Julia Pastrana: Biography

Julia Pastrana (1834-1860) was a Mexican woman who suffered from various diseases that affected her physical appearance. Because of that, it was exposed as an attraction in various shows. Pastrana toured part of the United States and Europe with different representatives, although some experts consider them rather owners.

Although it was exploited for its physical appearance, the truth is that it enjoyed many qualities. He had talent for singing, spoke several languages, had a great intelligence and, according to the chronicles that have come to this day, had a very attractive conversation and personality.

The lack of scruples of his last representative, who came to marry her, led him to take advantage of Julia even after she died. His corpse was paraded through several European countries, exposed as a phenomenon of nature.

After a series of events, including the theft of her mummified body, Julia's body was moved back to Mexico, where she is buried today. Its history has been taken to the cinema and has served as an argument to a play.

Biography

First years of Julia Pastrana

Actually, we do not know enough about the history of the first years of this woman. Much of what is told is contradictory, without knowing whether they were later inventions or reality.

The only thing that chroniclers agree on is that Julia Pastrana was born in Sinaloa. The date varies according to the source, but the most accepted is 1834. Likewise, some people point out that he came to the world in Santiago de Ocoroni, in Leyva. In the absence of a birth certificate, the real details are difficult to know.

Julia was from an indigenous family, from a tribe called"seekers of roots"(r oot digger ). These occupied western Mexico. Some author also points out that there is evidence that he lived in a cave until he was four years old.

Story in the pamphlets about his childhood

Already famous, the story of his life was part of the advertising that announced his shows, which does not guarantee its accuracy.

According to these reports, as a child she accompanied an Indian woman named Espinoza, although it seems that she was not his mother. Espinoza had been left for dead after separating from her tribe in 1830, but later appeared with some jeans.

At that time Julia was only 2 years old and ended up adopting the woman's last name after she married and baptized her. After the death of Espinoza, Julia began working in the house of the governor of Sinaloa as a servant, until in 1854 she left the job and prepared to return to her homeland.

Julia Pastrana's disease

Before continuing with his life, it is necessary to point out that Julia suffered two diseases related to her physical appearance and that marked her entire career.

His face, and also in the rest of the body to a lesser degree, was full of hair. His jaw was very prominent and had short stature: only 1.4 meters. Many compared it to a monkey, and there were even those who claimed it was the result of a hybrid between an orangutan and a human. Charles Darwin himself commented the following on it:

"Julia Pastrana, a Spanish dancer, was an extraordinarily thin woman, but she had a thick beard and hairy forehead. He was photographed and his skin was put on display. But what concerns us is that it had in both jaws, upper and lower, an irregular double row of teeth. One row placed inside the other, from which Dr. Purland took a sample. Due to the excess of teeth, his mouth was projected and his face had the appearance of a gorilla"

Hypertrichosis

The name of his disease was hypertrichosis, known as werewolf syndrome. Those who suffer from it have an abnormal amount of hair all over their body.

On the other hand, he suffered from prognathism, which caused him to have totally irregular teeth and gave his jaw the strange shape he had.

Entry into the world of show

As with his birth, there are several versions of how his life began as a circus attraction. Some affirm that, when she returned to her land from the house of the governor of Sinaloa, she met M. Rates, an American who took her with him to use in his shows.

Others affirm that Rates saw it while still working for the governor, and others say that it was an administrator of the port of Mazatlan who bought it from him. Finally, some people claim that it was directly sold to a circus.

Debut at the Gothic Hall

What is known for sure is that it debuted before the public in 1854, in New York. There, at the Gothic Hall, they presented her as"The Bear Woman"and as"The Wonderful Hybrid".

Criticism in the press the next day made reference to his horrible appearance, but they emphasized his talent for singing.

Route through the United States

From New York he went to Cleveland, already with a new owner (or representative, as they called themselves). In that city she was taken to numerous military galas, as well as to social dances. Apparently, tails were formed to dance with her.

The route through the United States also took her to Boston, and they even went to Canada. Little by little he was making a name beyond his appearance thanks to his multiple qualities.

Trip to Europe

His fame had crossed the ocean and was claimed from Europe. Already with Theodor Lent, a new representative, he arrived in London and offered several performances. The media portrayed her as a woman satisfied and happy with her life, but it was always Lent who gave that version.

