An alchemist is a person versed in the art of alchemy.

Western alchemy flourished in GrecoRoman Egypt, the Islamic world during the Middle Ages, and then in Europe from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Indian alchemists and Chinese alchemists made contributions to Eastern varieties of the art. Alchemy is still practiced today by a few, and alchemist characters still appear in recent fictional works and video games. A large number of alchemists are known from the thousands of surviving alchemical manuscripts and books. Some of their names are listed below. Due to the tradition of pseudepigraphy, the true author of some alchemical writings may differ from the name most often associated with that work. Some well-known historical figures such as Albertus Magnusand Aristotle are often incorrectly named amongst the alchemists as a result. Contents [show] [edit]Legendary alchemists Enki (ca. 3000 BC) Hermes Trismegistus Ostanes, the Persian [edit]Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Empire alchemists Mary the Jewess Zosimos of Panopolis (ca. 300 AD) Olympiodorus of Thebes (ca. 400) Cleopatra the Alchemist Pseudo-Aristotle Pseudo-Plato [edit]Indian alchemists Nagarjuna, the 10th century South Indian king Yogi Vemana [edit]Chinese alchemists Wei Boyang Zhang Guo the Elder (ca. 600) [edit]Islamic alchemists Further information: Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam Khalid ibn Yazid, "Calid" (d. 704) Jbir ibn Hayyn, "Geber" (c. 721 815) Al-Farabi, "Alfarabi" (870 950/951) Al-Kindi, "Alkindus" (801 873), a critic of alchemy Ibn Umail, circa 900 AD Muhammad ibn Zakarya Rzi, "Rhazes" (864 930) Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina , "Avicenna" (980 1037), a critic of alchemy , Father of modern Medicine Al-Tughrai (10611121, Persia) Abu' l-Qasim al-Iraqi, circa 1300 AD [edit]Western alchemists Artephius (12th century) Alain de Lille (Born from 1115 to 1128 died in 1202(1203?))

Albertus Magnus (11931280) Roger Bacon (12141294) Ramon Llull (Raymond Lulli) (12351315) Pope John XXII (12491334) Arnold of Villanova (1245 ?(before 1311)) Jean de Meung (c.1250 c.1305) Pseudo-Geber (Spain, 14th century) Gilles de Rais (14011440) Bernard Trevisan (Bernard of Treves) (14061490) George Ripley (England, 15th century) Thomas Norton (16th century) Johannes Trithemius (14621516) Johann Georg Faust (ca. 14801540) Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (14861535) Paracelsus (14931541) Basilius Valentinus (Basil Valentine) (15th century) Nicolas Flamel (15th century) Thomas Charnock (1516/1524/15261581) Franois Hotman (15241590) John Dee (15271609) Gerhard Dorn (c. 1530 1584) Richard Stanihurst (15471618) Tycho Brahe (15461601) Edward Kelley (15551597) Andreas Libavius (15551616) Franois Broalde de Verville (15561626) Heinrich Khunrath (circa 15601605) Oswald Croll (circa 1563-1609) Melchior Cibinensis (16th century) Michael Maier (15681622) Micha Sdziwj (15661636) Jacob Boehme (15751624) Jan Baptist van Helmont (15771644) Arthur Dee (15791651) Johann Daniel Mylius (c. 1583-1642) Baro Urbigerus Ali Puli (17th century) Daniel Stolz von Stolzenberg (Daniel Stolcius) (16001660) Johannes Nicolaus Furichius (1602-1633) Edward Dyer (d. 1607) Elias Ashmole (16171692) Johann Friedrich Schweitzer (16251709) Giuseppe Francesco Borri (16271695) George Starkey (alchemist) (16281665) Eirenaeus Philalethes Claude Duval (16431670)

