In early February 1721, a son was born to the architect and artist Paul Heineken in the German city of Lubeck. The boy was named Christian (Christian).
Already at 6 months, Christian repeated the words, at 10 months the baby learned to speak, and at the age of one, the boy knew the contents of the first five books of the Bible. At two years old, Christian could tell from memory all the facts of the Holy Bible history.
At the same age, the boy expresses a desire to learn foreign languages and, as a two-year-old, learns Latin, and then French. During his short life, he mastered four languages. A year later, the little genius took up the study of history and geography.
It would seem that this knowledge at such a tender age can be limited, but Christian is additionally interested in biology and mathematics, and at the age of four he began to study the historical aspects of the development of the church and religion. The main book for children at that time was the Holy Scriptures, which Christian read at the age of one year and sometimes reproduced quotes from the book.
Christian absorbed the information like a sponge. His memory was truly unique, and his intellect could develop in all directions. In addition to the basic sciences, Christian was fascinated by the solar system and the cultivation of various grape varieties.
Christian gave his first lecture at the age of three. A group of students and teachers became the listeners of the genius kid. Eyewitnesses claim that the listeners' jaws dropped when Heineken began to speak. He began his story with a description of the lives of the ancient emperors of Rome and Germany, making references to the history of the biblical kings. And "for dessert" Christian left the main medical issues of the time.
The parents of the baby, realizing that a lot of money can be earned on the son's abilities, arranged meetings with him for those who were interested in such a unique phenomenon, not caring that this was an unbearable mental and physical stress for a weak child. Despite his poor health, with the assistance of his parents, the four-year-old child often travels and has discussions on an equal footing with scientists.
Promotional video:
The rumor of the miracle quickly spread among the people and reached the Danish king Frederick IV of Denmark, who ordered the boy to be delivered to Copenhagen to personally verify the veracity of the stories. On September 9, 1724, Christian arrived for an audience with the king, and was awarded the order.
The king nicknamed him "Miraculum" (translated from Latin - "miracle"). Heineken gave several lectures on history to the king and courtiers. According to legend, he refused to participate in the royal dinner on the pretext that he did not eat anything except cereals.
Due to the fact that Christian was fed only porridge, he develops celiac disease, in addition, mental and perception disorders progress - the boy develops pathological cleanliness, any sounds cause him severe pain, and because of severe muscle pain, the child suffers from insomnia.
Heineken spent every free minute reading books, spending little time sleeping and eating. As a result, the child's body could not cope with this stress. And due to improper nutrition, he began to develop stomach diseases.
Doctors prescribed a strict diet for Christian, but his parents, despite the deterioration of their son's health, continued to feed him exclusively with cereals. At that time, no one knew about the gluten intolerance that Christian had.
Every day the child was getting worse, and the greed of the parents knew no measure. Until the last breath of their son, they let visitors to him. The four-year-old child prodigy knew that he would soon die, he himself uttered a phrase in Latin that foreshadowed his imminent end: "Vitanostrafumis …" which means "life is burning out" … On June 27, 1725, before he was five years old, Christian Heineken passed away.
The genius child lived only 4 years and it is difficult to imagine how he could change the world if he lived to mature years …
An engraving made by a contemporary of the little genius has survived to this day - a boy in old clothes stands among open books …
Modern science cannot explain the phenomenon of this miracle child. Perhaps because the world is much more complex than we imagine it to be.
Author: Viktorya Nekrasova