Jules Sperber — better known by the Latinized name Julius Sperber or by the pseudonym Julianus de Campis — was a German author from the late Renaissance, born around 1540 in Seebergen and died in 1616 in Dessau. A writer associated with alchemical and Rosicrucian currents, he also held an important position in the intellectual circles of his time.
Coming from a family marked by the Protestant Reformation, Sperber grew up in a religious and scholarly environment. His father served as a Protestant superintendent, and several of his brothers became pastors. This theological and humanist background early on directed his research towards philosophy, theology, and the hermetic sciences circulating in the learned Europe of the 16th century.
Sperber later became a physician and advisor to Prince Christian I of Anhalt. Alongside this role, he wrote several treatises dedicated to alchemy, Kabbalah, and initiatory societies. His writings belong to the emerging Rosicrucian movement and are among the first texts attempting to explain the origin and mission of the Rosy Cross Brotherhood.
