Charles Lafontaine

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Charles Lafontaine (1803 – 1892) was an early Swiss hypnotist.

He lived in Geneva and published a journal called Le magnétiseur. Although he had failed as an actor, he became wealthy as a traveling hypnotist, or animal magnetiser, as it was then known. He wrote an autobiography, which may have influenced George du Maurier in his writing of Trilby.

His stage demonstrations influenced James Braid to pursue the study of this phenomenon. Braid first saw Lafontaine in Manchester on November 13, 1841.