Maria Andreae
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Maria Andreae (c. 1550–1632), was a German pharmacist.[1]
Born Maria Moser in Herrenberg and raised by her grandmother, who ran a small infirmary in her home. In 1576, she married a pastor, Johannes Andreae, and they had eight children.[1] Her husband was the son of theologian Jakob Andreae and the couple were related to the Leyser and Osiander families through Jakob’s sister Margarethe.[2]
She was widowed in 1601. In 1606, she was appointed Pharmacist of the Württemberg court by the duchess of Württemberg, Sibylla of Anhalt in succession to Helena Magenbuch.[3] This was a very uncommon position for a woman at the time. By 1607, she took over the management of the court pharmacy in Stuttgart.[1][4]
Due to her healing work, she was known as ‘Mother of the Land’; she also wrote a book on medicinal herbs.[1]
She retired in 1617.[5]
Her son, the theologian Johannes Valentinus Andreae, wrote her biography.[1] Another son also worked in the area of alchemy.[5]
