In the 1830s, it was not possible for a woman to become a qualified physician in any country, including France, where Mélanie was practicing side by side with her husband daily. Hahnemann was in the final years of his life, and wanted her to be able to carry on the work after he was gone. Knowing that she needed credentials to allow her to practice legally and publicly, he formulated a plan.
In 1836, Hahnemann wrote to Constantine Hering, his close ally and student, who had opened a homeopathic school in the United States with this request:
“If I have been correctly informed, your Academy grants diplomas to good homeopaths. If that is so, you would confer a favour upon me if you would send one to my dear wife, Marie Mélanie Hahnemann, née d’Hervilly, for she is better acquainted with homeopathy, both theoretically and practically, than any of my followers, and, I may say, lives for our art.’
We don’t have records to tell us what Hering thought about this, but a reply to Hahnemann did not come speedily. The Allentown Academy had been granted an institutional charter by the Pennsylvania legislature on June 16, 1836, and began teaching students immediately. At that time all texts and homeopathic training materials were in German! The faculty taught in German, as they also created English translations, a newsletter and a journal.
The Pennsylvania homeopathic community grew quickly, as Constantine Hering’s international reputation drew attention and enrollments. This success came to a rather abrupt end in 1839, for reasons that had nothing to do with Hering, the Academy, or homeopathy. The bank in which the school had deposited all of its funds closed, insolvent, amidst the financial panic of the late 1830s which gripped America.
Through the flurry of much work at the school, financial upheaval, and halting of classes, Hering and his colleagues took several years to consider Hahnemann’s request. It was an ethically debatable situation. To issue a diploma to a woman as a medical practitioner was unthinkable at schools around the world at that time. And to decline a request from Hahnemann, their revered and dedicated teacher, may have felt equally unthinkable!
Given that Mélanie had not attended the Academy, and the school itself was now bankrupt and defunct, the Allentown founders and faculty were in a pickle. Surely Hahnemann’s attestation of Mélanie’s competence should be more than enough evidence of an adequate knowledge to merit a credential, regardless how unusual the circumstances surrounding the recipient. Both unthinkable and possible – a difficult mix.
In the end, they agreed to Hahnemann’s request. In 1840, a diploma was issued to Mélanie, during a period when there were no classes at the Academy, and unsuccessful efforts to acquire new funding were ongoing. Technically, the school DID still exist, and could grant diplomas until the institution was dissolved in June of 1843. A month after the Allentown Academy was dissolved, Hahnemann died.
For Mélanie the following decades held challenges with society, legalities, wars, and the homeopathic community itself! At long last, in 1872, she was granted a French medical license, in accord with her American diploma!
Read more about Mélanie and Samuel Hahnemann’s life and work in Rima Handley’s book: A Homeopathic Love Story
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this week, celebrating amazing life and accomplishments of Mélanie Hahnemann, along with her 224th birthday coming up on February 2nd!
