Johannes Burchart I (1546–1616), born János Both Bélaváry de Szikava (), was a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

and

druggist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in order to dispense them safely to the pu ...

and the first of a line of doctors and pharmacists who owned the

Raeapteek The Raeapteek (; ) is a pharmacy in the center of Tallinn, Estonia. Opposite the Town Hall, at 11 Raekoja plats, Tallinn, Raekoja plats, it is one of the oldest continuously running pharmacies in Europe, having always been in business in the sam ...

in Reval (

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

), from 1582 to 1911. He also owned large lande estates and the manors of

Haabneeme Haabneeme is a Populated places in Estonia, small borough () in Viimsi Parish, Harju County, in northern Estonia alongside Viimsi. It's located about northeast of the centre of Tallinn, on the eastern coast of Tallinn Bay. With a population of ...

and Vanamõisa in northern Estonia.

Biography

He was born in Pozsony in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, son of Ambrose, where his ancestors were lords and barons of the kingdom of Hungary, including John Both de Bajna (d. 1493),

ban of Croatia Ban of Croatia () was the title of local rulers or office holders and after 1102, viceroys of Croatia. From the earliest periods of the Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Ban (title), bans as a ruler's representative (viceroy) and sup ...

. János (Johann) left the kingdom of Hungary after the Battle of Kerelőszentpál in 1575, after which

Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory (; ; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) as well as Prince of Transylvania, earlier Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576). The son of Stephen VIII Báthory ...

ascended the throne of Transylvania and

proscribed Proscription () is, in current usage, a 'decree of condemnation to death or banishment' (''Oxford English Dictionary'') and can be used in a political context to refer to state-approved murder or banishment. The term originated in Ancient Rome ...

supporters of Gáspár Bekes. He took refuge successively in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

(1575-1578) and

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(1578-1580), then went to

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, and finally settled in

, then in the

kingdom of Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic country by both area ...

, in 1580 under the name Burchart. With the permission of the Council of Tallinn, he became on 30 April 1583 the official pharmacist of the city by taking over the

, founded by the city in around 1420. He married Anna von Kampferbeck (d. 1603), daughter of Johann (d. 1562), counselor then Mayor of Tallinn, and granddaughter of Heinrich von Dellingshausen (d. 1525),

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of Tallinn (1508-1511). His name, Johannes, was given to the eldest son of each succeeding generation, down to Johann Burchart X.

Sources

*Peeter Tarvel, ''Eesti biograafilise lesikoi täiendusköide'', Kirjastus osaühing "Loodus", 1940
Gustavson. H., Tallinna vanadest apteekidest. Tallinn 1972 sur raeapteek.ee
*''Sitiniisberiekte, 1912'', Riga, 1914 {{DEFAULTSORT:Burchard, Johannes 1546 births 1616 deaths Hungarian nobility Johannes Burchart I Estonian scientists Estonian chemists 17th-century pharmacists