BENEDICT LUST 1872–1945

German healer, Benedict Lust, is credited with naming the natural medical technique of naturopathy. He was married to Louisa Lust who was a student of another naturopathy pioneer, Arnold Rikli.
Benedict, who was born in Germany in 1872, immigrated to the United States in 1892 but returned to his native Germany when he contracted tuberculosis. In Germany he met Father Sebastian Kneipp who treated and cured Lust using hydrotherapy. Lust subsequently returned to the United States as Kneipp's representative to publicize the cure. He founded the Water Cure Institute in New York City and established Kneipp Societies throughout the United States.
Lust acquired degrees in osteopathy and medicine and drew from his combined knowledge to devise the healing art of naturopathy. In 1901 he organized the Naturopathic Society of America, and he founded the American School of Naturopathy. He purchased the rights to the term naturopathy from John H. Scheel in 1902 and publicized himself as a naturopath. Lust's school initially offered a two-year, post-graduate curriculum and later expanded into a four-year residential program. The school received a charter in 1905 and, thereafter, awarded degrees in naturopathy and chiropractic. Lust established a second school devoted to teaching the principles of massage and physiotherapy. Additionally he offered home-study courses in naturopathy and started a magazine about naturopathy.

Lust later reorganized the Naturopathic Society of America at the national level, calling the group the American Institute of Naturopathy. Likewise in 1919, he combined the independent Kneipp Societies into a unified group, called the American Naturopathic Association (ANA). In 1921 the ANA elected Lust to a lifetime term as president of the society. Benedict Lust, a staunch proponent of natural healing and natural food remedies, championed the cause of the naturopath and spent much of his lifetime battling the American Medical Association for legitimacy.