*Vincent Van Gogh, King George III of England is believed to have AIP. Mary Queen of Scots, George III, Queen Anne, Fredrick the Great, George IV, and Princess Charlotte are believed to have had porphyria while they were alive. Due to some research I have found that Vincent Van Gogh, King George III, and King George IV died of Porphyria. While the others, Princess Charlotte, and Frederick the Great, died on other terms. *Porphyria got it's name from the Greek word "porphyus," meaning reddish-purple. *It was first thought that the reddish color of blood was from iron. *One early scientists performed an experiment to prove that this was not the case. He washed dried blood with concentrated sulfuric acid to free the iron. He then treated it with alcohol and the resulting iron free residue took on a reddish purple color though it contained no iron compound. *Gerardus Johannes Mulder determined the chemical composition of this purplish iron free substance, which he named "hematin," he also illustrated that hematin took up oxygen. *J.L.W. Thudichum described the beautiful spectrum and fluorescence of these red porphyrins after he published his first book on the analysis of urine. *Felix Hoppe-Seyler crystallized hematin and described it's spectrum. He then demonstrated that the crystalline form differed from one animal species to another. Using his own newly constructed gas pump, he found that oxygen formed a loose, dissociable compound with hemoglobin, which he called "oxyhemoglobin." He renamed the iron free hematin 'hematoPorphyrin'. *Dr. J.H. Schultz described a case of a 33-year-old male weaver who suffered from skin sensitivity, an enlarged spleen, and reddish urine since he was an infant. He called the condition pemphigus leprous. This male's symptoms were most likely the first description of protoporphyria. Dr. Schultz was later credited with giving the disease its name. *B.J. Stokvis published the first case and clinical description of acute hepatic porphyria.