History of Iridology
Although it has its origins in antiquity, including among the Chinese and Roman civilisations, iris analysis was studied and researched more extensively with the advent of the earlier technology of the 19th century. Probably all students and practitioners of iridology today would be familiar with the name Dr Ignaz von Peczley (1822 – 1911), the Hungarian who as a child observed a marking in the iris of an owl which came about following a fracture to the bird’s leg. This observation led him to make the connection with the iris of the eye to the body as a whole. Dr von Peczley’s work was followed up later by other researchers in the field such as Nils Liljequist and Emanuel Felke (1856 – 1926). A pupil of Felke known as Andreas Muller produced a manuscript book.
In Germany, homeopaths Dr Emil Schlegel and Dr Alfred Stiegele interested in the work of von Peczely furthered the spread of iridology. Felke inspired others such as Magdalena Madaus (1857 – 1925), Heinrich Hense (1868 – 1955), Peter Johann Thiel (1861 – 1948) and the more familiar Josef Deck (1914 – 1990) whose iris charts are used by many students of iridology today. The daughter of Magdalena Madaus, Eva Flink (1886 – 1959) made her contribution through writings which she published on the subject, and others who followed in her footsteps included Hans Struck (1899 – 1963), Alfred Maubach (1893 – 1954), Gunter Lindemann and Dr Anton Markgraf who lectured on iridology for many years.
Rudolf Schnabel (1882 – 1962) taught Josef Angerer (1907 – 1994). Other names associated with iridology in the more recent past include Ernst Kabisch, Jurgen Rehwinkel, Sigold Wenske, Paul Falkenstein and Gunter Jarosyzk. Theodor Kriege produced educational books on the subject. Josef Deck was responsible for educating Rudolf Stolz and Willy Hauser. Hauser founded the Felke Institute.
Interest and research in the field of iridology is ongoing and becoming ever more exciting. With scientific advance in microscope technology, viewing the iris in greater detail is improving all the time. Therefore research and new findings are being published and now written in many more languages than the earlier work which was mostly available only in German. International pioneers of modern research include Dr Daniele Lo Rito, John Andrews, Papagino Bellinfante, Dr Vincenzo Di Spazio, Dr Mikhail Dailakis, Harri Wolf and Dr Pierre Fragnay. These and others have all contributed to the research in iridology from the 1970’s through today.