Hening Brand (c.16301710) Robert Boyle (16271691) Johann Joachim Becher (16351682) Isaac Newton (16421727) Edmund Dickinson (16241707) Johann Kunckel (16301703) Anton Josef Kirchweger ((d.1746)) Alessandro Cagliostro (17431795) James Price (17521783) Count of St Germain (d. 1784) Johann Christoph von Wllner (17321800) August Strindberg (18491912) Franz Tausend (18841942) Fulcanelli (pseudonym; dates unknown: Late 19th century early 20th.) [edit]Revival and modern alchemists Frater Albertus (Dr. Albert Reidel) (19111984) Eugne Canseliet (18991982) Jean Dubuis (19192010) Marie-Louise von Franz (19151998) Terrence McKenna (19462000) Diane Di Prima (1932 ) [edit]Fictional alchemists Diablo an enemy of the Fantastic Four Characters from Fullmetal Alchemist Riccardo Belli, Haunting Ground Ivy Valentine, Soul Calibur Magnus, The Vampire Chronicles The Alchemist, The Venture Bros. Daitokuji, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter Sydney Sage, Vampire Academy Myrnin, Morganville Vampires

ENKI
Enki[pronunciation?] (or Enkil, Sumerian: [Link](G) ) is a god in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology. He was originally patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to theCanaanites, Hittites and Hurrians. He was the deity of crafts (gaam); mischief; water, seawater, lakewater (a, aba, ab), intelligence (gest, literally "ear") and creation (Nudimmud: nu, likeness, dim mud, make bear). He was associated with the southern band of constellations called stars of Ea, but also with the constellation A-IKU, the Field (Square of Pegasus).[1] Beginning around the second millennium BCE, he was sometimes referred to in writing by the numeric ideogram for "40," occasionally referred to as his "sacred number."[2][3][4] A large number of myths about Enki have been collected from many sites, stretching from Southern Iraq to the Levantine coast. He figures in the earliest extant cuneiform inscriptions throughout the region and was prominent from the third millennium down to Hellenistic times. The exact meaning of his name is uncertain: the common translation is "Lord of the Earth": the Sumerian en is translated as a title equivalent to "lord"; it was originally a title given to the High Priest; ki means "earth"; but there are theories that ki in this name has another origin, possibly kig of unknown meaning, or kur meaning "mound". The name Ea is allegedly Hurrian in origin while others [5] [6] claim that it is possibly of Semitic origin and may be a derivation from the West-Semitic root *hyy meaning "life" in this case used for "spring", "running water." In Sumerian E-A means "the house of water", and it has been suggested that this was originally the name for the shrine to the God atEridu.

Mary the Jewess

Maria the Jewess (or Maria Prophetissima, Maria Prophetissa, Mary Prophetissa, Miriam the Prophetess) is estimated to have lived anywhere between the first[1] and third centuries AD.[2] She is attributed with the invention of several chemical apparatus and is considered to be the first non fictitious alchemist in the Western world.[3] No tangible details exist of the time or place of her life. She is mentioned by early alchemists always as an authority and with utmost respect. The alchemists of the past believed she was Miriam, the sister of Moses and the prophet Aaron, but evidence supporting this claim is scarce. The most concrete mention of Maria the Jewess in the context of alchemy is by Zosimos of Panopolis, who wrote in the 4th century the oldest alchemy books known.[4] Zosimos describes several of her experiments and instruments. In his writings, Mary is almost always mentioned as having lived in the past and being one of the "sages." George Syncellus, a Byzantine chronicler of the eighth century, presents Mary as a teacher of Democritus, whom she met in Memphis, Egypt at the time of Pericles. The tenth century Kitb alFihrist of Ibn al-Nadim cites her as one of the fifty-two most famous alchemists, knowing the

preparation of the caput mortuum. The Roman philosopher Morieno called her "Mary the Prophetess" and the Arabs knew her as the "Daughter of Plato", a name that in Western alchemical texts was reserved for the white sulfur.[5]

NAGARJUNA
Acharya Ngrjuna (Devanagari:, Telugu: , Tibetan: klu sgrub, Chinese: , Sinhala ) (ca. 150250 CE) was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his discipleryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mdhyamaka school of Mahyna Buddhism. [1] The Mdhyamaka school was in turn transmitted to China under the name of the Snln School (Ch. , "Three Treatise School"). Ngrjuna is sometimes credited with developing the philosophy of the Prajpramit stras, and being associated with the Buddhist university of Nland. In the Jodo Shinshu and Shingon schools of Buddhism in Japan he is considered the First Patriarch. In some Mahyna traditions, Ngrjuna is regarded as a second buddha.[2] According to most available accounts, Ngrjuna was originally from Southern India.[3][4] Archaeological discoveries at Amarvat confirm the fact that Ngrjuna maintained a friendship with the Stavhana king Gautamputra takari, to whom he addressed his Letter to a Friend (Skt. Sahd-lekh).[5] On this basis, Ngrjuna is conventionally placed at around 150250 CE.[6] According to a biography translated by Kumrajva, he was born into a Brahmin family,[7][8][9][10][11][12] and later became a Buddhist. This may be the reason he was one of the earliest significant Buddhist thinkers to write in classical Sanskrit rather than a prakrit.

