Marsilio Ficino

Italian ecclesiastic, ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1473. He was a homeopathic physician, an astrologer, philosopher, author, lecturer and alchemist. A true renaissance man, he was the primary translator of Plato as well as the body of philosophical and magical texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and was the first head of the Platonic Academy founded by his patron, Lorenzo de Medici. Under the patronage of the powerful family, Ficino was able to live the life of a scholar, writing and translating and corresponding with some of the leading minds of his day. Trained by his father as a physician, he acted as a doctor to those whom he knew.

He was described as mild, refined and gentle, though with a quick flash of anger possible. Content with a simple dress and lifestyle, he was conscientious and frugal. He died on 1 October 1499 OS in Careggio, Italy.