Jahr Gottlieb Heinrich Georg Jahr (; 1800–1875) was a German-French physician and pioneer of classical homeopathy. Biography After studying in a Moravian college, about 1825 he got to know Samuel Hahnemann, whose assistant he became. On Hahnemann' ...

, ''Mental Diseases and their Homœopathic Treatment'' (1853) *

, ''Diseases of Women and Children'' (1853)
''Schiller's Complete Works''
editor (2 vols., 1861)

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hempel, Charles Julius 1811 births 1879 deaths American homeopaths German emigrants to the United States Physicians from Philadelphia University of Paris alumni Collège de France alumni New York University Grossman School of Medicine alumni Drexel University faculty 19th-century American translators