H

Hahnemann, Samuel C. F. The German physi-
cian (1753–1843) who developed the theory and
practice of modern homeopathy, an alternative
medical discipline based on the concept Similia sim-
ilibus curantur—”Like cures like.”
Hahnemann, who was revered for his work in
pharmacology, hygiene, public health, industrial
toxicology, and psychiatry, made such an indelible
mark on medical history that in Germany all med-
ical students are required to study homeopathy as
part of the general curriculum. Born Friedrich
Christian Samuel in Meissen, Germany, Hahne-
mann studied medicine in Leipzig. He married
Henriette Kuchler (1764–1830), the adopted
daughter of the owners of the Mohren-Apotheke
in Dessau, and they had 11 children. Five years
after Henriette died, he married again. His second
wife, Melanie D’Hervilly (1802–78), accompanied
him to Paris in 1842, the year before he died. He is
buried in Père Lachaise cemetery in France. A
Samuel Hahnemann Memorial, which was a gift of
the American Institute of Homeopathy and autho-
rized by Congress in January 1900, stands on Mass-
achusetts Avenue and 16th Street, NW (Scott
Circle), in Washington, D.C. There a bronze statue
of Hahnemann sits on a pedestal bearing the Latin
phrase meaning “Like cures like” in front of a
curved wall. Four bronze panels on the wall por-
tray Hahnemann in his days as a medical student,
a laboratory chemist, a teacher, and a bedside
physician.
After establishing a pharmacopeia of what he
called “Simples,” the system newly dubbed “home-
opathy” in 1808, Hahnemann also published his
theories in the works “Essay on a New Principle”
(1796) and “Organon of the Rational Art of Heal-
ing” (1810). Later, after homeopathy came to be
known as the “new medicine,” he further devel-

oped his method and remedies and published more

of his findings in Dr. Hufeland’s German pharma-

cology review, Journal of Practical Pharmacology

and Surgery, under the title “Essay on a New Prin-

ciple for Ascertaining the Curative Powers of Med-

icines, with a Few Glances at Those Hitherto

Employed.” It was the fourth edition of Hahne-

mann’s Organon(1829) and the first edition of The

Chronic Diseases (1828) on which the classical prac-

tice of homeopathy was based. Both works discuss

the single dry dose and the wait-and-watch

philosophies characteristic of homeopathy, carried

into the 20th century by the prominent home-

opath James Tyler Kent. Some of Hahnemann’s

teachings have been lost, including his views on

Hippocratic temperaments, symptomatology,

Gestalt, the LM (50 millesimal) potencies (previ-

ously addressed in the sixth Organonof 1843), dia-

thetic constitutions, and case management

strategies.

See also HOMEOPATHY.

hakomi Derived from a word in the Hopi language

meaning “Who are you and how do you stand in

relation to these many realms?,” a type of bodywork

that incorporates touch, massage, movement, energy

work, bodily realignment, and an individual’s mind-

ful and spiritual awareness of his or her own emo-

tions, issues, insights, and coping mechanisms.

Through physiological manipulation and the unfold-

ing of personal defenses such as armoring, hakomi

teaches one how best to use his or her coping mech-

anisms. Developed by Ron Kurtz, author of Body-

Centered Psychotherapy: The Hakomi Method

(Mendocino, Calif.: LifeRhythm, 1990), hakomi is

intended to promote relaxation, an increased sense

of security, and healing. The Hakomi Institute, P.O.

Box 1873, Boulder, CO 80306 or (888-421-6699),

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