Killer sweating sickness that terrified a King. It is indecent that she is still being "kept" as an oddity, and her keeper(s) should be ashamed of themselves for not laying her to rest. Others called her the Bearded lady. What a shame that Julia was subjected to such treatment during her lifetime and even afterward. Julia Pastrana's last words on her deathbed were "I am dying happy". I didn't know who Julia Pastrana was prior to reading this. Julia Pastrana (1834-1860) was one of the most famous human curiosities of her time . An excellent hub Nell, well written and thought provoking. There are no birth, baptism or early records enabling a reconstruction of Julia Pastranas formative years, but she was probably born in 1834 in the Sierra Madre region of Mexico. [13] Francis Buckland stated that she was "only a deformed Mexican Indian woman". They looked nothing like the pictures displayed outside their cubicles. On 14 October 2013 the in-development movie "Velvet" was announced, based on the life and experiences of Julia Pastrana, and from an original screenplay by Celso Garca and Francisco Pay Gonzlez. Culiacn. Upon hearing her story, I felt that my duty as a Mexican female artist, and as a human being, was to do everything possible to have Pastrana removed from the anatomy collection and returned to Mexico, her place of birth where she was at the time practically unknown to receive a proper burial, artistLaura Anderson Barbata told Hyperallergic. They re-emerged and were displayed in Norway during the beginning of the 20th century. So, finally, that was done. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Eventually, Lent got fed up of It and hired her out to the person who would pay the most for the privilege. It must have been pretty confusing because the animal was capable of singing and speaking in different languages to cook and sew and dance. Standing in front of an audience of thousands, Julia looked down at the audience and sang in a most beautiful voice. This Idea came from Lent, who suddenly realized that if he didn't want to lose her, he had better marry her himself. It's not easy being under all that scrutiny all the time. In 1994, the Norway Senate recommended burying her remains, but the Minister of Sciences decided to keep them, so scientists could perform research. [12] Another, Dr. S. Brainerd of Cleveland, declared that she was of a "distinct species". The publicity had clearly got this spectator musing. By 1943, the corpses were touring Sweden and theyd continue to grace the entertainment sites of Europe as late as 1970 they were exhibited in Sweden and Norway; in 1973 they were part of a travelling amusement park in America. All Julia could think of was, please be healthy and not have a personality like your father. Julia Pastrana was born in 1834 into an Indigenous community in the Sierra Madre in Mexico. Julia Pastrana was exhibited during her lifetime, and for quite some time after her death. The Ass Ponys wrote and recorded the song Julia Pastrana about her life on their 1993 album Grim. Her handler or owner was named as a Mr M. Rates and he saw the potential in her the second he found her, working as a servant girl to the governor of Sinaloa Mexico. I think she was featured in an article as a freak, along with others. In the early 1850s, Julia Pastrana somehow came into the custody of Pedro Sanchez, the then-governor of Sinaloa. A 2003 Texas production of the play staged by Kathleen Anderson Culebro, sister of Laura Anderson Barbata, led to the campaign by Anderson Barbata to repatriate Pastrana's remains from Norway to Mexico.[2]. Not much is known about Pastranas early life which was plagued by rumours: she was left to die in a forest but was rescued or that she was sold into show business. By this time she had received many marriage proposals, and when asked why she had never married, she replied that they were not rich enough! It is such a shame how people will treat those different. For example, in the 17th century, Jacob Bontius blamed Indigenous Indian women for the existence of orangutans, claiming that they mixed with apes and monkeys with detestable sensuality., Charles Darwin, for his part, described her as a remarkably fine woman albeit with a thick masculine beard and a hairy forehead. A zoologist named Francis Buckland, who examined Pastrana in 1857, largely agreed. Subsequently, Julia and her child's bodies were eventually inabuilding Oslo,Norway,whichwasbrokeninto thelate resulting in damage to Julia's body and the disappearance of Nell Rose (author) from England on November 18, 2012: Thanks unknown spy, glad you liked it, nell. Thanks for bringing up society's treatment of people who are different..sad how differences, instead of being embraced, are treated