Well, here it is.
This man is one of the most interesting and influential men in history and I'm always surprised when no one knows anything about him. So who is this man? That's a very hard question to answer but I'll try.
His name was primarily the Count de Saint-Germain. He's always been described as 45 years old, of medium height with a slender, graceful figure, and possessing eyes of a peculiar beauty.
He absolutely refused to reveal his birth and nationality. He told no one that information about himself and even though he always carried a little miniature portrait of his mother on a ribbon up his sleeve, no on one knew who she was either. He showed the portrait to Countess de Gregory once (in 1723). She saw a portrait of "an exceptionally beautiful woman" who dressed in an outfit "unfamiliar " to the Countess's knowledge. She inquired, "To what period does this costume belong?" and Saint-Germain just smiled and changed the subject.
Saint-Germain was a virtuoso violinist, a respected painter (he could paint gem stones as if they were the real thing), a trusted art critic (often asked to judge the authenticity of paintings), and he was the alchemist who we believe discovered the Elixir of Life. It's believed he was immortal.
Everywhere he went, he set up a laboratory. That was really odd because he traveled a lot anyway and it must have been a real hassle to set up labs.
Contrary to the belief that alchemists are solitary old men who live alone with only owls as company, Saint-Germain was nothing like that. He seemed to love people. He was always at a dinner party or he always had friends over. There was one thing though. He didn't eat what the others were eating.
He had his own meal prepared in his private apartments while the others had something completely different. He "ate no meat and drank no wine." His meal consisted of a special type of oatmeal that no one knew what was in and his drink was an herbal tea that he constantly shared with his friends.
They all let his strange behavior slide because he had this charming personality. That personality made him the friend of nobles and royalty. He was actually friends with Louis XV and Madame Pompadour both of whom respected him and his opinion.
Church records say he died on February 27, 1784, but (there's always a but) his most important gestures took place after that supposed death. One of the Marie-Antoinette's ladies-in-waiting, Countess d'Adhemar was a friend of Saint-Germain's and knew him at sight. She recorded in her personal journals that, after not hearing from Saint-Germain for several years, he just showed up out of the blue to see her in 1788 telling her that there was a huge conspiracy under way against France and asking her to take him to the Queen.
The Countess spoke of Saint-Germain's warning to Marie-Antoinette who admitted that Saint-Germain had been giving her accurate warnings since the first day she'd arrived in France. So the Queen spoke with Saint-Germain the next day and he asked her to tell the King of the coming treachery against the monarchy and make sure that he didn't tell Maurepas, his advisor...
Blasted page limits. I hate them, don't you? However, if I've caught your interest continue here.