Already in 1857 Lent tried to take it to Germany, but the German authorities did not give permission for his show. To avoid that problem, the representative stated that she was a theater actress and not a circus rarity.

Thus, a work was invented for Julia to represent her in Leipzig. Of course, the argument, finally, was based on his physical appearance. The city police ended up banning the performances.

Julia, well known at that time, received a large number of marriage proposals. In an interview in Germany he declared that he rejected them because men were not rich enough. All the historians affirm that, in fact, that was the intention of Lent: to marry her with a millionaire for his own benefit.

Ironically, it was the representative who ended up marrying Julia, who had managed to accumulate a small fortune. They married in 1857.

Pregnancy and death

It seems that Julia had ended up getting fond of Lent, but the treatment that he gave her was terrible. He forced her to go to numerous doctors to examine her, as well as to visit many scientists to undergo various tests.

When he moved to Vienna, he forbade him to leave the house and became very aggressive. Sometime later, while they were touring Poland and Russia, she became pregnant.

He had his son on March 20, 1860. The child was born with the same disease as his mother. He ended up dying barely a day and a half after being born. As for Julia, the birth left her dying. She died five days after giving birth.

Exploitation of Julia after her death

Considering that Lent had not stopped selling tickets during his wife's agony, it is understood that his death did not end with his desire to obtain economic benefit at his expense.

First he sold the bodies of Julia and the deceased child to a Russian professor, who exhibited them at the Anatomical Institute of Moscow University after mummifying them.

When verifying the success that it obtained, the widower went to the courts to recover the corpses. He won the trial and took the mummies to England. There he exposed them to the public, with Julia dressed in one of her dance costumes. Thousands of people visited the macabre exhibition.

The mummies passed through different places, always exposed for the benefit of Lent. Finally, he sold them to the highest bidder.

A new Pastrana

Lent gives a new twist to the situation. He found - and married - another woman with the same illness that Julia had. He told the audience that he was his sister and recovered the bodies to put on a new show: Julia, the boy and his new wife.

Finally, the new marriage ended up living in St. Petersburg. It was there that Theodro Lent became psychologically ill and died after a period of time in a sanatorium.

His widow, named Zenora, moved to Germany and, willing to continue living from the memory of Julia, returns to exhibit together with the two mummies in 1889. Then she sold them to J.B. Gassner who, in turn, auctioned them in Vienna in 1895.

In Norway

For a few years there was no news of the whereabouts of Julia's remains or her son's. In 1921 they appeared in Norway, in a chamber of horrors. During World War ended up being exhibited in countries occupied by the Nazis, who wanted to obtain money.

The body of the boy is destroyed in 1976, when some vandals enter the building where he is and are angry with him. Already in 1979, with the bodies still showing up, the protests of humanitarian organizations cause them to withdraw.

That same year someone steals the mummy, which reappears in some way at the Forensic Institute in Oslo, but without identifying.

In this way, for 11 years the body remains there, without anyone knowing who it belonged to. In 1990 they discovered his identity and stayed at the University of Oslo until the beginning of the new century.

Back home

Finally, in 2012 the university of the Nordic country decides to send the body back to Mexico. It was on February 7, 2013 when Julia Pastrana was able to return to her homeland. His body was buried in the Historical Cemetery of the state of Sinaloa, on February 13 of that same year, putting an end to his story.

Refere ncias

1. Fregoso, Juliana. The painful history of the Mexican woman who was made to act in Europe as"the ugliest woman in the world". Retrieved from infobae.com
2. Orozco, Gisela. Julia Pastrana: Her sad, inexplicable and wonderful story. Retrieved from chicagotribune.com
3. WikiMexico The sad story of Julia Pastrana: the simian woman. Retrieved from wikimexico.com
4. Lovejoy, Bess. Julia Pastrana: A"Monster to the Whole World". Retrieved from publicdomainreview.org
5. CandyGuy Julia Pastrana - The Nondescript. Retrieved from thehumanmarvels.com
6. Wilson, Charles. An Artist Finds a Dignified Ending for an Ugly Story. Retrieved from nytimes.com
7. The Independent. Julia Pastrana: The Tragic Story of the Victorian Ape Woman. Retrieved from independent.co.uk
8. Miles, Professor A E W. Julia Pastrana: The Bearded Lady. Retrieved from europepmc.org