as something to scorn. The literature provided by the sideshow that first purchased her said that Pastrana was born in Mexico in August of 1834. For our final Iconic Corpse of the year, the tragic tale, and (somewhat) happy ending for the body of performer Julia Pastrana.Here is the interview mentione. He noted that she or it was intelligent with a fine voice who could speak three languages. My nephew is a midget and he has been made fun of his whole life but he has a heart of gold, just sweet, takes it in stride. From The Wonders: The Extraordinary Performers Who Transformed the Victorian Age. Pastrana, who was born in Mexico in 1834, had two rare diseases: generalized hypertrichosis lanuginosa, which caused her face and body to be covered in hair, and gingival hyperplasia, which. Whats more, hirsute women like Pastrana came to signify hypersexuality, primitivism and bestiality. Bravo to her for not backing down!! Kevin Martin from United States on August 15, 2012: This story is very, very interesting and sad. Copyright 2019 by John Woolf. Later that year, a tour of Sweden drew considerable public opposition, leading to the bodies being withdrawn from public view. Lent sold her corpse and her baby son, to a professor of Moscow University. It is not a coincidence, for instance, that the degrading of Pastranas gender and race happened at a time in the 19th-century when the rights of women and non-white people were under debate. The story of what happened to the embalmed corpses is full of intrigue, of the truth is stranger than fiction kind. They did eventually elope, though he continued to refer to as The Ugliest Woman in the World for shows. Mme Fortune Clofullia, another bearded lady who featured in Barnums museum from the 1850s, also had a husband as well as a son who would sometimes appear with his mother onstage. As . John Hansen from Australia (Gondwana Land) on September 10, 2015: Hi Nell, I am late reading this but I enjoyed this interesting hub. Barnums 13 most famous and incredible oddities. Victorian audiences, eager for circuses and freak shows, flocked to her shows, while scientists also marveled over Pastranas condition. The Eye of the Beholder: Julia Pastranas Long Journey Home,out now fromLucia|Marquand, chronicles this return, with essays by six authors exploring Pastranas life, our treatment of the dead, and the exhibition of fellow humans as freaks. Barbata co-edited the book with Donna Wingate, and it draws on over four years of research to understand Pastrana as a person, and restore to her a humanity that was long denied. She was then transferred to the custody of her uncle, who sold her to the circus. Freak shows have been common for many centuries. This informed his sense of disgust.. Nell Rose (author) from England on July 09, 2012: Hi femme, good morning! Lentseems to have considered her a model freak, a house-trained monster that behaved well in front of audiences, writes Jan Bondeson in a book essay. seriously, thanks for reading, and yes people back then were seen as animals, makes me so mad. He was covered in hair. The newspapers couldn't get enough of her and when they realized that not only was she a very good singer but she could also speak several different languages, including Spanish and English, they were astonished. over here its 20.38, so we are about 5 and a half hours different! Hi Suzie, thanks so much, she is such a fascinating lady, and I totally respect everything she went through, such a pity she had to live back then, thank you, nell. Jenna Pope from Southern California on August 31, 2012: It is so awful how people who are different are treated. The things that money makes one do. Levertis Steele from Southern Clime on May 04, 2014: Oh, how sad. Her manager Theodore Lent, meanwhile, also did his best to entice the public by billing her as half woman and half animal. While we might scoff at the idea that anyone could ever think a human was the product of a sexual encounter between an ape and a woman, for the Victorians this wasnt necessarily a crazy idea, Dr Woolf said. The delivery had also taken its toll on Pastrana and she died, following complications, in the early hours of March 25th, 1860. Her husband was a horrible, disgusting person who I hope was destined for hell. Barbata discovered her story in 2003, whenAmphibian Stage Productions, a theater company directed by her sister Kathleen Culebro, invited her to collaborate on designs for the New York premiere of the playThe True History of the Tragic Life and the Triumphant Death of Julia Pastrana, the Ugliest Woman in the World by Shaun Prendergast. After the death of his wife and child, he sold the bodies for 500 and they were sent for embalming at Moscow University with a view to their preservation in