Theosophy - Some biographical date of Dr. Franz Hartmann
SOME BIOGRAPHICAL DATA OF DR. HARTMANN.
A MYSTIC OF THE PRESENT TIME.
by Emil Hirsch
(Extract from the " Phoenix", of Darmstadt-Frankfort, April, 1890.)
from a reprint of "Theosophical Siftings" - Volume - 3 -
I believe I shall engage the interest of the adherents to
our purpose if I introduce to them one who has achieved great
things in fields of thought, standing in certain relation
to our own aim. We shall have an opportunity later on to
refer more particularly to these relations. Here we would
merely mention that he has at his disposal an amazingly rich
fund of material, comprising observations and research in
directions which are still, in part, terra incognita to us,
and which I will endeavour later on to render accessible
to a wider circle.
Franz Hartmann, son of Dr. Carl Hartmann, medical officer
of the Governmental district of Kempten, in Bavaria, born
at the close of the ‘30's, studied medicine and pharmacy
at Munich, at which University he was also named Doctor medicinal and magister pharmaciae.
Thirty years ago he proceeded as a young doctor to France,
and went to Havre to see the sea. In the harbour of this
town lay at the time a ship just ready to sail for New York,
the owner of which was seeking for a doctor for the voyage.
Coming accidentally across Dr. Hartmann, he proposed to him
to join the ship. Dr. Hartmann agreed fo do so, and a few
hours later he was on the high seas. On arriving at New York,
he was so favourably impressed with American life that he
decided to seek his future on that continent. [Page 14]
An inborn love of wandering and of a life of adventure,
the interest of becoming acquainted with new countries and
conditions of life led him to the Northern and Southern States
of North America, to Texas, Mexico, etc., occupying the position
of doctor, chemist, or author, according to circumstances.
On a journey to New Orleans he was attacked by robbers and
lost his fairly considerable savings, reaching that town
penniless, and deprived of even decent clothing. Here he
had to commence again from the beginning, and was thankful
to find a place as medical attendant in an apothecary's shop.
But he soon raised himself from this, as New Orleans offered
a rich field for his professional activity. In this town
he also made the acquaintance of a young lady of good family,
whom he married. After a happy married life of only a year
and a half he became a widower, and once more the love of
wandering awoke within him. Hartmann went to the Rocky Mountains
of Colorado, where he lived for many years an active life
as a doctor, mining proprietor, and author. In the '70's
he removed to San Francisco. There a call reached him from
India, where he was already known by his writings on mystical
philosophy. He first visited Japan and China, and afterwards
reached India for a prolonged stay. In Madras he joined the
Theosophical Society, of which he became General Secretary.
In this position he had the opportunity of becoming acquainted
with countries and people such as seldom falls to the lot
of a European, and to penetrate by means of his intimate
intercourse with the Guardians of the Ancient Indian Wisdom — learned
Buddhists and Brahmins — into the mysteries and unfathomable
depths of a culture covering many thousands of years and
the cradle of our own.
After 25 years in distant foreign countries, he returned
in 1885 to Europe, accompanying Madame Blavatsky, who had
already achieved a high reputation by her philosophical works
published in the French language. At present Dr. Hartmann
resides in Vienna. Devoted to his studies and literary activity,
he has for years relinquished his professional work. His
domain is that which, at the present time, is only attractive
to a very small circle of the "enlightened", viz.,
the interesting field of mystical and Theosophical Philosophy.
Hartmann writes only in the English language, of which he
is a master in a way that causes him to be ranked with the
leading authors of England and America. His most important
works are a Monograph on Theophrastus Paracelsus von Hohenheim;
some larger works based on the researches of many years on
The Order of the Rosicrucians; also a Monograph on the Mystic
Jacob Boëhme, and within the last few years, New Investigations
regarding the origin of the New Testament.
EMIL HIRSCH.
Vienna, March, 1890
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