Ernest Nyssens
Born10 July 1868
Chimay, Belgium
Died14 March 1956 (1956-03-15) (aged 87)
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium
Occupation(s)Homeopath, writer

Ernest Nyssens (10 July 1868 – 14 March 1956) was a Belgian homeopath, naturopath, theosophist and vegetarianism activist.

Biography

Nyssens studied homeopathy in the United States which he introduced to Belgium.[1] He was a naturopath who was interested in the ideas of Sebastian Kneipp.[2] In the 1930s he was a bishop in the Free Catholic Church. Nyssens was a pioneer of the theosophical movement in Belgium.[2] In 1897 with Elisabeth Carter, he created the first theosophical branch of Brussels. Between 1910 and 1915 he was active at a naturist and theosophical institute in Ter Nood, Overijse.[2]

Nyssens was the director of a Theosophical educational community known as "Communauté Monada" at Uccle (1921–1938).[2][1] The school issued vegetarian food, had a large public garden and the countryside nearby offered beautiful walks. Nyssens taught Swedish gymnastics. The school dissolved at the beginning of World War II.[1]

In 1935, he married Berthe Deseck-Nyssens (1891–1981), secretary general of the Belgian Theosophical Society.[2]

Vegetarianism

Nyssens was a strict vegetarian.[2] He founded the Belgian Vegetarian Society and edited its journal the La Reforme Alimentaire.[3][4][5] Nyssens authored the book Du traitement alimentaire du diabete par le regime vegétarien (1901), it was published by the French Vegetarian Society.[6]

Nyssens was a member of the International Vegetarian Union (IVU) Provisional Committee in 1909 and a speaker at the 1913 IVU Congress.[5]

Selected publications

References

  1. ^ a b c "Belgium Theosophy". Theosophy World. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Wagnon, Sylvain (2017). "Les théosophes et l'organisation internationale de l'éducation nouvelle (1911-1921)". Rehmlac. 9 (1): 146–180. doi:10.15517/rehmlac.v9i1.28629.
  3. ^ "An International Vegetarian Congress". The Medical Critic and Guide. 13 (11): 392. 1910.
  4. ^ Fenton, Alexander. (2000). Order and Disorder: The Health Implications of Eating and Drinking in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Tuckwell Press. pp. 209-226. ISBN 978-1862321175
  5. ^ a b "Dr. Ernest Nyssens". International Vegetarian Union. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  6. ^ Crossley, Ceri. (2005). Consumable Metaphors: Attitudes Towards Animals and Vegetarianism in Nineteenth-Century France. Peter Lang. p. 242. ISBN 978-3039101900
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