Zheng He
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Zheng He and his Treasure Ships.
Zheng He (simplified Chinese: 郑和; traditional Chinese: 鄭和; pinyin: Zhèng Hé; Wade-Giles: Cheng Ho; Birth name: 馬和 Ma He. Also known as: 馬三寶 / 马三宝; pinyin: Mǎ Sānbǎo; ) (about 1371–1435), was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who made the voyages along with Wang Jinghong to Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the travels of "Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean" (Chinese: 三保太監下西洋) or "Zheng He to the Western Ocean", from 1405 to 1433.
Life
Zheng He was originally named Ma He and was born in 1371 or 1375. He was the second son of a Muslim family which also had four daughters, from Kunyang (昆阳), present day Jinning (晋宁), just south of Kunming near the southwest corner of Lake Tian in Yunnan.
Both his grandfather and great-grandfather carried the title of Hajji, which indicates they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca. His great-grandfather was named Bayan and was, perhaps, a member of a Mongol garrison in Yunnan.
In 1381, the year his father died, and following the defeat of the Northern Yuan, a Ming army was dispatched to Yunnan to put down the Mongol rebel Basalawarmi. Ma He, then only eleven years old, was captured and made a eunuch. He was sent to the Imperial court, where he was called 'San Bao' meaning 'Three Jewels.' He eventually became a trusted adviser of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1403-1424), assisting him in deposing his predecessor, the Jianwen Emperor. In return for meritorious service, the eunuch received the name Zheng He from the Yongle Emperor.
In 1425 the Hongxi Emperor appointed him to be Defender of Nanjing. In 1428 the Xuande Emperor ordered him to complete the construction of the magnificent Buddhist nine-storied Da Baoen Temple in Nanjing, and in 1430 appointed him to lead the seventh and final expedition to the 'Western Ocean.' Zheng He died during the treasure fleet's last voyage, on the returning trip after the fleet reached Hormuz in 1433.
Religious views
Although his precise religious views were not recorded, Zheng He has been portrayed by subsequent generations as either an orthodox Muslim who helped spread his faith into southeast Asia, or as a possible syncretist. The Galle Trilingual Inscription set up by Zheng He around 1410 in Sri Lanka records offerings he made at a Buddhist mountain temple. In around 1431, he set up a commemorative pillar at the temple of the Taoist goddess Tian Fei, the Celestial Spouse, in Fujian province, to whom he and his sailors prayed for safety at sea. This pillar records his veneration for the goddess and his belief in her divine protection, as well as a few details about his voyages. Visitors to the Jinghaisi (静海寺） in Nanjing are reminded of the donations Zheng He made to this non-Muslim area. Although he had been buried at sea, a monument was built to him on land, and this monument was later renovated in an Islamic style.
Expeditions
Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored a series of seven naval expeditions. Emperor Yongle designed them to establish a Chinese presence, impose imperial control over trade, and impress foreign peoples in the Indian Ocean basin. He also might have wanted to extend the tributary system.
Zheng He was placed as the admiral in control of the huge fleet and armed forces that undertook these expeditions. Zheng He's first voyage consisted of a fleet of around 300 treasure ships holding almost 28,000 crewmen. (other sources say 200 ships)
One of a set of maps of Zheng He's missions (郑和航海图), also known as the Mao Kun maps, 1628.Zheng He's fleets visited Arabia, East Africa, India, Indonesia and Thailand (at the time called Siam), dispensing and receiving goods along the way.[12] Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, porcelain and silk; in return, China received such novelties as ostriches, zebras, camels, ivory and giraffes.
Zheng He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy, and his large army awed most would-be enemies into submission. But a contemporary reported that Zheng He "walked like a tiger" and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China's military might. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. He also waged a land war against the Kingdom of Kotte in Ceylon, and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and East Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from thirty states who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.
In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor (reigned 1424–1425), decided to stop the voyages during his short reign. Zheng He made one more voyage under the Xuande Emperor (reigned 1426–1435), but after that the voyages of the Chinese treasure ship fleets were ended. Zheng He died during the treasure fleet's last voyage. Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty: he was, like many great admirals, buried at sea.
Zheng He, on his seven voyages, successfully relocated large numbers of Chinese Muslims to the nascent Malacca, which became a large international trade center (entrepot).
Voyages
Order Time Regions along the way
1st Voyage 1405-1407 Champa, Java, Palembang, Malacca, Aru, Sumatra, Lambri, Ceylon, Kollam, Cochin, Calicut
2nd Voyage 1407-1409 Champa, Java, Siam, Cochin, Ceylon
3rd Voyage 1409-1411 Champa, Java, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Quilon, Cochin, Calicut, Siam, Lambri, Kaya, Coimbatore, Puttanpur
4th Voyage 1413-1415 Champa, Java, Palembang, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Cochin, Calicut, Kayal, Pahang, Kelantan, Aru, Lambri, Hormuz, Maldives, Mogadishu, Barawa, Malindi, Aden, Muscat, Dhufar
5th Voyage 1416-1419 Champa, Pahang, Java, Malacca, Sumatra, Lambri, Ceylon, Sharwayn, Cochin, Calicut, Hormuz, Maldives, Mogadishu, Barawa, Malindi, Aden
6th Voyage 1421-1422 Hormuz, East Africa, countries of the Arabian Peninsula
7th Voyage 1430-1433 Champa, Java, Palembang, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Calicut, Hormuz... (17 states in total)
Zheng He led seven expeditions to what the Chinese called "the Western Ocean" (Indian Ocean). He brought back to China many trophies and envoys from more than thirty kingdoms — including King Alagonakkara of Ceylon, who came to China to apologize to the Emperor.
The records of Zheng's last two voyages, which are believed to be his farthest, were unfortunately destroyed by the Ming emperor. Therefore it is never certain where Zheng has sailed in these two expeditions. The traditional view is that he went as far as Iran.
Detail of the Fra Mauro map relating the travels of a junk into the Atlantic Ocean in 1420. The ship also is illustrated above the text.There are speculations that some of Zheng's ships may have traveled beyond the Cape of Good Hope. In particular, the Venetian monk and cartographer Fra Mauro describes in his 1459 Fra Mauro map the travels of a huge "junk from India" 2,000 miles into the Atlantic Ocean in 1420. What Fra Mauro meant by 'India' is not known and some scholars believe he meant an Arab ship. However, Professor Su Ming-Yang thinks "the ship is European, as it is fitted with a crow’s nest, or lookout post, at the masthead, and has sails fitted to the yards, unlike the batten sails of Chinese ships."
