Alfred Vogel

Alfred Max Vogel (October 26, 1902 – October 1, 1996) was a Swiss herbalist, naturopath and writer.

Life

Alfred Max Vogel was born in 1902 in Aesch, Basel, Switzerland. At the age of 21, he moved to Basel to manage a health store. In 1927, he married Sophie Sommer; together they had two daughters. Vogel was an avid traveller and enjoyed visiting new countries and meeting new cultures. He was especially interested in meeting indigenous peoples in a close relationship with nature. From the 1950s onward, he travelled extensively through Africa, North America, Oceania, and South America. However, Ben Black Elk was known to be merely earning his bread as an actor by having taken pictures of him with tourists near Mount Rushmore for money, Upon Vogel's departure, Ben Black Elk allegedly gave him a farewell present: a handful of seeds of Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower). Back in Switzerland, Vogel began cultivating and researching the plant, eventually creating Echinaforce, which would become his flagship product. Histories of Swiss complementary medicine credit him with helping to popularize Echinacea and advance fresh-plant industrial phytotherapy.

Being a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, Vogel preached that God prohibited blood transfusions.

Criticism For years, Alfred Vogel was falsely known as Doctor Vogel or Dr. Vogel. According to some sources, however, Vogel received an honorary doctorate (doctor honoris causa) in botanical studies in 1952 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), allowing the styling Dr. h.c. Vogel. Jan Willem Nienhuys claimed that he obtained his honorary degree from California University of Liberal Physicians (CULP) situated in Los Angeles, an institute that was dissolved long ago and whose legitimacy of its diplomas is disputed. Because he was not a physician, but did sell 'natural medicines', the title Doctor or Dr. Vogel implied an invalid association. After a complaint in 1981 at the Dutch Advertising Standards Authority (Dutch: ), he and his products were gradually no longer called Doctor.

On October 14, 1982, Dutch teacher, presenter and comedian published an article in the science section of NRC Handelsblad on this matter, in which he branded Vogel a quack.

During a November 2014 episode of the satirical television show Zondag met Lubach, Vogel's "invention" of Echinaforce was criticised and mocked.

Institutions, awards, and legacy

Alfred-Vogel-Stiftung (Foundation) established 1984; Alfred-Vogel-Museum opened 1991 in Teufen; exhibitions in Aesch document his life Recognitions reported by Swiss biographical references include the Priessnitz Medal (1982) and honorary membership of SAGEM (1984)

Selected publications

Kleiner Wegweiser für die Lebensreform ("How to Reform Your Life") (1926) Die Nahrung als Heilfaktor ("Nature as a Healing Factor") (1935) Erblehre und Rassenkunde in bildlicher Darstellung ("Heredity and Racial Science in Images") (1938) Der kleine Doktor ("The Nature Doctor") (1952) Die Leber als Regulator der Gesundheit ("The Liver as a Regulator of Health") (1960) Gesundheitsführer durch südliche Länder ("Health Guide to Southern Countries") (1972) Krebs – Schicksal oder Zivilisationskrankheit? ("Cancer – Fate or the Disease of Civilisation") (1982)