death_date death_place nationality birth_date article_title name occupation
7 october 1774 leipzig german 1730 johann georg schröpfer
 johann georg schröpfer stage magician
johann georg schröpfer

johann georg schröpfer -lrb- 1730 -- 7 october 1774 , leipzig -rrb- was a german illusionist , freemason , and occultist .
he was a pioneer of entertainment séances , being one of the first people to use a magic lantern to project ghosts .
he staged routines doing this at his coffee shop in leipzig , convincing people that he could indeed talk to the dead .
schröpfer was a freemason and performed his first demonstrations to others in the fraternity .
the earliest shows featured a number of backstage staff and actors , one of whom was schröpfer 's wife .
he wanted to improve his performances particularly in light of increased questioning about the legitimacy of his claimed supernatural powers and developed ways to project images using a magic lantern .
schröpfer 's shows went on to use a variety of techniques that would be adapted by paul philidor and later by Étienne-gaspard robert .
philidor initially named his shows `` schröpferesque geisterscheinings '' -lrb- schröpfer-style ghost appearances -rrb- .
this developed into phantasmagoria , a highly popular show throughout much of europe .
schröpfer was driven mad by his own illusions , and shot himself after promising an audience he would later resurrect himself .
friedrich schiller 's unfinished novel `` the ghost-seer '' is believed to have been inspired by schröpfer .