Zheng himself wrote of his travels:
We have traversed more than 100,000 li (50,000 kilometers or 30,000 miles) of immense water spaces and have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night, continued their course [as rapidly] as a star, traversing those savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare… — Tablet erected by Zheng He, Changle, Fujian, 1432. Louise Levathes
Sailing charts
Zheng He's sailing charts were published in a book entitled Wubei Zhi (Treatise on Armament Technology) written in 1621 and published in 1628 but traced back to Zheng He's and earlier voyages. It was originally a strip map 20.5 cm by 560 cm that could be rolled up, but was divided into 40 pages which vary in scale from 7 miles/inch in the Nanjing area to 215 miles/inch in parts of the African coast.
There is little attempt to provide an accurate 2-D representation; instead the sailing instructions are given using a 24 point compass system with a Chinese symbol for each point, together with a sailing time/distance, which takes account of the local currents and winds. Sometimes depth soundings are also provided. It also shows bays, estuaries, capes and islands, ports and mountains along the coast, important landmarks (pagodas, temples) and shoal rocks. Of 300 named places outside China, more than 80% can be confidently located. There are also fifty observations of stellar altitude.
Size of the ships
Traditional and popular accounts of Zheng He's voyages have described a great fleet of gigantic ships, far larger than any other wooden ships in history. Most modern scholars consider these descriptions to be exaggerated.
Chinese records[citation needed] assert that Zheng He's fleet sailed as far as East Africa. According to ancient Chinese sources[citation needed], Zheng He commanded seven expeditions. The 1405 expedition consisted of 27,800 men and a fleet of 62 treasure ships supported by approximately 190 smaller ships. The fleet included:
Treasure ships (Chinese:宝船), used by the commander of the fleet and his deputies (nine-masted, about 126.73 metres (416 ft) long and 51.84 metres (170 ft) wide), according to later writers[citation needed]. This is more or less the size and shape of a football field. The treasure ships purportedly could carry as much as 1,500 tons. 1 By way of comparison, a modern ship of about 1,200 tons is 60 meters (200 ft) long,[30] and the ships Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492 were about 70-100 tons and 17 meters (55 ft) long.
Equine ships (Chinese:馬船), carrying horses and tribute goods and repair material for the fleet (eight-masted, about 103 m (339 ft) long and 42 m (138 ft) wide).
Supply ships (Chinese:粮船), containing staple for the crew (seven-masted, about 78 m (257 ft) long and 35 m (115 ft) wide).
Troop transports(Chinese:兵船), six-masted, about 67 m (220 ft) long and 25 m (83 ft) wide.
Fuchuan warships (Chinese:福船), five-masted, about 50 m (165 ft) long.
Patrol boats (Chinese:坐船), eight-oared, about 37 m (120 ft) long.
Water tankers (Chinese:水船), with 1 month's supply of fresh water.
Six more expeditions took place, from 1407 to 1433, with fleets of comparable size.
The modern understanding of the ships derives from empirical and theoretical knowledge of the technical limitations of wooden sailing ships, historical Chinese records and accounts from European travelers who visited China around this time. However, there is debate amongst scholars about how these records should be interpreted. Some accounts suggest that treasure ships may have first appeared as early as the Song dynasty (宋朝) (960-1279). The modern analysis of the shape and structure of these ships is based on the contemporary Tian Fei Jing (The Worship of the Celestial Spouse) and the Wubei Zhi (The Records of Armanents and Military Provisions)
If the accounts can be taken as factual, Zheng He's treasure ships were mammoth ships with nine masts and four decks, capable of accommodating more than 500 passengers, as well as a massive amount of cargo. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta in their translated accounts described multi-masted ships carrying 500 to 1000 passengers Niccolò Da Conti, a contemporary of Zheng He, was also an eyewitness of ships in Southeast Asia, claiming to have seen 5 masted junks weighing about 2000 tons Zheng He's fleet included 300 ships, including 62 treasure ships, some of which were said to have been 137 m (450 ft) long and 55 m (180 ft) wide. There are even some sources that claim some of the treasure ships might have been as long as 600 feet (180 m).On the ships, there were more than 28,000 people, including navigators, explorers, sailors, doctors, workers, and soldiers. Chinese records assert that Zheng He's fleet travelled extensively, sailing as far as East Africa.
Modern study of ship dimensions
According to recent research by professor of marine engineering Xin Yuanou, the length of many of the ships has been estimated at 59 m, which has been accepted by modern scholarship as more realistic.
The largest ships in the fleet, the treasure ships described in Chinese chronicles, would have been several times larger than any wooden ship ever recorded in history, surpassing l'Orient (65 m long) which was built in the late 18th century. The first ships to attain 126 m long were 19th century steamers with iron hulls. Some scholars argue that it is highly unlikely that Zheng He's ship was 450 feet in length, some estimating that they were 390–408 feet long and 160–166 feet wide instead while others put them as 200–250 feet in length.
One explanation for the seemingly inefficient size of these colossal ships was that the largest 44 Zhang treasure ships were merely used by the Emperor and imperial bureaucrats to travel along the Yangtze for court business, including reviewing Zheng He's expedition fleet. The Yangtze river, with its calmer waters, may have been navigable by these Treasure Ships. Zheng He, a court eunuch, would not have had the privilege in rank to command the largest of these ships, seaworthy or not. The main ships of Zheng He's fleet were instead 6 masted 2000-liao ships.
“ A replica (4 feet long, 1 foot and 8 inches wide, and 3 feet tall) of Zheng He’s largest treasure boat will be on display at the lecture session. According to the maker of the replica, Quanzhou Maritime Museum and China Ancient Ship Modeling Center, the original treasure boat was 125 meters long and 51 meters wide, with a maximum loading capacity of 7,000 tons and total water displacement of 14,800 tons.
