The Count of St. Germain (born 1712?; died 27 February 1784) has been variously described as a courtier, adventurer, charlatan, inventor, alchemist, pianist, violinist and an amateur composer. He achieved great prominence in European high society of the mid-1700s, and since then various scholars have linked him to mysticism, occultism, secret societies, and various conspiracy theories.
Contemporaries referred to him (often ironically) as 'the Wonderman'. Colin Wilson describes him as a charlatan, yet nevertheless possessed of genius.
His name has occasionally caused him to be confused with Claude Louis, Comte de Saint-Germain, a noted French general, and Robert-Francois Quesnay de Saint Germain, an active occultist.
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