Schweitzer, whose name was latinized to Helvetius, studied medicine at The Hague and became the physician to the Prince of Orange. He authored some medical and botanical works, but is primarily remembered for his work on alchemy, The Golden Calf (1667), in which he claimed to have witnessed a transmutation of lead into gold. The book went through numerous editions and was translated from the original Latin into many languages as late as the 19th century. Helvetius was the great grandfather of the French philosopher, Claude Adrien Helvetius.
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