Accounts of medieval travellers
The characteristics of the Chinese ships of the period are described by Western travelers to the East, such as Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo. According to Ibn Battuta, who visited China in 1347:
…We stopped in the port of Calicut, in which there were at the time thirteen Chinese vessels, and disembarked. China Sea traveling is done in Chinese ships only, so we shall describe their arrangements. The Chinese vessels are of three kinds; large ships called chunks (junks), middle sized ones called zaws (dhows) and the small ones kakams. The large ships have anything from twelve down to three sails, which are made of bamboo rods plaited into mats. They are never lowered, but turned according to the direction of the wind; at anchor they are left floating in the wind. Three smaller ones, the "half", the "third" and the "quarter", accompany each large vessel. These vessels are built in the towns of Zaytun and Sin-Kalan. The vessel has four decks and contains rooms, cabins, and saloons for merchants; a cabin has chambers and a lavatory, and can be locked by its occupants. This is the manner after which they are made; two (parallel) walls of very thick wooden (planking) are raised and across the space between them are placed very thick planks (the bulkheads) secured longitudinally and transversely by means of large nails, each three ells in length. When these walls have thus been built the lower deck is fitted in and the ship is launched before the upper works are finished." (Ibn Battuta).
Connection to the history of Late Imperial China
Zheng He's initial objective was[citation needed]to enroll far flung states into the Ming tributary system, but it was later decided that the voyages were not cost efficient.[citation needed] After Zheng's voyages, China turned away from the seas due to the Hai jin order, and was isolated from European technological advancements. Although historians such as John Fairbank and Joseph Needham popularized this view in the 1950s, Han Chinese historians in modern times point out that Chinese maritime commerce did not totally stop after Zheng He, that Chinese ships continued to dominate Southeast Asian commerce until the 19th century and that active Chinese trading with India and East Africa continued long after the time of Zheng. The travels of the Chinese Junk Keying to the United States and England between 1846 and 1848 testify to the power of Chinese shipping until the 19th century. Moreover revisionist historians such as Jack Goldstone argue that the Zheng He voyages ended for practical reasons that did not reflect the technological level of China[48]
Although the Ming Dynasty did ban shipping with the Hai jin edict, they eventually lifted this ban. The alternative view cites the fact that by banning oceangoing shipping, the Ming (and later Qing) dynasties forced countless numbers of people into black market smuggling. This reduced government tax revenue and increased piracy. The lack of an oceangoing navy then left China highly vulnerable to the Wokou pirates that ravaged China in the 16th century.
Richard von Glahn (University of California, Los Angeles Professor of History and a specialist in Chinese history) commented that a majority of school history texts present Zheng He wrongly; they "offer counterfactual arguments", and "emphasize China's missed opportunity." The "narrative emphasizes the failure" instead of Zheng He's accomplishments. He goes on to claim that "Zheng He reshaped Asia." According to him, maritime history in the fifteenth century is essentially the Zheng He story and the effects of Zheng He's voyages.
Von Glahn claims that Zheng He's influence lasted beyond his age, may be seen as the tip of an iceberg, and there is much more to the story of maritime trade and other relationships in Asia in the fifteenth century and beyond.
State-sponsored Ming naval efforts declined dramatically after Zheng's voyages. Starting in the early 15th century, China experienced increasing pressure from resurgent Mongolian tribes from the north. In recognition of this threat and possibly to move closer to his family's historical geographic power base, in 1421 the emperor Yongle moved the capital north from Nanjing to present-day Beijing. From the new capital he could apply greater imperial supervision to the effort to defend the northern borders. At considerable expense, China launched annual military expeditions from Beijing to weaken the Mongolians. The expenditures necessary for these land campaigns directly competed with the funds necessary to continue naval expeditions.
In 1449 Mongolian cavalry ambushed a land expedition personally led by the emperor Zhengtong less than a day's march from the walls of the capital. In the Battle of Tumu Fortress the Mongolians wiped out the Chinese army and captured the emperor. This battle had two salient effects. First, it demonstrated the clear threat posed by the northern nomads. Second, the Mongols caused a political crisis in China when they released Zhengtong after his half-brother had proclaimed himself the new Jingtai emperor. Not until 1457 did political stability return when Zhengtong recovered the throne. Upon his return to power China abandoned the strategy of annual land expeditions and instead embarked upon a massive and expensive expansion of the Great Wall of China. In this environment, funding for naval expeditions simply did not happen.
Relics
Nanjing Tianfeigong (南京天妃宫)
Zheng He built Tianfeigong (天妃宫, Tianfei palace) in Nanjing after the return of their first western voyage in 1407.
Stele of Tongfan Deed (通番事跡碑)
The stele of Tongfan Deed (通番事跡, deed of foreign connection and exchange) is located in the Tianfeigong in Taicang where they start their journey. It was submerged and disappeared and has been rebuilt.
Stele of Record of Tianfei Showing Her Presence and Power (天妃靈應之記碑)
In order to impetrate and thank the bless of Tianfei, Zheng He and his colleagues rebuilt Tianfeigong at Nanshan, Changle County, Fujian province before their 7th western voyage. They founded a stele with the inscription title Tian Fei Ling Ying Zhi Ji (天妃靈應之記, Record of Tianfei Showing Her Presence and Power) there, which tells about their voyages.
Zheng He Stele in Sri Lanka
Galle Trilingual Inscription in Sri Lanka was discovered in the city of Galle in 1911 and is preserved in the Sri Lanka National Museum. Three languages were used for inscription: Chinese, Tamil and Persian.
Commemoration
Tomb and museum
Zheng He's tomb in Nanjing has been repaired and a small museum has been built next to it, although his body is missing as he was buried at sea off the Malabar coast near Calicut in Western India. However, his sword and other personal possessions were interred in the typical Muslim tomb inscribed with Arabic characters.
Map
Zheng He Map, 1763; Collection of Liu Gang In January 2006, BBC News and The Economist both published news regarding the exhibition of a Chinese sailing map with detailed descriptions of both Native Americans and Native Australians. The map (at right) was dated 1763, and was supposedly a copy of an earlier map made in 1418. Supporters of Gavin Menzies' 1421 theory claim the map as proof that Zheng He sailed to the Americas and Australia. Critics point out that the map, if authentic, is more likely to be based on an eighteenth-century European map.