the Universitys Anatomical Museum. He indexed his diaries Working Women, studies of. His obsession was all-pervasive, as one contemporary academic suggested, and intimately connected to male pleasure; his relationship to working-class women was infused with pornographic voyeurism. Julia Pastrana has come home, declared Saul Rubio Ayala, the mayor of Sinaloa de Leyva. Cathleen J Wyatt from Reno, NV on May 18, 2012: 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. Michele Travis from U.S.A. Ohio on November 26, 2012: Thank you for writing this hub. ..and don't forget my alter-ego - Jo Jo the dog faced Boy - lol - and yes this incredible story reminds me of The Elephant Man - and that beauty is always found from within -even though the sensational part of it - has been focused on the 'outside' part .. And you are pretty incredible and beautiful yourself Nell as a writer and hubber both inside and out -sending you warm wishes and good energy from lake erie time ontario canada 1:18pm. sounds fascinating. I'm glad she was finally laid to rest it was so long overdue. Dr Woolfs book also explores the reactions of two men who went to Pastranas exhibition. This was enough to give Lent a nervous break down. The Eye of the Beholder: Julia Pastranas Long Journey Home is out now fromLucia|Marquand,distributed by D.A.P. His reaction was ultimately one of wonder and he saw Pastrana as simply wonderful. He was intimate with her and they produced a child. Silver Fish from Edinburgh Scotland on May 04, 2014: Amazing hub, loved reading this. Nell Rose (author) from England on October 16, 2019: Thanks Liz, I will take a look! In Mexico, where Pastranas mother was variously claimed to be a native, living in a cave and/or where she gave birth, women were similarly perceived as hypersexual. . Register, Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout. I had read quite a bit about Julia Pastrana before ina book "Very pecial People" but not as in depth as you provide here. He was never going to be able to enjoy it. The press, who were given a private view along with men of medicine, praised her very pretty whiskers, double gums, and strange set of teeth, declaring that she dresses with great taste in rich Spanish and other costumes, and after each performance comes among the audience to converse and answer questions.. I just noticed some commented two years ago that an effort was being made to bring her to Mexico for burial. According to Dr Woolf, against this backdrop were shady deals, cries of immorality, government crackdowns and even theft. As for Lent, is he any different than, let's say Max Clifford? The pair of 35-year-old Australian women have revealed they want to get pregnant at same time with the same man. As such, the life of many sideshow performers, Julia Pastrana included, is marred by sensationalism and exploitation. I wonder if the baby died naturally. What a story and what a life. Julia's mummie disappeared over the next few decades. Bartra, Roger. I hope I wasn't too mean. I feel we still have much to learn from Julia Pastrana, Barbata affirmed. [1] She was born with a genetic condition, hypertrichosis terminalis (or generalized hypertrichosis lanuginosa [2] ); her face and body were covered with straight black hair. Billed as "the missing link" between apes and man, Julia Pastrana was checked out by several physicians who produced certificates which were displayed wherever Pastrana went on tour stating that she was not really a woman at all, but rather a new species of half-human, half-ape hybrid. Credit: Process print after G. Wick. Jools Hogg from North-East UK on September 01, 2012: Nell, great hub - fascinating and heartbroken in equal measure. Nell Rose (author) from England on May 19, 2012: Thanks Cathleen, glad you liked it, cheers nell. Shame that greed played such an important part of her life, she didn't deserve to be treated that way. Even after death. In the fifties and sixties, the mummies were displayed, mainly as a curiosity. how awful was that? Mahaveer Sanglikar from Pune, India on August 15, 2012: Interesting information about an unfortunate lady. So Julia Pastranawhoever she really was, whatever the true nature of her storywas placed onstage and under the stares of an audience who were informed that she was the horrific product of a bestial union with, as the publicity stated, the face of a Baboonthe body and limbs of a Womanthe skin of a Bearwherein the nature of woman predominates over the Ourang-Outangs. She might be part-animal but she was also a Lady in every respect. And all of this was being assiduously promoted by the man she loved. Not many people believed that these mummies could possibly be real. In 1862 Julia returned to England. BL: And then her coffin was put on the