Fitzlar, Martin von (ca. 1750)
Fitzlar, Martin von (ca. 1750)
German alchemist who lived in the first half of the eighteenth century. He was probably a Hessian, residing chiefly at the village of Fitzlar. While a young man he studied pharmacy, intending to make it his profession, but he soon grew interested in the quest of gold-making, and when the celebrated alchemist Lascaris came to Germany, Fitzlar hastened to see him hoping to glean his secrets.
Along with several other young men, Fitzlar was allowed to witness numerous experiments, and it seemed that the great secret lay open before him, but afterward, when he made attempts on his own, he found that Lascaris had duped him shamefully and had even taken advantage of his ignorance. Then—unlike the majority of thwarted alchemists—he renounced the futile search altogether and resumed his original calling as a pharmacist.