According to the map's owner, Liu Gang, a Chinese lawyer and collector, he purchased the map in 2001 for $500 USD from a Shanghai dealer. A number of authorities on Chinese history have questioned the authenticity of the map. Some point to the use of the Mercator-style projection, its accurate reckoning of longitude and its North-based orientation. None of these features was used in the best maps made in either Asia or Europe during this period (for example see the Kangnido map (1410) and the Fra Mauro map (1459)). Also mentioned is the depiction of the erroneous Island of California, a mistake commonly repeated in European maps from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. On the map the American continent is labelled phonetically "A-me-ri-ca" (今名北亞墨利加, literally: "Now Name Northern A-me-ri-ca," see detail). This translation was unknown in Ming Dynasty, and is known to be a borrowing from the West, (Amerigo Vespucci).
Geoff Wade of the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore has strongly disputed the authenticity of the map and has suggested that it is either an 18th or 21st-century fake. Wade has pointed out a number of anachronisms that appear in the map and its text annotations. For example, in the text next to Eastern Europe, which has been translated as "People here mostly believe in God and their religion is called 'Jing' (景, referring to Nestorianism)", Wade notes that the Chinese word for the Christian God is given as "Shang-di" (上帝), which is a usage that was first borrowed from Chinese ancient text by Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci in the 16th century.
In May 2006 the Dominion Post reported that Fiona Petchey, head of the testing unit at Waikato University, which had carbon dated the map, had asked Gavin Menzies to remove claims from his website that the dating proved the map was genuine. The carbon dating indicated with an 80% probability a date for the paper of the map between either 1640–1690 or 1730–1810. However as the ink was not tested, it was impossible to know when it was drawn. Ms Petchey said, "we asked him to remove those, not because we were not happy with the dates, but because we were not overly happy with being associated with his interpretations of those dates."
More on Zheng He : Nanjing Treasure Dockyard relics
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Hypertrichosis Aka The "werewolf Syndrome".
Hypertrichosis is a disorder characterized by excessive hair growth on the body. There are two distinct types of hypertrichosis: generalized hypertrichosis, which occurs over the entire body, and localized hypertrichosis, which is restricted to a certain area. Hypertrichosis may also be either congenital (present at birth), or acquired later in life. The excess growth of hair occurs in areas that are not androgen-dependent areas of the skin. Hypertrichosis differs from hirsuitism, which is abnormal hair growth on females in places which normally have minimal or no hair (i.e. chest hair, beard).
Several circus sideshow performers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as "the bearded lady" and "wolf-man", suffered from hypertrichosis. They were usually displayed as "freaks" and promoted as if they had distinct human and animal traits. More extensive cases of hypertrichosis have been informally called werewolf syndrome.
Classification
Congenital
Congenital forms of hypertrichosis are a dominant trait which has been linked to the X chromosome.
Congenital hypertrichosis lanuginosa
Congenital hypertrichosis lanuginosa is a rare form of hypertrichosis first noticeable at birth, because the infant is completely covered with thin lanugo hair. Normally, lanugo hair is shed before the infant is born and is replaced by vellus hair, however in an individual suffering from congenital hypertrichosis lanuginosa the lanugo hair is never shed and instead persists throughout the life of the individual.Congenital hypertrichosis languniosa is inherited through a gene, hence the name congenital. Congenital hypertrichosis lanuginosa is a dominant autosomal cutaneous disorder, meaning it is a dominant trait, not related to the sex chromosome, that affects the skin.
Congenital generalized hypertrichosis
Congenital generalized hypertrichosis is a very rare disorder, with fewer than 100 cases documented in scientific publications and by the media. In males, excessive facial and upper body hair are apparent, while women typically exhibit asymmetrical hair distribution. It is thought that this condition is caused by genetic changes on chromosome 17 resulting in the addition or removal of millions of nucleotides. The gene MAP2K6 may play a role, but this condition may also be due to the change in the chromosome affecting the transcription of genes further away on the chromosome.
Congenital terminal hypertrichosis
Congenital terminal hypertrichosis is characterized by the presence of terminal hair which covers the entire body. This condition is almost always presents with gingival hyperplasia. This form is most responsible for the term "Werewolf Syndrome" because of the thick dark hair that appears. Sufferers of this condition are usually performers at circuses because of their unusual appearance.
Congenital circumscribed hypertrichosis
Congenital circumscribed hypertrichosis is closely associated with the presence of thick vellus hair on the upper extremities. Circumscribed signifies that this type of hypertrichosis is restricted to certain parts of the body, in this case, the upper extremities. Hairy Elbow Syndrome, a type of congenital circumscribed hypertrichosis, shows excessive growth on and around the elbows. This type of hypertrichosis is present at birth and becomes more prominent during aging, only to regress at puberty.
Congenital localized hypertrichosis
Congenital localized hypertrichosis is a localized increase in hair density and length.
Acquired
Acquired hypertrichosis is gained after birth as a side effect of a drug, or from another cause. Acquired forms of hypertrichosis can usually be reduced with various treatments.
Acquired patterned hypertrichosis
Acquired patterned hypertrichosis is an increase in hair growth in a pattern formation, and, similar to acquired generalized hypertrichosis, is an ominous sign of internal malignancy.
Acquired generalized hypertrichosis
Acquired generalized hypertrichosis commonly affects the cheeks, upper lip, and chin. This form also affects the forearms and legs, however it is less common to occur in these areas. Another deformity associated with acquired generalized hypertrichosis is multiple hairs occupying the same follicle, or hairs going off of their normal growth pattern as what happens to the eyelashes in a condition known as trichiasis. Oral minoxidil treatments for hypertension are known to cause this condition. Topical minoxidil used for alopecia causes hair growth in the areas it is applied to, however this hair disappears shortly after discontinuing the use of topical minoxidil.
Acquired localized hypertrichosis
Acquired localized hypertrichosis is an increase in hair density and length often secondary to irritation or trauma.:651 This form is restricted to a certain area of the body.
Nevoid hypertrichosis
Nevoid hypertrichosis may be congenital or acquired because it can appear at birth or later in life. It features a lone area of excessive terminal hair on the body and is usually not related to any other diseases.
Causes
Genetics
The cause of all congenital hypertrichosis is a genetic mutation. Congenital hypertrichosis is always present at birth.
Patterns of inheritance of females with hypertrichosis
Patterns of inheritance of males with hypertrichosisThe congenital hypertrichosis condition has been linked to the X chromosome. A female carrying the hypertrichosis gene has a 50-50 chance of passing it to her offspring. A male carrying the gene will always pass it onto his daughters, but never to his sons. The gene that causes hypertrichosis is believed to be from the time when primates were evolving to men.