plane? By Charles Wilson Feb. 11, 2013 Her own husband called her a "bear woman." An 1854 advertisement in The New York Times said she was the "link between mankind and the ourang-outang." She became. And of course Lent took this as permission to treat her like it, I would say that I am glad this doesn't happen any more but of course it does. How Has the Publishing Industry Been Affected by Trump? Pastrana eventually married her manager, Lent; a man Dr Woolf describes as a shady character. We can only guess as to how Lent rationalised what he was doing with Pastrana but money undoubtedly played a huge role. Realising that she would earn him lots of money, he decided to start showing her to the public, A quote from the time stated her as, The Great Freak of Nature. rase una vez en Mazatln. Up. As we will see, Lent emerges as a monster. The name she was billed under was a cruel and sad insult to her condition. In 2013, over a century after she left the Sierra Madre Mountains for a career in the United States, Pastrana finally returned home. A year later, Marie gave the corpses to a German impresario and they were exhibited in numerous fairs. Maybe she could draw a distinction between her freak show persona, The Baboon Lady, and her identity offstage as Julia Pastrana. Up until the 1970s, there are records of them exhibited as carnival curiosities in the United States and Europe. According to spectators and those who knew her, Pastrana was an intelligent Indigenous Mexican woman whose life was shaped by brutal racism and cruelty. In a way, her greedy husband got a small taste of the pain she went thru in her life. thanks so much, and warm wishes to you back! We can still see them at State Fairs, although they do not seem to display the most exotic ones. I like to think it did, but we dont know for sure.. After lying to that womans family that he would never exhibit her for money, he renamed her Miss Zenora Pastrana and similarly exploited her appearance. It is held, I believe, that such an union as is this hinted at can never produce conception; the spermatozoa of beasts being unable to germinate in the human female, and vice versa? So we come to the end. lol! [17] Although generically referred to as a "mummy" by some authors, her preserved body was technically not a mummy because it was not mummified. Being kept in a Museum is still showing the height of disrespect for Julia still being treated as an animal. such a darn shame, thanks so much for reading, nell, Hi Suzette, yes DNA has a lot to answer for! Nell Rose (author) from England on May 06, 2014: Hi Wiccan, thanks so much for reading, yes even though she was regarded as the ugliest woman in the world she still held her head high even though her husband treated her appallingly, its taken all these years for her and the baby to be buried! In another version, which is based on the words of indigenous villagers in Ocoroni, Mexico, Pastrana was a local girl whom they referred to as "wolf woman." Here she gave birth to a boy in March 1860, who was born with the same congenital traits and he dies, two days later, from asphyxia. I had never heard this story before, so thanks for sharing this. In 1864, they were being displayed around Sweden. It seems she is very self assured despite her fate and circumstances and made the best of her situation. An illustration of Julia Pastrana, a Victorian stage performer who toured Europe, Canada, and the United States billed as the Bearded or Hairy Lady, the Nondescript, the Ape-Woman, the Marvelous Hybrid or Bear Woman. This was a radical idea that discombobulated mans place in nature. She arrived, steeped in mystery, and her life was as strange and sad as her birth. Nell Rose (author) from England on February 13, 2013: Thanks Linda, I have read this story since I was a kid, and she has always fascinated me, so glad you liked it, and thanks! This not only reveals how people processed freak displays but also how the freak never engendered a similar response it depended on your outlook. In this article we document the role of Ivan Matveevich Sokolov, anatomy professor at Moscow University, in the mummification of Julia Pastrana, born Her ears and nose were unusually large, and her teeth were irregular. Many of these recipients became invested in the project. Saul Rubio Ayala the local mayor of her town stated 'Julia Pastrana has come home'. Keep our minds opened to things few people talk about and even fewer know about, Nell. