# Dr. Johannès — Là-Bas character guide

> Dr. Johannès in Là-Bas by J.-K. Huysmans.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Johannès, Only Dr. Johannès

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

A physician and occultist who reads Durtal's spiritual symptoms, offering esoteric counsel that turns the novelist's research into something far more personal and dangerous.

## Who they are

Dr. Johannès moves between the consulting room and the séance, a man of medicine who takes seriously what his colleagues would dismiss as superstition. He is the one Durtal can confess to about the anonymous letters and the sensual fever they have ignited, since a doctor meets scores of people and can ask the questions a friend cannot. His willingness to treat the occult as a real force gives Durtal both a confidant and a push toward the darker experiments that structure the novel's middle.

## Relationships

### [Des Hermies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/des_hermies)

_friendship_

Des Hermies and Dr. Johannès are allies in occult studies, with Johannès providing medical and alchemical insights.

### [Durtal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/durtal)

_professional_

Dr. Johannès is a physician and occultist who advises Durtal on matters of alchemy and spiritual health.

### [Carhaix](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/carhaix)

_friendship_

Carhaix and Dr. Johannès share a quiet friendship, bonded by their roles as caretakers of tradition and knowledge.

### [Carhaix](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/carhaix)

_friendship_

Carhaix and Dr. Johannès share a quiet friendship, bonded by their roles as caretakers of tradition and knowledge.

### [Durtal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/durtal)

_professional_

Dr. Johannès is a physician and occultist who advises Durtal on matters of alchemy and spiritual health.

### [Des Hermies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/des_hermies)

_friendship_

Des Hermies and Dr. Johannès are allies in occult studies, with Johannès providing medical and alchemical insights.

### [Durtal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/durtal)

_professional_

Dr. Johannès is a physician and occultist who advises Durtal on matters of alchemy and spiritual health.

### [Des Hermies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/des_hermies)

_friendship_

Des Hermies and Dr. Johannès are allies in occult studies, with Johannès providing medical and alchemical insights.

## In the story

### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/ix)

Mentioned as a powerful exorcist who saved nuns from incubi and liberated Gévingey from a spell.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/xvii)

Mentioned as an abbé at Lyons who cures spells.

### [XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/xx)

Praised by Gévingey as a prophet and expert in occult sciences.

### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/chapters/xxi)

Referenced in Des Hermies's discussion as a priest who uses precious stones to diagnose illnesses caused by sorcery, and who cures patients given up by physicians.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters/dr_johannes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/l_bas_se/characters