Pierre Borel (c. 1620 – 1671) was a French chemist, alchemist, physician, and botanist.

Biography

Borel was born in Castres c. 1620. He became a doctor of medicine at the University of Montpellier in 1640. In 1654, he became physician to the King of France, Louis XIV. In 1663, he married Esther de Bonnafous. In 1674, he became a member of the Académie française. He died in Paris in 1671. He concerned himself with an eclectic range of subjects such as optics, ancient history, philology, and bibliography. Borel appears in the novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H. P. Lovecraft, where he is represented as a necromancer. The novel begins with a quote from him.

Works