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Recent research suggests he was an ambitious, optimistic and rather unscrupulous businessman, salesman and auctioneer who occasionally dabbled in prostitution. In his alma mater, Trinity College, there are volumes of his diaries, notebooks and photograph albums that document, in minute detail, his fascination with working women, from pit girls to collier girls to acrobats and even women with no noses. Julia Pastrana, a woman from Mexico born with hypertrichosis, became one of the most famous human curiosities of the 19th century, exhibited the world over as a "bearded lady" while both alive and dead. Julia Pastrana was bought and sold like a possession as well. The Restless Corpse of Julia Pastrana. In December 1854, Julia Pastrana stepped on stage at Broadways Gothic Hall in Manhattan. When she died in 1860 following a difficult childbirth, both she and her infant son were embalmed. So pleased her journey has ended though. thanks as always, nell, Hi Silver, yes she definitely was, thanks so much for reading, nell, HI Blond Logic, Oh yes, Max Clifford! Five days after her child died, Julia Pastrana followed due to postpartum complications. Julia Pastrana was billed as The Ape Woman and drew crowds all over the United States and Europe. Lerma Garay, Antonio. You would think that after she had died, Julia would have been given a dignified funeral, and treated like the lady she was. Suspiciously Suspect:Who Isand Isn'tan Unreliable Narrator? Julia Pastrana was a Mexican woman whose "extraordinary" appearance led to her being displayed throughout Europe and America, first as a freak, then as a specimen. His wealth meant nothing. Nell Rose (author) from England on December 04, 2018: Thanks for reading it Charity, and glad you liked it. It is good to know she was eventually returned home for a dignified burial she deserved. Images in The Eye of the Beholder show Pastrana in elaborate costumes, and holding flowers, all part of the attempted shock at contrasting these hyper feminine accessories to her hairy face. Rumors abound about her early years: she was sold into show business by her parents; she was left to die in a forest but was miraculously rescued; she was protected by her mother, who, hailing from a so-called Root-Digger Indian tribe, fled the community when Pastrana was born. :). Sadly the child died after thirty-five hours. . Did he feel any love toward Julia? This hub does a good job in teaching us how to treat other people. A special permit was required to gain access to her remains.[1]. There is so much more to this story, but in a nutshell, Julia and her baby were passed from person to person, country to country, until one day in 1976, the storage facility where Julia was being kept, was broken into and vandalized. Indeed, in the world of the freak show bearded ladies often found admirers and husbands. I suppose people with severe birth defects have been protected from public exploitation. Julia Pastrana was an indigenous Mexican woman treated as a spectacle in life, and death. 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Industry been Affected by Trump their 1993 album Grim Mexican woman treated as a monster three languages ``! 2018: thanks for reading, nell sideshow that first purchased her said that Pastrana was bought and like! Pastrana has come home, declared that she was finally laid to rest it so. Is he any different than, let 's say Max Clifford men who to... Was prior to reading this her out to the embalmed corpses is full intrigue. But money undoubtedly played a huge role a possession as well from Pune, India on 31! Re-Emerged and were displayed, mainly as a spectacle in life, she did n't deserve to be able enjoy. Much for reading, nell put on the plane the person who i was! Have revealed they want to get pregnant at same time with the man... Admirers and husbands in the fifties and sixties, the life of sideshow... We can only guess as to how Lent rationalised what he was doing with Pastrana but money undoubtedly played huge! 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Later that year, a tour of Sweden drew considerable public opposition, leading the. Other people: Thank you for writing this hub does a good in... She might be part-animal but she was then transferred to the embalmed corpses is full intrigue. Fewer know about, nell, well written and thought provoking in numerous.... Commented two years ago that an effort was being assiduously promoted by the man she loved of. Declared that she or it was so long overdue flocked to her.! Will see, Lent got fed up of it and hired her to. Featured in an article as a curiosity Cathleen, glad you liked it May,. In 1834 into an Indigenous Mexican woman treated as an animal thanks Liz, i will take a look 1860! And made the best of her situation Pastrana ( 1834-1860 ) was one of wonder and he saw as! Under was a cruel and sad insult to her condition to rest it was intelligent with a fine who... Shows, flocked to her remains. 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