Acquired
Acquired hypertrichosis is the most common form of hypertrichosis. Causes include, metabolic disorders, anorexia, thyroid disorders, and most commonly drugs or chemicals such as oral phentynoin and ciclosporin. Minoxidil, a medication for preventing hair loss, is thought to trigger acquired localized hypertrichosis. Medication induced hypertrichosis can often be treated by using hair removal agents. Acquired generalized hypertrichosis can be obtained through cancer. The hair that grows due to this condition is known as malignant down. Scientists are unsure of why cancer causes hypertrichosis. Oral and topical minoxidil treatments are also known to cause acquired generalized hypertrichosis.
Epidemiology
Occurrence
Frequency for congenital hypertrichosis lanuginosa is dismal, with less than 50 reported cases worldwide. The total occurrence of the condition has been reported in the range of 1 in a billion to 1 in 10 billion. Additionally, there is no known prediction for congenital hypertrichosis in terms of race, sex, or geographic region. Most of the cases are limited to one family. There are fewer than 100 documented cases of congenital generalized terminal hypertrichosis.
Management
There are no cures for congenital forms of hypertrichosis. Acquired forms of hypertrichosis have a variety of sources, and are usually treated by removing the factor causing hypertrichosis, e.g. a medication with undesired side-effects. All hypertrichosis, congenital or acquired, can be reduced through hair removal. Hair removal treatments are categorized into two principal subdivisions: temporary removal and permanent removal. Treatment may have adverse effects by causing scarring,dermatitis, or hypersensitivity.
Temporary Removal
"Depilation", or removal of hair to the level of the skin, lasts several hours to several days and can be achieved by:
Shaving or trimming (manually or with electric shavers)
Depilatories (creams or "shaving powders" which chemically dissolve hair)
Friction (rough surfaces used to buff away hair)
"Epilation", or removal of the entire hair from the root, lasts several days to several weeks and may be achieved by:
Waxing (a hot or cold layer is applied and then removed with porous strips)
Sugaring (similar to waxing, but with a sticky paste)
Threading (also called fatlah or khite, in which a twisted thread catches hairs as it is rolled across the skin).
Permanent Removal
Permanent hair removal involves several imperfect options. A number of methods have been developed that use chemicals, energy of varying types, or a combination to target the areas that regulate hair growth. Permanently destroying these areas while sparing surrounding tissue is a difficult challenge. Methods include:
Electrolysis (electrology)
Laser Hair Removal (Laser Hair Removal)
History
The first recorded case of hypertrichosis was a man by the name of Petrus Gonzales that was born in the Canary Islands in 1556. Portraits of Gonzales were found in the castle of King Ferdinand II of France.
Society and culture
People with hypertrichosis often found jobs as circus performers due to their unique appearance. Fedor Jeftichew, Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Man, Stephan Bibrowski, Lionel the Lion-Faced Man, Jesus "Chuy" Aceves, wolfman, and Annie Jones, the bearded woman, were all notable sufferers of hypertrichosis.
The Hairy Family of Burma
One interesting record in history concerning congenital hypertrichosis lanuginosa is the hairy family of Burma, a four-generational pedigree of the disease. In 1826, John Crawford was leading a mission for the Governor-General of India through Burma when he met a member of the family of Burma. He tells of meeting a hairy man, Shwe-Maong. Shwe-Maong lived in the court of King Ava and acted as an entertainer. Shwe-Maong had four children: three normal children, and one child with congenital hypertrichosis, Maphoon. On a second mission to Ava, Maphoon was described as a thirty year old woman with two sons, one of which had hypertrichosis. The affected son was named Maong-Phoset. He was said to be a well mannered man and had an affected daughter named Mah-Me. Where as all affected members of the family had dental problems, the unaffected members had perfect teeth.
Petrus Gonzales
Little is know of the parents of Petrus Gonzales as he was taken, as an infant, from his home in the Canary Islands to be presented to King Henri II in Pairs. Why was Petrus of such interest? Petrus Gonzales’s entire body – including his face, was covered in long, wavy hair and he was an immediate medical sensation.
In 1557, the first formal report appeared, written by Julius Caesar Scaliger. In his report about the famed boy of Paris, Scaliger referred to the lad as Barbet – the same name used to identify a breed of shaggy dog. A second report in the same year confirms the arrival of Petrus in Paris and states that King Henri ordered that the furry boy was to receive a formal education – not to be kind but rather out of curiosity – the King believed that Petrus was a savage and incapable of learning. His progress was monitored closely and he proved the King quite incorrect by not only learning the basics of education but also becoming fluent in the noble gestures, etiquette and tact. He became quite fluent in the language of the affluent, Latin, and took to wearing splendid robes that actually further accentuated his furry covered face. It was in this way that Petrus became a sought after court guest, a prodigy royal dignitaries and ambassadors flocked to see. He became a great asset to the court of King Henri and was rewarded for his service.
At the age of seventeen, in 1573, Petrus married a young French lady and by 1581 he was the father of two children. Both of his children, one son and one daughter shared his unique appearance and the entire family became the most sought after curiosity of the era. In 1581 the family began a tour of Europe. In 1582 their portraits were painted in Munich by the order of Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria. In 1583 the Gonzales family went to Basel where they were studied by the famed anatomist Felix Plater and he published a detailed account of the visit in his Observationum and further less detailed accounts followed the travels of the family until the early 1590’s.
In the mid 1590’s in Bologna another detailed account updates much of the information on the family as the eight year old daughter of Petrus was the subject of an examination by Count Aldrovandi. The count also commissioned a drawing of the family which now included Petrus, his twenty year old son and two young girls. It is assumed that his wife and eldest daughter had died.
Grandmaster Su Kong Tai Djin (1849 - 1928)
Grandmaster Su Kong Tai Djin was born in the Fukien province of China in 1849 with a rare genetic condition which resulted in his entire body being covered with hair. His parents, convinced they had given birth to a demon, abandoned the infant into a nearby forest. A group of passing monks heard the baby's cries, and being educated, realized he was human, and brought him to the Shaolin Temple. Given the child's appearance, the monks knew he would not be adopted by any family and decided to raise the child themselves.
