Editing Franz Mesmer (section)

==Early life==
Mesmer was born in the village of Iznang (now part of the municipality of [[Moos, Baden-Württemberg|Moos]]), on the shore of [[Lake Constance]] in [[Swabia]]. He was a son of master forester Anton Mesmer (1701–after 1747) and his wife, Maria Ursula (née Michel; 1701–1770).<ref>Prinz</ref> After studying at the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] universities of [[University of Dillingen|Dillingen]] and [[University of Ingolstadt|Ingolstadt]], he took up the study of [[medicine]] at the [[University of Vienna]] in 1759. In 1766 he published a [[doctoral dissertation]] with the [[Latin]] title ''De planetarum influxu in corpus humanum'' (''On the Influence of the Planets on the Human Body''), in which he discussed the influence of the [[moon]] and the [[planets]] on the human body and disease.

Building largely on [[Isaac Newton]]'s theory of the tides, Mesmer expounded on certain tides in the human body that might be accounted for by the movements of the sun and moon.<ref>Mesmer (tr G J Bloch), xiii</ref> Evidence assembled by [[Frank A. Pattie]] suggests that Mesmer plagiarized<ref>Pattie, 13ff.</ref> most of his dissertation from other works,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last1=University |first1=© Stanford |last2=Stanford |last3=California 94305 |date=2017-03-15 |title=Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/super-e/feature/franz-anton-mesmer-1734-1815 |access-date=2023-08-12 |website=The Super-Enlightenment - Spotlight at Stanford |language=en}}</ref><ref>''De Imperio Solis ac Lunae in Corpora Humana et Morbis inde Oriundis'' (On the Influence of the Sun and Moon upon Human Bodies and the Diseases Arising Therefrom (1704). See Pattie, 16.</ref> including ''De imperio solis ac lunae in corpora humana et morbius inde oriundis'' (1704) by [[Richard Mead]], an eminent English physician and Newton's friend. However, in Mesmer's day doctoral theses were not expected to be original.<ref>Pattie, 13</ref>

In January 1768, Mesmer married Anna Maria von Posch, a wealthy widow, and established himself as a doctor in [[Vienna]]. In the summers he lived on a splendid estate and became a patron of the arts. In 1768, when court intrigue prevented the performance of ''[[La finta semplice]]'' (K. 51), for which the twelve-year-old [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] had composed 500 pages of music, Mesmer is said to have arranged a performance in his garden of Mozart's ''[[Bastien und Bastienne]]'' (K. 50), a one-act opera,<ref>Pattie, 30</ref> although Mozart's biographer [[Georg Nikolaus von Nissen|Nissen]] found no proof that this performance actually took place. Mozart later immortalized his former patron by including a comedic reference to Mesmer in his opera ''[[Così fan tutte]]''.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Steptoe|first=Andrew|date=1986|title=Mozart, Mesmer and 'Cosi Fan Tutte'|jstor=735887|journal=Music & Letters|volume=67|issue=3|pages=248–255|doi=10.1093/ml/67.3.248}}</ref>
[[Image:De planetarum influxu in corpus humanum manuscript.jpg|thumb|''De planetarum influxu in corpus humanum'']]