Is Nicholas Flamel still ALIVE?

You have heard about Nicholas Flamel in the film"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". The mission of Harry is to search for the
Sorcerer's Stone(Philosopher's Stone) and protect it from Voldermort. They find a book from the library which says that Nicholas Flamel made the Sorcerer's Stone. But anyway who is "Nicholas Flamel"? Is he just a character?

The answer is NO.

Nicholas Flamel is a very famous and the greatest Alchemist of the world.
Born in 1330 in the town of Pontoise, France he spent his life doing practice on Alchemy. His wife Pernella also supported him for his work at the lab. As the time was going in months and years one day this alchemist started to construct a object which has the power of giving unlimited power to life. In simple words which gives an immortal life. He devoted years and years to build this. As Nicholas was in his 80's he built a tombstone for him. But suddenly he and his wife dissapeared in 1418. What happened to him? nobody knew ...But some thought he was dead..... In 1761 witnesses claim that they saw Flamel and his wife at an opera in Paris.

So what do you think about these things? Did he really invented the Sorcerer's Stone and got immortal?

-Chandira-