Cagliostro
1743 – 1795 Italian occultist, alchemist, self-styled magician
Traveling occultist and founder of Egyptian Rite Freemasonry, condemned by the Inquisition.
- Religion
- A self-devised occult Christianity centered on his Egyptian Rite, promising spiritual and physical regeneration through ritual.
- Affiliations
- Founded Egyptian Rite Freemasonry. Widely accused of being the adventurer Giuseppe Balsamo.
Cagliostro, whom many identified with the Sicilian adventurer Giuseppe Balsamo, traveled Europe as a healer, alchemist, and founder of Egyptian Rite Freemasonry that admitted both men and women. He gathered wealthy followers with promises of spiritual regeneration and mystical initiation. Caught up in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace and later condemned by the Roman Inquisition, he died in a papal prison.
Connections
- associate of Comte de Saint-Germain — Legend links the two adventurers, though the connection is unverified.