Carlos Brandt

Carlos Brandt (11 October 1875 – 27 February 1964)[1] was a Venezuelan author, historian, philosopher and naturopath.

Background

Dr. Carlos Brandt Tortolero[2] was an author, historian, doctor of philosophy, philosopher of vegetarianism, essayist, novelist, biographer, musicologist and naturopath, who was born in Miranda, a town in Carabobo State, Venezuela.

Early life

He was born in Miranda, Carabobo state, Venezuela, the son of a German immigrant Karl Brandt, a coffee planter and exporter, and Zoraida Tortolero, mother to Carlos, Juan Luis, Fernando, Augusto, Asteria and Mary. His younger brother (by 17 years) was the composer Augusto Brandt. He studied in Puerto Cabello Elementary School and was sent to Germany to join the Pro Gymnasium in Hamburg, aged 14 to 19. He toured German and France, and returned to Venezuela at 19, fluent in German, French and English. At 25, he met Leo Tolstoy, which encouraged his literary ambitions. In 1901, his first book appeared La Belleza de la Mujer.[3]

Exile

Under the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez, he was imprisoned and then exiled to Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and then the United States. Protesting at the dictatorship, he encountered the anarchist organization "Generación Consciente" in Barcelona. He eventually returned to Venezuela, and died in Caracas, aged 88.

Writings

He promoted natural living, pacifism, free-thinking, liberty and spiritualism, in his writings, as well as being a novelist and biographer. Many of his books emerged during his time in exile. In 1913, Fundamentos de la Moral, also known as El Problema Vital (The Vital Problem), was published with a prologue by Albert Einstein. For his work, the American School of Naturopathy awarded him an honorary doctorate. With this and further writings, Brandt counted as one of the original founders of the Vegetarianism movement.

His books were published in Spanish, Italian, Flemish, Dutch, English, French and German. His first book published in English was Hight and Right.

As well as his historic and philosophical writings, Brandt generated extensive correspondence with authors such as George Bernard Shaw, Leo Tolstoy, Albert Einstein, Benedict Lust - one of the founders of natural medicine, Ernst Haeckel, Max Nordau, Gabriela Mistral, Raffaele Garofalo, Russell Wallace and Elmer Lee.

Naturopathy

Brandt, along with Arnold Ehret, Benedict Lust and Louis Kuhn, was one of the original pioneers of naturopathy. Brandt taught Nicolás Capó[4] (born around 1902), who wrote his first book circa 1935. Many of Brandt's books were distributed through Capo's Instituto de Trofoterapia, in Barcelona.

Capó and José Castro (Galician naturopath),[5] were pioneers of dietary health and healing in Spain, during the 1920s to 1940s, opening Escuela Naturo-Trofologica in Barcelona in 1925. Capo left Spain for Argentina around 1939, fleeing from the Francisco Franco dictatorship.

German pioneers of the nature cure and natural hygiene movements are featured in Children Of The Sun: A Pictorial Anthology From Germany to California 1883-1949 by Gordon Kennedy, Navaria Press 1998.

Brandt is listed in Who’s Who In Latin America.

Works

References

  1. ↑ Archived April 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "Carlos Brandt". Vegetarianismo.com.br. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  3. ↑ "Hace 35 años... Carlos Brandt". Web.archive.org. 2009-10-27. Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  4. ↑ Mis observaciones clinicas sobre el limon, el ajo y la cebolla/How to use lemon, garlic and onion in order to prevent and cure more than 170 illnesses, by Nicolás Capó, Kier Editorial, 2004, 126 pages (page 24), ISBN 950-17-1262-1, ISBN 978-950-17-1262-9
  5. ↑ La nueva medicina futura bioterapia o normofunción by Castro, José Dr. Naturópata, Published in 1976, Ediciones Castro (Valencia), Series: Biblioteca de Calobiótica y macrobiótica
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