This situation was unique from all others because Su Kong Tai Djin was raised from birth in the temple. He was not only raised with the monks' ideals in mind, he was also not limited in his studies to one master. He was treated as everyone's favorite son and could study with anyone. The masters responded to his rare enthusiasm for learning and he quickly mastered hundreds of forms which had never been accomplished by one man before.
Stefan Bibrowski the “Lion Faced Man”(1891–1932)
Stephan Bibrowski (1891–1932), better known as Lionel the Lion-Faced Man, was a famous sideshow performer. His whole body was covered with long hair that gave him the appearance of a lion; this was likely due to a rare condition called hypertrichosis.
Bibrowski was born in 1891 near Warsaw in Poland with one-inch hair covering his body. His mother blamed the condition on the mauling of his father by a lion, which she witnessed while pregnant with Stephan. She considered Stephan an abomination and gave him up to a German impresario named "Meyer" when he was four. Meyer gave him his stage name and started exhibiting him around Europe.
By the time he was put on exhibit, Lionel's hair had grown to eight inches on his face and hung about four inches everywhere else. His body was almost entirely covered with hair, the only exceptions being the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. In 1901, Lionel traveled to the United States and started appearing with Barnum & Bailey's Circus. He toured with the circus from then on, occasionally going back to Europe.
In his act, Lionel performed gymnastic tricks, and also spoke to people to show his gentle side that sharply contrasted with his appearance. He was known to be a perfect gentleman, and always impeccably dressed. He was also well-educated and spoke five languages. He settled down permanently in the US in 1920, as he became a popular attraction. He moved to New York City and was a fixture at Coney Island for a while.
By the late 1920s, Lionel abandoned his sideshow career and moved back to Germany. He was reported to have died in Berlin from a heart attack in 1932 at the age of forty.
Fjedor Jeftichew Aka jojo the Russian dog faced man
Jo-Jo known as the “Dog Faced Boy” and later the “Dog Faced Man” was by all accounts, pretty much a disgruntled individual when it came to his “career”, plus he was not always in the best of health. Born as Feodor (or Fedor, which translates into Theodore) Adrianovitch Jefticheff (pronounced: Evticheff) in Finland (then a part of the Czarist Russian empire) to a hirsute performer father, Adrian Maximovitch Jefticheff (Jeftichew) and to a woman called Nadia Petrova (in English: Petroff or Peteroff), allegedly a “professional” mistress. As the parents were not married, Feodor often appears registered under variations of both last names. To most westerners, the name Jetficheff sounds Russian. But Russians, knowing their own language are aware that the name is not Russian at all but a russification of a non-Russian name. Adrian Jefticheff hailed from near Tbilisi (Tiflis) in then Russian occupied Georgia.
He was descended from the ancient Greek colony that had been established there hundreds of years back and were known locally by the term "Byzantines". Before touring with carnivals, the elder Jefticheff (who’s name implies Good Fortune in Greek), had periodically shaved his face and worked as a labourer). Billed as the “Dog-Man of the Caucasus” and the "Man-Dog", he was highly successful, having toured the entire world. Contrary to most reports that list him as only performing through Europe, we have irrefutable accounts of his shows throughout the United States. Feodor, was obviously born while the father was touring in Finland. Not Kostroma, not St Petersburg as most accounts suggest, but Finland. There exists a fabulous group of picturesque cabinet card photographs taken of Jo-Jo as an adult in which he is attired in elegant formal wear, both without and with top hat.
There are some interesting anecdotes to these pictures. For one thing, they have routinely been mislabeled as representing the relatively hairier Lionel. Secondly, these pictures all misleadingly bear the names of a variety of photographers located in places from California to New York. In truth, every one of those images was taken during one single photographic session in London, England. All those cabinet cards of Jo-Jo wearing tails that frequently appear up on the market are just old period copies, which different photographers had merely reproduced for Jo-Jo himself to sell and distribute during his shows around the world. The single greatest mystery in Jo-Jo’s life ironically was his death. In 1904, a series of very suspicious looking obituaries were published listing his death from Pneumonia in Thessalonika (Salonica), Greece, then Turkey. For Jo-Jo, his ethnic origins being from Georgia in the Caucasus, the city of Salonica might seem like a natural route to get home.
Danny and Larry Ramos Gomez
Danny Gomez is the younger brother of Larry Gomez. And the cousin of Jesus Aceves, and Lilia Aceves. Together they are known as "The Wolf People." Danny and his brother were born with "Hypertrichosis" a condition known as "The Werewolf Syndrome." Danny is the hairiest of them all. Danny as been performing with his brother, Larry Gomez, since he was 6 years old. Danny and Larry perform as "The Wolf Brothers" He is a trapeze Artist. Does motorcycle stunts, juggling,and comedy. Women are fascinated by his look. The duo had a chance to became TV stars when they were offered starring roles in The X-Files. They didn't really take to this idea. "We don't want to be seen as aliens," they said. Apart from their hairy looks, they are like regular guys. When they're not busy with the circus, Danny likes to play video games and Larry is doing a course in astronomy.
Larry and Danny Ramos Gomez are two of a family of 19, which spans five generations, who all suffer from hypertrichosis or "werewolf syndrome". Even the women of the family are covered with a light to medium coat of hair, while the men have thick hair on every inch of their bodies, apart from their hands and feet. Most forms of excess hairiness are associated with hormone imbalances but the exact causes of the hairy family's hairiness are not yet known. Scientists and researchers are studying the DNA of the boys and searching for clues as to why they are as they are. There have been rumors that the family was searching the world for a cure. The boys deny this. "I'd never cut the hair off," Larry says. "I'm very proud to be who I am."
“King Kong” Yu Zhenhuan
Rather than allow his affliction to dominate his life, Yu Zhenhuan has embraced his notoriety. At the age of six, he starred in his own film “A Hairy Child’s Adventure” and, after being named the world’s hairiest man, pursued a career as a rock star after mastering the guitar and saxophone. Last August, he made an audacious attempt to be included in China’s Olympic build-up after starting a campaign to participate in the traditional pre-Olympic torch relay.
But away from the limelight, Yu’s life has not always been easy. He has had five operations to remove hair from his nose and ears. He also needed help from dentists to repair his gums which, at one point, threatened to engulf his teeth.
Yu Zhenhuan, who was officially named the world’s hairiest man by the Guinness Book of Records in 2002, is determined to find a wife. He believes online dating offers him the best opportunity as potential partners are often shocked by the hopeful hirsute hunk when they meet him in person.
