Georgiana Hedesan

Dr Georgiana (Jo) Hedesan specializes in the history of alchemy, with a particular focus on medical alchemy, and the early modern movements of Paracelsianism and Helmontianism. Her first book, entitled An Alchemical Quest for Universal Knowledge: The 'Christian Philosophy' of Jan Baptist Van Helmont (1579-1644) was published in 2016 by Routledge. She has recently concluded a Wellcome Trust Research Postdoctoral Fellowship in Medical History and Humanities at the University of Oxford,...See more

Dr Georgiana (Jo) Hedesan specializes in the history of alchemy, with a particular focus on medical alchemy, and the early modern movements of Paracelsianism and Helmontianism. Her first book, entitled An Alchemical Quest for Universal Knowledge: The 'Christian Philosophy' of Jan Baptist Van Helmont (1579-1644) was published in 2016 by Routledge. She has recently concluded a Wellcome Trust Research Postdoctoral Fellowship in Medical History and Humanities at the University of Oxford, researching the topic of universal medicine and radical prolongation of life in early modern alchemy. She acquired a PhD in History from the University of Exeter in 2012 with a dissertation on Flemish alchemist Jan Baptist Van Helmont (1579-1644). Georgiana is lecturing in two undergraduate history courses at Oxford and working as an editor to the Oxford's Cabinet Digital Platform. See less