A native of Sicily, Giuseppe Balsamo, alias Count Alexander of Cagliostro (1743-1795), was a dazzling figure with pronounced charisma. An apprenticeship as an apothecary allowed him to appear as a doctor, alchemist, clairvoyant and magician, and to establish relationships in the highest social circles. On his travels across the continent, he was received by kings, dukes, counts, and even bishops. Between 1781 and 1788, Cagliostro stayed temporarily in Basel, where he was a guest in the "White House", the city palace of the silk manufacturer Jakob Sarasin (1742-1802)
For some, Cagliostro was considered a miracle healer, for others a charlatan. Cagliostro made a powerful enemy of the Roman Curia. In the course of an Inquisition trial, the Curia sentenced him in 1791 to life imprisonment, which he served in Montefeltro, Italy, where he finally died in 1795.