96% of Mr Yu’s body is covered with hair. He sports an average of 41 hairs per square centimetre of his skin thanks to a condition known as atavism. Although he remains realistic about his physical appearance, he doesn’t believe it should be a barrier to finding a soulmate. “I feel like King Kong” he told website Zhejiang Online “Hideous, but with a soft and tender heart”.
A 31-year-old Chinese man whose body is 96 per cent coated in hair has an extra chunk of DNA that could explain his condition, while others with the condition have missing DNA in the same region(New sientist).
Pruthviraj Patil
Although the lad, from the Indian district of Sangli, near Bombay, admits the hair looks awful and makes people stare, the sporty youngster plays cricket with his friends and is popular at school.
"It is difficult when I venture outside of my hometown or where people don't know me," said Pruthviraj.
"But otherwise I have no problem with my hair - it doesn't itch or smell or cause me rashes.
"I would like to get the hair removed but even after laser treatment it grows back. The doctors don't have any answers.
"When I first went to school I used to get bullied and other children would laugh at me, but now they treat me like normal. We all play cricket together and the hair doesn't stop me running or catching the ball, so it is not a big problem."
When Pruthviraj was born, villagers told his mother she had given birth to a God. Others thought he was a supernatural creature and a bad omen.
More on : The Hairy Family of Burma
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Hypertrichosis Aka "Werewolf Syndrome "
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Hirsutism Aka "The Bearded Lady".
Hirsutism (from Latin hirsutus = shaggy, hairy) is excessive and increased hair growth on female humans in locations where the occurrence of terminal hair normally is minimal or absent. For example, a beard, or chest hair. It refers to a male pattern of body hair (androgenic hair) and it is therefore primarily of cosmetic and psychological concern. Hirsutism is a symptom rather than a disease and may be a sign of a more serious medical indication, especially if it develops well after puberty.
Causes
The cause of hirsutism can be either an increased level of androgens (male hormones) or an oversensitivity of hair follicles to androgens. Male hormones such as testosterone stimulate hair growth, increase size and intensify the growth and pigmentation of hair. Other symptoms associated with a high level of male hormones include acne and deepening of the voice and increased muscle mass.
Growing evidence implicates high circulating levels of insulin in women to the development of hirsutism. This theory is consistent with the observation that obese (and thus presumably insulin resistant hyperinsulinemic) women are at high risk of becoming hirsute. Further, treatments that lower insulin levels will lead to a reduction in hirsutism.
It is speculated that insulin, at high enough concentration, stimulates the ovarian theca cells to produce androgens. There may also be an effect of high levels of insulin to activate the insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1) receptor in those same cells. Again, the result is increased androgen production.
The following may be some of the conditions that may increase a woman's normally low level of male hormones:
Polycystic ovary syndrome
Cushing's disease
Tumors in the ovaries or adrenal gland (cancer)
Certain medications
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia
Insulin resistance
Stromal Hyperthecosis - in postmenopausal women
Obesity: As there is peripheral conversion of estrogen to androgen in these patients, this is the same mechanism of PCOS
Appearance and evaluation
Hirsutism affects women and sometimes men, since the rising of androgens causes a male pattern of body hair, sometimes excessive, particularly in locations where women normally do not develop terminal hair within their puberty (chest, abdomen, back and face). The medical term for excessive hair growth that affect both men and women is hypertrichosis.
One method of evaluating hirsutism is the Ferriman-Gallwey score which gives a score based on the amount and location of hair growth on a woman.
Treatment
Many women with unwanted hair seek methods of hair removal to control the appearance of hirsutism. But the actual causes should be evaluated by physicians, who can conduct blood tests, pinpoint the specific origin of the abnormal hair growth, and advise on the best course of treatment. One of the few treatments is the antiandrogen drug Spironolactone.
Women with Hypertrichosis Aka The "werewolf Syndrome".
Petrus Gonzales his girls
At the age of seventeen, in 1573, Petrus married a young French lady and by 1581 he was the father of two children. Both of his children, one son and one daughter shared his unique appearance and the entire family became the most sought after curiosity of the era. In 1581 the family began a tour of Europe. In 1582 their portraits were painted in Munich by the order of Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria. In 1583 the Gonzales family went to Basel where they were studied by the famed anatomist Felix Plater and he published a detailed account of the visit in his Observationum and further less detailed accounts followed the travels of the family until the early 1590’s.
In the mid 1590’s in Bologna another detailed account updates much of the information on the family as the eight year old daughter of Petrus was the subject of an examination by Count Aldrovandi. The count also commissioned a drawing of the family which now included Petrus, his twenty year old son and two young girls. It is assumed that his wife and eldest daughter had died.
The family seemed to break apart at this point and various members joined up with various European royal courts. A girl by the name of Tognina Gonzales – assumed to be the youngest daughter of Petrus came to public attention and the naturalist Ulysses Aldrovandi claimed in his Historia monstrorum that Tognina was eventually married in the court of Parma and had several children of her own.
For the next 40 years members of the Gonzales family ebbed and flowed from the course of history making brief appearance in noble courts. Considering their unique condition, it is unusual that more accounts and records do not exist. It is unknown what exactly happened to Petrus or his descendants. The last historical mention of a Gonzales can be found in a in a memorial plaque attributed to a Horatio Gonzales - an likely descendant of Petrus - and given to a certain Mercurio Ferrari from 1635 which reads:
Here you see Gonzales, once famous in the court of Rome,
Whose human face was covered with hair like an animal’s.
He lived for you, Ferrari, joined to you in love,
And in the portrait he lives on, still breathing although he is dead.
Annie Jones
Annie Jones (c. 1860 – 1902) was an American bearded woman, born in Virginia. She toured with showman P. T. Barnum as a circus attraction. It is unconfirmed if this was a case of Hirsutism or an unrelated genetic condition that affects children of both sexes and continues into adult years.
Early life
When Jones joined Barnum's exhibition as a child of only nine months, Jones' parents received a $150-a-week salary. She was billed as a new "infant Esau." By the age of five, she had a mustache and sideburns and became well known as the "Bearded Girl." US photographer Mathew Brady took Jones' portrait as a child in 1865.A number of additional portraits were taken of Jones during her lifetime and were widely distributed.
