Arigó, José (1918-1971)

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Arigó, José (1918-1971)

Pseudonym of José Pedro de Freitas, a Brazilian psychic healer who performed surgical operations without proper instruments or anesthetics. Arigó, who claimed to be directed by the spirit of "Dr. Adolpho Fritz," performed complex operations at top speed with an unsterilized pocket knife. In 1957 he was sentenced to imprisonment for illegally practicing medicine but was pardoned by the president of Brazil. He was again sentenced in 1964, with an additional charge of practicing "witchcraft" (presumably to account for his uncanny successes), but the case was reviewed the following year and Arigó was released before serving his complete sentence. He was killed in a road accident six years later.

(See also Psychic Surgery )

Sources:

Fuller, John R. Arigó: Surgeon of the Rusty Knife. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974.

Playfair, Guy Lyon. The Flying Crow. London: Souvenir Press, 1975. Reprinted as The Unknown Power. New York: Pocket Books, 1976.

Valentine, Tom. Psychic Surgery. Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1973.