PRINCE RAGOCZY OF TRANSYLVANIA – COMTE DE ST.-GERMAIN
The great initiate who termed himself the Comte cd St.-Germain must not be confused with the French general of the same name, for the “Wonderman,” as M. de St.-Germain was often called, was not a scion of the French family. The theory long held that he was a Portuguese Jew has now been discarded as untenable. The most reasonable conclusion regarding his birth is that he was the legitimate son of Franz-Leopold, Prince Ragoczy of Transylvania; in fact the Comte de St.-Germain appeared in Leipzig in 1777 as Prince Ragoczy.
He also admitted to Prince Karl of Hesse that he was the son of Prince Ragoczy and that he was reared and educated by the last Duc de Medici.
The contradictory nature of the data regarding the Comte de St.-Germain is strikingly evidenced by several chronological inconsistencies. It is generally supposed that this mysterious adept was born in 1710, but the Countess v. Gergy declared that she had seen him during that year in Venice and that he appeared to be between forty-five and fifty years of age at that time. While the church register at Eckernförde contains a record of his death in 1784, it is known that he was seen upon several occasions subsequent to that date, having attended a Masonic conference in 1785 and having been recognized in Venice in 1788. The last historical mention of the Comte de St.-Germain was in 1822, at which time he was presumably on the eve of embarking for India.
(Illustration: J. A. Knapp)
