Count Saint Germain: A man who knows everything and who never dies

Count Saint Germain: A man who knows everything and who never dies

Count Saint Germain was a confidant of two kings of France, a dazzlingly rich and gifted social figure, the subject of a thousand rumors — but no one knows to this day where or when he was born, who he was, or when he died. A few believe that he still lives.

It has been supposed that Saint-Germain was the natural son of the widow of Charles II of Spain, although theosophists have made a good case for his being the son of Francis Racoczi II, the prince of Transylvania. Either genealogy would place the year of his birth at about 1690. The musician Jean-Philippe Rameau was certain, however, that he had met the count in 1710, under the name of the Marquis de Montferrat, and stated that he appeared to be in his forties at the time.

The life of the self-styled count is as shadowy as his origin. He seems to have become a celebrity in the 1750s as a friend of Louis XV and his mistress Madame de Pompadour, who together spent evenings with him simply for the pleasure of his conversation. Not only was he remarkably knowledgeable, but he had other attributes—artistry as a violinist, talent as a painter, skill in alchemy and chemistry, and a largesse with precious stones.

He was known to carry jewels sewn into his clothing and was said to have presented a cross ornamented with gems to a woman he scarcely knew, because she had idly admired it. The count claimed that he had learned how to turn several small diamonds into one large one and to make pearls grow to spectacular size. It was widely suspected that he also knew the secret for making gold out of base metal.

Whether he was a genius or a charlatan, Saint-Germain had the talent to make himself noticed and the subject of gossip. But in Versailles and Paris he was embraced as the confidential adviser of Louis XV. The position earned him the envy and enmity of the kings ministers, who denounced him as an adventurer with a smooth line of talk. Matters came to a head in 1760, when the count—at the behest of the king—involved himself in foreign affairs, going behind the back of the ministry. Threatened with arrest, he was obliged to flee to England, where he stayed for a while, possibly for a period of two years.

From England Count Saint-Germain apparently went to Russia, where—it is claimed—he took part in a conspiracy that put Catherine the Great upon the throne in 1762. After that nothing much is known of the count until 1774, when Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette came to the throne.

Saint-Germain: The Immortal Count

Count Saint-Germain, whose longevity and young appearance made him seem immortal, was described as “A man who knows everything and who never dies” by his contemporary Voltaire. Some thought the count had found the “Elixir of Youth ”

Saint-Germain now returned to France. It is said that he warned the royal couple of the revolution then 15 years in the future, saying, “There will be a blood-thirsty republic, whose scepter will be the executioner s knife.” On the other hand, he consorted with many whose dabbling in the occult was actually a cover for revolutionary activities, and his real political leanings—if he had any—are still debated.

Secret societies were the fashion in prerevolutionary France, and some of them recognized Saint-Germain as an “adept,” one who knew the ancient wisdoms hinted at in the rites of the Freemasons, Rosicrucians, and Knights Templars. And it was no wonder. In relating events of centuries past, the count would deliberately lead credulous listeners to believe that he had been present. “These fools of Parisians believe that I am five hundred years old,” he once remarked to a friend. “I confirm them in this idea because I see that it gives them much pleasure—not that I am not infinitely older than I appear.” He attributed his youthful appearance in part to his abstemiousness and a diet that consisted principally of oatmeal.

Later he lived in Germany as a protégé of Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel. Close friends, they worked together at alchemy. Most reference works say that the count died at the prince’s court on February 27, 1784. According to Maurice Magre, author of Magicians, Seers, and Mystics (1932), Prince Charles was uncommunicative about his friend's death “and turned the conversation if anyone spoke of him. His whole behavior gives color to the supposition that he was the accomplice of a pretended death.”

Many continued to insist that the count was very much alive. Documents of the Freemasons indicate that he represented French Masons at a meeting in 1785. Madame de Genlis claimed to have seen him in Vienna in 1821. Several travelers in the 1800 s were sure they saw him in the Far East and other parts of the world. Theosophist Annie Besant said that she met the count in 1896, incarnated as a “Master,” or spiritual leader. Finally, in 1972, a Frenchman named Richard Chanfray claimed to be Saint-Germain, and to prove it, he appeared on television to demonstrate that he could turn lead into gold as the legendary count was believed to have done.

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