Julia Pastrana was born in 1834 in rural Mexico, in the state of Sinaloa. And it seemed that from birth she was doomed to misfortune because the appearance of the girl was strikingly different. Her body, except for the palms and soles of her feet, was covered with hair. A large nose and a massive jaw, thick lips – made her terribly ugly. And then she was recognized as the most terrible woman in history. “Monkey Woman” – such was the nickname given to the poor girl. The height of the girl was only 135 centimeters.
The life of the most terrible woman
Today we know that Julia suffered from rare congenital diseases: acromegaly syndrome and hypertrichosis. But at that time, people like Julia aroused people’s curiosity. And so all kinds of freak circuses were created, where such people were shown as outlandish mutants. Julia Pastrana spoke three languages and knew how to sing, dance, sew, and her character was soft. But people saw in her only a hybrid of a man and a monkey.
Until the age of 20, she was under the care of the governor. She worked as a maid in his house. But then, she contacted showman Reyts and began to travel with his freak circus.
“Monkey Woman” was not only popular with the audience but also aroused interest among doctors who were eager to study it. And she liked the simplest things in life: cooking, sewing, and traveling. But at the request of the doctors, she took tests, as she was curious by nature, and wanted to know what was wrong with her.
In the 1850s, Julia secretly married her manager Theodor Lent. Many assumed that the man married her for fear of losing his most famous star, carrying a good income. But she really loved him. In an interview, Julia stated that she received marriage proposals from more than twenty men. But she refused them because they were not rich. Probably, in their proposals, she saw self-interest and greed. And Theodore had money at her expense, but she declared that she was happy with him.
This woman all her life experienced humiliation from a variety of people, and her husband did not spare her. So, while touring in Russia, her performances were advertised in newspapers and were always accompanied by sarcasm: they say, the “monkey woman” is looking for a couple in Russia. But the tour of Russia was the last. In Moscow, Julia died, five days after giving birth. Her newborn son lived only three days.
Why were the body of Julia and her child not interred?
Her husband did not want to give up the tour and the money that such an unusual wife brought him. He turned to the Russian professor Sokolov with a request to mummify his wife and son, in order to place them in a glass case for demonstration. The professor did just that but wished to leave the bodies at the anatomy department of Moscow University.
But Theodore Lent sued and won, after providing a marriage certificate. However, there was no need to show the mummy in Russia, the authorities did not really understand such entertainment.
But in Europe, there was a demand for this kind of demonstration, but there were no restrictions. Lent later married a similar woman with a deformity. He demonstrated his new wife, introducing her as the sister of the deceased Julia. Sometimes he rented the mummies of his wife and son to museums. And after his death, the right to the mummy, the wife said, continuing to expose herself and the mummy of Julia for show.
At the end of the 19th century, the mummy of a woman and her son was sold at auction, and for a long time, no one knew about their fate. But in 1921 they showed up in Norway. The mummies were exhibited in a private house of horrors. The Nazis, who came in 1943, wanted to destroy the mummy, but they were convinced that this was a good source of replenishment of the treasury and the mummy was saved. During the war and after it, people could look at the most terrible woman.
In the 1970s, a mummy tour of America was planned. But this decision caused a flurry of indignation. The vandals mutilated and practically destroyed the mummy of the child. Julia’s mummy was stolen. But, as it turned out later, the mummy was kept at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Oslo. And there, they even forgot who she was and how she got there. When they remembered her, there was a proposal to bury her, but scientists again obtained permission to study the mummy. And only in 2012, the University decided to return the body to Mexico.
It took 150 years before the body of Julia found peace. How do you feel about mummies and mausoleums? Write in the comments.
