List of alchemists

Depiction of Mary the Jewess, considered the first non-fictitious Western alchemist. From Michael Maier's Symbola Aurea Mensae Duodecim Nationum (1617)

An alchemist is a person versed in the art of alchemy. Western alchemy flourished in Greco-Roman 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 Magnus and Aristotle are often incorrectly named amongst the alchemists as a result.

Legendary alchemists

• Hermes Trismegistus
• Ostanes, the Persian

Alchemists in Greco-Roman Egypt

2

Indian alchemists

• Kanada, sage and philosopher (6th century BC)
• Nagarjuna, the 10th century South Indian king
• Yogi Vemana

Chinese alchemists

• Wei Boyang
• Zhang Guo the Elder (ca. 600)

Islamic alchemists

Further information: Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam and Category:Alchemists of medieval Islam

• Khalid ibn Yazid, "Calid" (d. 704)
• Harbi al-Himyari (c. 7th–8th centuries)
• Ja'far al-Sadiq (702–765)
• Jābir ibn Hayyān, "Geber" (c. 721–815)
• Al-Baladhuri (d. 892)
• Al-Farabi, "Alfarabi" (870–950/951)
• Al-Kindi, "Alkindus" (801–873), critic of alchemy
• Abbas Ibn Firnas (810–887)
• Ibn Umail (c. 900)
• Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi, "Rhazes" (864 – 930)
• Brethren of Purity (c. 10th century)
• Pseudo-Jabir (c. 10th century)
• Maslama al-Majriti (d. 1007/1008)
• Pseudo-Majriti (c. 1009)
• Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī (973–1048)
• Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina, "Avicenna" (980–1037), critic of alchemy, father of modern medicine
• Al-Tughrai (1061–1121)
• Al-Khazini (fl. 1115–1130)
• Artephius (c. 1150)
• Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati (1166–1239)
• Ibn al-Baitar (1197–1248)
• Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274)
• Abu' l-Qasim al-Iraqi (c. 1300)
• Ibn Rassam (c. 13th/14th century)
• Al-Jaldaki (d. 1342)
• Abul Ashba ibn Tammam (d. 1361)

European alchemists

2

Revival and modern alchemists

• Frater Albertus (Dr. Albert Reidel) (1911–1984)
• Eugène Canseliet (1899–1982)
• Jean Dubuis (1919–2010)
• Marie-Louise von Franz (1915–1998)
• Terrence McKenna (1946–2000)
• Diane Di Prima (1932 – )

Fictional alchemists

2

See also

• List of astrologers
• List of occultists
• Adam McLean
• Arthur Edward Waite
• Carl Jung
• Herbert Silberer
• Rudolf Steiner
• Titus Burckhardt