JOSEPH JOHANN NEPOMUK ATTOMYR (RECTIUS LEBERWURST)
(ĐAKOVO, SEPTEMBER 9, 1807 – BRATISLAVA, FEBRUARY 5, 1856)

by Vladimir Geiger
Slavonita Diakowariensi

Josip Attomyr, also known by his real name Joseph Johann Nepomuk Leberwurst,
was a renowned physician and homeopath born in Đakovo on September 9, 1807.
He was the first of six children in a family of a wheelwright. Attomyr is recognized as
one of the most significant medical writers in the field of homeopathy during the first
half and mid-19th century. 

He attended elementary school in Đakovo and
completed his high school education in Osijek.
In 1825, he moved to Vienna to pursue his medical
education as an intern at the Garrison Hospital.
It was there that he met Dr. Matthias Marenzeller,
who introduced him to homeopathic treatment methods.
During his military service in Kecskemét, he met
Dr. Josef Müller, the regimental physician, who
introduced him to homeopathic treatment. After leaving
the military, he enrolled at the Josephine Medical and
Surgical Academy (Die k.k. medicinische Josephs-
Akademie) in Vienna. However, in 1830, he published an
article defending homeopathic treatment under a pseudonym, which resulted in his
expulsion from the Josephine Academy. He then continued his studies at the Ludwig
Maximilian University of Munich (Medizinische Fakultät der Ludwig-Maximilians-
Universität), where he earned his degree with a dissertation on homeopathic psychiatry
in March 1831.

Afterward, he practiced medicine at the Munich General Hospital, reportedly achieving
significant success in treating patients with homeopathic methods. This success
caught the attention of Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, who invited
him to Köthen, Saxony, to meet in person. In the early 1830s, he served as the
personal physician to the Counts von Csáky in Levoča, Slovakia, and was later
appointed as the personal physician to the Duke of Lucca in Tuscany. Due to his
strong and vocal support for homeopathy, he faced criticism in anti-homeopathic
literature at the time.

Historians of medicine and homeopathy describe him as having a contentious nature,
which often led to conflicts and frequent changes in his place of residence.
He lived in various cities, including Munich, Leipzig, Levoča, Požun (now Bratislava),
Hadersdorf near Vienna, and, for the longest period, Pest, where he resided from
1839 and later returned to Požun in 1847. In Pest, he gained a strong reputation for
his homeopathic treatments.

He was a key initiator and
organizer of the first large
gathering of homeopathic
doctors in Hungary, held
in Pest in August 1843.
Throughout his career, he
was a member of several
scientific societies, including
medical societies in Palermo,
Leipzig, and Köthen, as well
as the Society of Homeopathic
Physicians of Austria and the
Homeopathic Association in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and Rio de Janeiro.

He became famous in medical circles, especially among homeopathic
doctors with his homeopathic writings, the most famous of which are
Briefe über Homöopathie in 3 volumes (Leipzig, 1833 – 1834) and
Primordien einer Naturgeschichte der Krankheiten in 2 volumes (Vienna, 1851).
Dr. Attomyr compiled the homeopathic therapeutics of venereal diseases
(Die venerischen Krankheiten. Ein Beitrag zur Pathologie und homöopathischen
Therapie derselben, Leipzig, 1836), translated into French in 1838, and the
criminal anthropology (Theorie der Verbrechen auf Grundsätze der Phrenologie
Beschreibung, Leipzig, 1842).

Many of his treatises remained in manuscript form, with some left unfinished.
Portions of these works were lost over time, while others were published later
under different authors’ names. Historians of medicine and homeopathy
consistently regard Dr. Attomyr as one of the most prominent homeopathic
physicians in Hungary and a significant contributor to homeopathic literature.
He is often called a „pioneer of homeopathy,” largely due to his efforts to
establish a firm natural scientific foundation for the medical practices of his time.
His homeopathic treatises continue to be published in various editions and
reprints to this day. Dr. Attomyr passed away in Požun on February 5, 1856.

The article highlights both well-known and lesser-known facts about Dr. Attomyr’s
life and work in the history of homeopathy. It examines what is documented in the
various biographies written about him, particularly concerning his homeland and
origins, as well as how much information is available about him in his native Đakovo.

Dr. Attomyr is certainly the most renowned resident of Đakovo in Europe and the
world during the first half and mid-19th century. Unfortunately, he has been
largely forgotten in his hometown.

 

Sources: Vladimir Geiger, “Slavonita Diakowariensi Joseph Johann Nepomuk Attomyr
(Leberwurst) (Đakovo, 1807. – Bratislava, 1856.)”, Zbornik Muzeja
Đakovštine, 17, Muzej Đakovštine, Đakovo, 2025., str. 57.-111.

 

Posted 3rd Dec. 2025