Who was Nicolas Flamel?

           
            As a child who grew up reading Harry Potter I never put much thought into the strange names or words that appeared in the book. Not until I was a bit older did I start to learn that many of the words for spells had actual meaning behind them and that many of the story elements are references to western myths and legends about magic. I didn’t find out until recently that Nicolas Flamel who appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as the creator of the philosopher’s stone was a real person. Around the 16^th century people actually believed that he had created the philosopher’s stone and there were many theories and legends surrounding him. J. K. Rowling simply treated the legends as true and applied them to her story.

         
          What was believed about Flamel from the 15^th to 17^th centuries is quite similar to Rowling’s version of the story. For a long time alchemists believed that in 1382 Flamel managed to create the philosopher’s stone, a key tool in turning lead into gold and creating the elixir of life. The main reason why this story was so widely believed is that a book called Livre des figures hiéroglyphiques (Exposition of the Hieroglyphical Figures) was published in 1612 supposedly by Nicolas Flamel along with some other texts on alchemy around the same time and explained his creation of the philosopher’s stone. Evidence for this theory came from the facts that while Flamel was a simple scribe he somehow managed to become wealthy and many reported sightings of him plus a couple of books published by him during the 17^th century, three hundred years after his discovery of the stone. In addition to books apparently published by Flamel, more evidence for Flamel’s work on the philosopher’s stone was found when Vincenzo Cascariolo tried to decipher Flamel’s texts on alchemy in 1603. He was not able to reproduce the stone, but did succeed in synthesizing barium sulfide, a substance which glowed yellow after being left out in sunlight.

Nicolas Flamel's grave

           
            The story of Flamel inspired many alchemists like Newton and Cascariolo in their search for the philosopher’s stone. Sadly, none of the Alchemists who believed the story of Flamel would have had to look very far to figure out that the legend of Flamel was a complete fabrication. Flamel’s wife, Perenelle, had some money from previous marriages and he himself became achieved some wealth through real estate. He died in 1418 and both of their graves could easily be found in Paris and none of the evidence of his eternal life appeared until the 17^th century.  In reality he really was just a notary living in the 14^th century and there is no proof that he was nearly as wealthy as the philosopher’s stone should have mad him. He and his wife were both very catholic and donated quite a bit to charity.

 Sources:

The right alchemy: Harry Potter and Nicolas Flamel. Making gold was a wizard 14th-century idea. Unfortunately, it never happened. Schwarcz, Joe. The Gazette

Britannica Academic Addition