Alfred Schaeffer (1879-1957) was a German chemist who arrived in Minas Gerais in 1911 hired by the state government to organize the state health service in its newly established capital. He directed the Laboratory of Chemical Analysis of the State, and his analytical methods in dairy and mineral waters became a reference in Brazil. He also became professor of Chemistry at the new Faculty of Medicine of Belo Horizonte and founded the Chemistry Institute of the Engineering School in that city, influencing several students who became important names in Brazilian science. In addition, he was responsible for the assembly and technical coordination of pioneering industries in the dairy and wood distillation sector in the city of Santos Dumont. Later he assumed the post of technical director of Merck, also in Minas Gerais. Moving to Rio de Janeiro, he assumed a chair at the Technical School, working in teaching and research, and remained active even after retiring, publishing in important scientific journals. 18791957 1879 1957 (1879-1957 191 capital State Brazil science addition Dumont Merck Janeiro research retiring journals 1879195 187 195 (1879-195 19 187919 18 (1879-19 1 18791 (1879-1 (1879- (1879 (187 (18 (1 (

The relationship between syphilis and chemistry is remarkable due to its being the first example in western history of a comprehensive attempt by researchers from many countries and cultures to direct their efforts to tackle a serious health problem by means of chemical science. This effort started to take place at the time when the science of chemistry was already beginning to emerge, apart from alchemy. Thus, the fight against syphilis was closely linked to the emergence of iatrochemistry, or medicinal chemistry, which eventually gave rise, centuries later, to chemotherapy. Many of the early iatrochemical compounds in the XVIth century were of mineral origin, and often also synthetic. One of the pioneers of this trend was Paracelsus, who occupies a prominent place in the process. Along the centuries a number of different chemical approaches were attempted to cure syphilis until the advent of antibiotics in the mid-twentieth century, after so much time in which syphilis remained a physical and moral scourge of humankind, challenging all those that endeavoured to find its cure. In this article we recount many fascinating aspects of the application of chemistry in this quest, showing its development in the world as well as in Brazil, throughout its entire history. emerge alchemy Thus iatrochemistry rise later chemotherapy origin synthetic Paracelsus process midtwentieth mid twentieth humankind quest Brazil