Saint Germain – an 18th Century James Bond

While checking out the website for one of my favorite musicians, St. Germain, I noticed a note on the biography.

“At the court of Louis XV in 18th century France, there was a character who amazed everyone by pretending to be several centuries old.” *

I did a little more research online, and stumbled across several sites with some more information on the historical Saint Germain. The most interesting one however, can be found here.

This page presents Saint Germain (who was not a Saint, but named himself after a town by that name) as an immortal alchemist, confidant to the king and queen, celebrity of sorts, and an international spy. Personally, I agree with one of the other websites, which says:

“In reality, he was a true charmer, a consummate showman and, probably, a royal spy. Legend, and his followers, claim he never died, but historical records indicate he… died around 1784. …He was a well-educated man and a showman, perhaps in the same league as P.T. Barnum, although in a different arena.” *

But regardless of the truth behind it, you can’t help but get a kick out of reading about a man who claims to have personally known Nero and Dante, predicted the French Revolution, had an important role in the Russian Revolution, started FreeMasonry, and may still be alive today.