WEI BOYANG
Wei Boyang (Chinese: ) was a noted Chinese author and Taoist alchemist of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He is the author of The Kinship of the Three, and is noted as the first person to have documented the chemical composition of gunpowder in 142 AD.[1][2]

CALID
Calid[Notes 1] is a medieval Latin transcription of the Arabic name Khalid (or Khaled).

Khalid ibn Yazid

In alchemy, Kalid often refers to a historical figure, Khalid ibn Yazid (died 704 CE). He was an Umayyad prince, a brother of Muawiyah II[1] who was briefly caliph. Prince Khalid lost the chance of inheriting the title, but took an interest in the study of alchemy, in Egypt. A book collector [2], he facilitated translations into Arabicof the existing literature. It is to this Khalid that later allusions to Calid rex (King Calid) refer.[3][4][5]

[edit]Attributions

to Calid

It is contested whether the attributions to Khalid ibn Yazid of alchemical writing are justified.[6][Notes 2] A popular legend has him consulting a Byzantine monk Marianos (Morienus the Greek).[Notes 3] The Liber de compositione alchimiae, which was the first alchemical work translated from Arabic to Latin (by Robert of Chester in 1144)[7] was purportedly an epistle of Marianos to Khalid.

Artephius
Artephius (Arthephius, Artefius, Artefii) or (Al-Hafiz, Ibn al-Hafiz) or (Al-Tafiz, Ibn al-Tafiz of Ibn ar-Tafiz) (Circa 1126) was an independent Alchemist fromAl-Andalus, he has been known as the author of numerous works of Alchemical texts, now extant only in Latin. He was among the most prominent Alchemists known in the Middle Ages, he was a freelance alchemist from probably Crdoba. Like Al-Majriti, he was keenly interested in mercuric oxide, he also mentions some medicines which were extracted from saffron by Ibn al-Wafid of Toledo (Abenguefit). He was born to Spanish Muslim (Muladi) in a village on the outskirts of probably Crdoba. His family owned livestock such as cattle and produced dairy products. His name Al-Hafiz or Al-Tafiz (one who has memorized the Quran by heart) indicates his early education. During his youth he learned the sciences of Alchemy, his works are a compendium of the sciences of Alchemy in Al-Andalus and like the works of his colleagues are mystical in nature. After detailed studies in Alchemy, he became the renown author of The Secret Book of Artephius, in the first chapter he mentions substances such as: mercuric oxide, sulfur, antimony, iron ore, thiosulfate, gold, alluvium, sal ammoniac, wax, brass silver, black ash, metallic vapors, magnesia (magnesium hydroxide); in the second chapter he mentions the methods used to make vinegar saffron, cheese, pure milk, yogurt, cream and butter. In the third chapter he writes about theSublimation process, Bain-marie. He concludes his book with quotes and the verses from the Quran (Aale Imran, 7; 3:26)[1]:

Frater Albertus
Frater Albertus Spagyricus (Dr. Albert Richard Riedel) (19111984); founder of the Paracelsus Research Society in Salt Lake City, which later evolved into theParacelsus College. Based on

the Paracelsian concept of three essentials, Body, Soul and Spirit, Frater Albertus developed a system of teaching alchemicalconcepts using the spagyric technique of separation and cohobation. The unique gradated courses allowed students to explore aspects of the vegetable, mineraland animal kingdoms in an understandable and accessible way. Previous to this, one had to be a member of a fraternity or secret society in order to gain access to structured teaching. After his death in 1984, the college ceased operations in the United States but continued to carry on the tradition in Australia. Frater Albertus had a profound effect on the way Alchemy and particularly the Spagyric method was disseminated and understood in the mid to late 20th century. His works were translated into many languages.