John Henry Clarke (1853 – 24 November 1931) was an English classical homeopath, and one of the highest-profile antisemite of his era in Great Britain. He helped found and led The Britons, an antisemitic organisation, from 1919 until his death in 1931. Educated at the University of Edinburgh, he received his medical degree in 1877.

Homeopathy

As a physician Clarke had a clinic in Piccadilly, London, which was quite successful, and had many private clients. He also was "chief consulting physician" at the London Homeopathic Hospital. Clarke was a longtime editor of The Homeopathic World, and wrote a number of books on the practice, including The Prescriber: A Dictionary of the New Therapeutics, a standard book in the field.

Politics

Clarke was a leading advocate of anti-Semitism. He was the chair at the meeting where The Britons was founded, as an associate of Henry Hamilton Beamish, and was vice-president and chairman until his death. He wrote several articles on Christianity that have a militant bent. When Beamish became a fugitive and fled England, Clarke became the head of The Britons, and formed with two others a splinter organization, the Britons Publishing Society.

Anti-vivisection

Clarke was an opponent of vivisection and was on the executive committee of the Victoria Street Society for the Protection of Animals from Vivisection. He described carbolic acid and the antiseptic system as "fruits of vivisection". He aimed to discredit antiseptic and medical research that required animal models. Clarke criticized the germ theory of disease and experiments of Louis Pasteur. He authored The Germ Theory and the Public, published by the Victoria Street Society in 1892.

Works

For many years, he was the editor of The Homeopathic World. He wrote many books, his best known were Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica and Repertory of Materia Medica (i.e., the Clinical Repertory), both of which are recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's rules on "Conditions under Which Homeopathic Drugs May be Marketed".

Homeopathy

Antisemitic

Anti-vivisection