Carlos Brandt

Carlos Brandt (11 October 1875 – 27 February 1964) was a Venezuelan author, historian, philosopher and naturopath.

Background
Dr. Carlos Brandt Tortolero was an author, historian, doctor of philosophy, philosopher of vegetarianism, essayist, novelist, biographer, musicologist and naturopath, who was born in Miranda, a town in Carabobo State, Venezuela.

Early life
He was born in Miranda, Carabobo state, Venezuela, the son of a German immigrant Karl Brandt, a coffee planter and exporter, and Zoraida Tortolero, mother to Carlos, Juan Luis, Fernando, Augusto, Asteria and Mary. His younger brother (by 17 years) was the composer Augusto Brandt. He studied in Puerto Cabello Elementary School and was sent to Germany to join the Pro Gymnasium in Hamburg, aged 14 to 19. He toured German and France, and returned to Venezuela at 19, fluent in German, French and English. At 25, he met Leo Tolstoy, which encouraged his literary ambitions. In 1901, his first book appeared La Belleza de la Mujer.

Exile
Under the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez, he was imprisoned and then exiled to Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and then the United States. Protesting at the dictatorship, he encountered the anarchist organization "Generación Consciente" in Barcelona.  He eventually returned to Venezuela, and died in Caracas, aged 88.

Writings
He promoted natural living, pacifism, free-thinking, liberty and spiritualism, in his writings, as well as being a novelist and biographer. Many of his books emerged during his time in exile. In 1913, Fundamentos de la Moral, also known as El Problema Vital (The Vital Problem), was published with a prologue by Albert Einstein. For his work, the American School of Naturopathy awarded him an honorary doctorate. With this and further writings, Brandt counted as one of the original founders of the Vegetarianism movement.

His books were published in Spanish, Italian, Flemish, Dutch, English, French and German. His first book published in English was Hight and Right.

As well as his historic and philosophical writings, Brandt generated extensive correspondence with authors such as George Bernard Shaw, Leo Tolstoy, Albert Einstein, Benedict Lust - one of the founders of natural medicine, Ernst Haeckel, Max Nordau, Gabriela Mistral, Raffaele Garofalo, Russell Wallace and Elmer Lee.

Naturopathy
Brandt, along with Arnold Ehret, Benedict Lust and Louis Kuhn, was one of the original pioneers of naturopathy. Brandt taught Nicolás Capó (born around 1902), who wrote his first book circa 1935. Many of Brandt's books were distributed through Capo's Instituto de Trofoterapia, in Barcelona.

Capó and José Castro (Galician naturopath), were pioneers of dietary health and healing in Spain, during the 1920s to 1940s, opening Escuela Naturo-Trofologica in Barcelona in 1925. Capo left Spain for Argentina around 1939, fleeing from Francoist Spain.

German pioneers of the nature cure and natural hygiene movements are featured in Children Of The Sun: A Pictorial Anthology From Germany to California 1883-1949 by Gordon Kennedy, Navaria Press 1998.

Brandt is listed in Who’s Who In Latin America.

Works
Análisis Critica De La Biblia / Critical Analysis Of The Bible	
Bajo La Tiranía De Cipriano Castro / Under The Tyranny Of Cipriano Castro	
Bajo la tiranía de Cipranio Castro, Tipografía Vargas, 1952 	
Beethoven, Su Vida, Su Obra, Y El Sentido De Su Música / Beethoven: His Life, His Work & The Sense Of His Music	1940, 1954	
Belleza De La Mujer, Tratado De Las Proporciones Armoniosas Del Cuerpo Humano Y De La Importancia Filosófica, Artística Y Sociológica De La Belleza Física / The Beauty Of Woman: The Harmonious Proportions Of The Human Body & The Philosophical, Artistic & Sociological Importance Of Physical Beauty	1935		   		
Camino De Perfección / The Way Of Perfection			
Cervantes: El Titán De La Literatura Y Su Obra Maestra: El Quijote / Cervantes: The Titan Of Literature & His Masterpiece: Don Quixote, 1942, Las Novedades, Caracas	
Colon / Columbus			
Diógenes: El Atleta De La Voluntad / Diogenes: The Willing Athlete
El Anarquismo En América Latina / Anarchism In Latin America	
El Estado Y La Iglesia / The Estate & The Church	
El fanatismo religioso, Editorial Símbolo	
El Fundamento De La Moral / The Fundamental Basis Of Morality	1918, 1926	Librería Sintes, Barcelona
El misterioso almirante y su enigmático descubrimiento by Carlos Brandt  Ministerio de Educación Nacional, Dirección de Cultura, 1949
El Misterioso Almirante Y Su Enigmático Descubrimiento: Biografía Caracas / The Mysterious Admiral & His Enigmatic Discovery: A Biography Of Caracas			
El Modernismo / Modernism	1994		
El Problema Económico-Social / The Social-Economic Problem	
El Problema Vital / The Vital Problem: The Path To Health, Wisdom & Universal Peace	1924, 1969, 1999, Instituto De Trofoterapia, Barcelona and Benedict Lust Publishers, New York (1924)
El Sendero De La Salud / The Path Of Health			
El Vegetarianismo / Vegetarianism			
Filosofía Del Vegetarismo / The Philosophy Of Vegetarianism	1927, Librería Sintes, Barcelona
Fundamentos de la Moral (The Vital Problem)  	
Giordano Bruno, El Mártir Más Auténtico De La Historia / Giordano Bruno: The Most Authentic Martyr Of History	Kier, 1940
Hight and Right (in English)
Jesús, El Filósofo Por Excelencia / Jesus: The Philosopher Par Excellence	1939		
La Belleza De La Mujer / The Beauty Of Women			
La Clave Del Misterio / The Key To The Mystery			
La Dictadura Gomecista / The Gomecist Dictatorship	
La Época Del Terror: En El País De Gómez / The Age Of Terror: In The Country Of Gomez			
La Paz Universal / Universal Peace			
La Superstición Médica / Medical Superstition			
Leonardo da Vinci: El Profeta De Los Profetas / Leonardo da Vinci: The Prophet Of Prophets, Editorial Latorre Caracas 1939, Simon & Schuster 1993
Los Enigmas De La Ciencia / The Enigmas Of Science		
Naturaleza Frugivora Del Hombre / The Frugivorous Nature Of Man
Patología Racional: Las Enfermedades, Su Origen Y Curación / Rational Pathology: Illnesses, Their Origin & Cures	1942, 1949, Ediciones Universo, Toulouse	
Pitágoras Y Vegetarianismo / Pythagoras & Vegetarianism, 1970, Instituto De Trofoterapia, Barcelona	
Pitágoras, Padre De La Sabiduría Europea / Pythagoras, Father Of European Wisdom			
Siluetas Luminosas / Luminous Silhouettes			
Spinoza Y El Panteísmo / Spinoza & Pantheism	1972
Fundamentos de la Moral (The Vital Problem)

References

External links
Nicolas Capo Official Site

Category:Venezuelan philosophers
Category:People from Carabobo
Category:1875 births
Category:1964 deaths
Category:Naturopaths