Nicholas Flamel

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For the Harry Potter character, see Nicholas Flamel (Harry Potter).

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Nicholas, or Nicolas, Flamel was a French alchemist who lived in the fifteenth century. His life is no myth: his house in Paris, built in 1407, still stands, at 51 rue de Montmorency, where it has been made into a restaurant. His deeds, though, are the stuff of legend.

Flamel is supposed to have been the most accomplished of the European alchemists. It is claimed that he succeeded at the two magical goals of alchemy supposed to have been the chief aims of that discipline, that he made the Philosopher's Stone that turns lead into gold, and that he and his wife Perenelle achieved immortality.

Flamel is supposed to have received a mysterious book, written by an ancient person known as Abraham the Jew, from a stranger. The book was full of Kabbalistic words in Greek and Hebrew. Flamel made it his life's work to understand the text of these lost secrets. He travelled to universities in Andalusia to consult with Jewish and Muslim authorities. In Spain, he met a mysterious master who taught him the art of understanding his manuscript. The "master" was rumored to be an adept, or wise man, who had studied the same teaching as the Three Wise Men of the Bible. The adept's name was Master Canches, who was a practicing physician and on his way to Paris. However, on the way, Master Canches took ill and died. Flamel buried Master Canches in Orleans, and was able to learn translations of Abraham the Jew. This taught Flamel the base serects of how to perform the Magnum Opus and the formula for transmuting base metals into the state of gold.

After his return from Spain, Flamel was able to become rich: the knowledge that he gained during his travels made him a master of the alchemical art. Flamel became a philanthropist, endowing hospitals and churches with the proceeds from his alchemical work. He caused arcane alchemical signs to be written on a tombstone, which is preserved at the Musée de Cluny in Paris. His tomb is empty; some say it was sacked by people in search of his alchemical secrets. On the other hand, if he in fact achieved the secret of immortality, his empty tomb may have another explanation.

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Allusions

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Nicholas Flamel's story is alluded to in children's books Howard Pyle's "Empty Bottles" from the "Twighlight Land", and more recently J. K. Rowling's first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (or, the Sorcerer's Stone), in which he is an unseen character. He was friends with Albus Dumbledore and said to have lived for hundreds of years until the Sorcerer's Stone was destroyed following the events of the book (see Nicholas Flamel (Harry Potter).)
Flamel is also mentioned as the 8th "Grand Master of the Priory of Sion" in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and the 1982 book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and is mentioned on several occasions (chapters 20 and 44) in Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
One of the symbols on his grave (below), the serpent cross, is worn by the two main characters of the anime and manga series Fullmetal Alchemist, which also draws on several of Flamel's works including the Philosopher's Stone and creation of homunculi.
In the DC Comics universe, he is described as an immortal (JLA Annual 2), and an ancestor of Zatara and Zatanna (Secret Origins 27).
In the MMORPG Ragnarok Online, the Chief Researcher of the Alchemist (Job) Guild is named Nicholas Flamel.