Ernest Nyssens

Ernest Nyssens (1868 to 1956) was a Belgian homeopath, naturopath, theosophist and vegetarianism activist. He studied homeopathy in the United States and introduced it to Belgium, and he took an interest in the nature cure ideas of Sebastian Kneipp. A pioneer of the theosophical movement in Belgium, he created the first theosophical branch of Brussels in 1897 together with Elisabeth Carter, and from 1921 to 1938 he directed the theosophical educational community known as Communaute Monada at Uccle, a school that served vegetarian food, kept a large garden and taught Swedish gymnastics. He founded the Belgian Vegetarian Society, edited its journal La Reforme Alimentaire and wrote on treating diabetes through a vegetarian diet. In the 1930s he was also a bishop in the Free Catholic Church. This entry records him as a practitioner of alternative healing traditions and makes no claim that his methods were effective.