In an incident which may have been one of Barnum's publicity stunts, a New York phrenologist kidnapped Jones when she was a young child. Barnum and the police found her exhibited in a church fair. When the man claimed the child as his, the matter went to court. The judge had Jones separated from the others before it was her time to testify. When the child was taken to the courtroom, she went straight to her parents. The judge declared the case closed.
Later life
As an adult, Jones became the country's top "bearded lady" and acted as a spokesperson for Barnum's "Freaks", a word she tried to abolish from the business. Later in her career, Jones toured in Russia and claimed to have turned down painters who asked her to pose as Jesus. She became a musician. Jones married Richard Elliot in 1881, but divorced him in 1895 for her childhood sweetheart William Donovan (who later died, leaving Jones a widow). In 1902, Jones herself died of tuberculosis.
Joséphine Clofullia-Boisdechêne (1831-1875)
Josephine Clofullia been born Boisdechêne came into the world on March 25th, 1831 in Versoix near Geneva.
It was hirsute, and had a beard of five-centimetres in eight years (fifteen centimetres in 16 years). At the age of fourteen years, she begins being displayed in fairs and travels in Europe accompanied with his father and sometimes with an impresario.
She is about 18 years old when she meets the painter Destiny Clofullia to whom she will get married. It is consequently in couple that tours are made. They had two children, an only one survived, Albert, nicknamed small Esaü ", who hirsute as his mother, showed himself with her.
A debate burst as for the genuineness of the beard of Josephine. It therefore made examine in 1851 by a medical publicity of epoch (the doctor William Charr) who certified it natural. It gives a certain advertising in the result of this expertise and its reputation accroit. Having a good time a day to do hair the beard like the emperor Napoleon III, this last, far from being offended by it made him delay a diamond which it carried in the beard.
In 1853, it inserts the circus " Phineas Taylor Barnum " which travels worldwide with a big number of " human phenomena ". In nineteenth century this charm was very popular. Clofullia became apparent to the point of becoming an international star and occurred in Paris, in London and in Amsterdam.
In 1861, Clofullia which was in the program of the September feast of Amsterdam, was the woman with beard most known by instant. About this presentation, the newspaper mentioned that two distinguished doctors of Utrecht had issued a proof of the genuineness of the beard (one furthermore) by explaining in the non-persuading that they could touch the beard and even draw it!
In 1875 Josephine dies.
Baroness Sidonia de Barcsy
Hungarian, true lady with the full beard. Recipient of the Crucifix of honour of the professors of universities as queen of phenomena. The beard augmented after the birth of his son.
A true baroness, therefore, whom they represent us as nice and corpulent. She got married in 1885 to the baron Anton de Barcsy with whom she had a child that they called Nicu. This one obviously correspondent, healthy and well made proportional weighed only a kilogram barely in its birth
Twelve days after the birth of Nicu, Sidonia points out the presence of an important down on the own chin and the cheeks. Several days afterwards it is a true beard which becomes established on the face. Nicu, did not manage him to catch his delay of growth. The baron de Barcsy thought he was forced to accept that not only his son was dwarf, but that he was married to a woman with beard.
But when this goes badly, this goes badly the baron speculates, but speculates badly and soon thinks he is ruined... From more Hungary the baron is in the grip of political agitation, he participate in it but does not choose the good camp.... In brief everything goes badly, and the baron, the baroness and small Nicu run away towards western Europe.
Without job, without silver, without friends, it would have been able to be misery, but when they are woman with beard accompanied with a Lilliputian, why not to choose the way of the circus? As writings with humour an English-speaking site " A source of embarrassment a nice ticket fast became meal ".
The family of Barcsy makes feeling very quickly. Imagine: A pretty woman with beard, a 70-centimetre Lilliputian, without counting the true baron forces nature (1,90 and 180 kg).
In 1903, Nicu is 18 years old, carries the Hungarian crucifix of silver and likes to be called Captain. They go to the United States, it is a success. to such an extent that the winter they do not need to work. They buy a flat in New York. In 1912, the baron of Barcsy dies. Sidonia does not carry mourning for a long time and puts on in household with a figure born in parents German and amérindien, Frederick Valentine Tischu alias "The long Cherokee Buck Man". This one has money problems (debts of game) and Sidonia is forced to sell the property.
She places a small advertisement: " Trio composed of a woman with sophisticated beard, royal descendants; tiny son, and Indian wild man. Financial embarrassment demands small advance.."
The announcement works and she joins a wagon show, in Oklahoma. That doesn't work extremely, and the winter is difficult, but the family makes help by citizens of the corner. In spring, this goes better, they buy a ground to be constructed. In city it takes shape a neckerchief under the chin to hide the beard but refuses to shave it (even in retirement) by declaring: " God sent this beard for me and I am not going to take it away "
Sidonia, Nicu and Buck continues showing herself in various circuses during eight seasons. But, Sidonia becomes diabetic and spaces out the appearances, Buck leaves it (to the advantage of Dolletta Boykin, a Lilliputian).
Sidonia of Barcsy October 19th, 1925, (blow of cold) dies in 58 years. Nicu continued alone his demonstrations until 1937 and dies in 1976 at 91 years.
Clémentine Delait (1865 -1939)
Clementine Delait is not perhaps the woman with the most famous beard, but the one who knew the best how to sell her picture...
Born Clementine Clattaux on March 5th, 1865 near Charms, in Lorraine, she was endowed with a special hairiness but shaved herself. In 1885 she marries a baker, Joseph Delait. The couple became therefore tenant farmer of a bakery-bistro in Thaon-les-Vosges, (department of Vosges) in which it made point out by her virile attitude (she did not fear to fight, and imposed it from the top of her 100 kilograms).
She takes up a bet (500 francs were in game) that she decided to be allowed to push the her beard. It quickly became a local charm, all the more so as it put on the sale of a whole collection of postcards and other memories which quickly spread his popularity out of the region
During the first world war it enlisted as lady of assistance in the Red Cross, and at the end of war, as the couple could not have of child they adopt an orphan.
At the death of her husband, in 1928, she is then 53 years old, she attains the international reputation. In the racecourse of Gingham a Grand prix of the Woman with Beard is organized in her honour, she makes tours in England and in Ireland and meets the sovereigns of the whole world (Spain, Iran, Egypt) and the Sjah of Persia.
She died on April 19th, 1939 in Thaon-les-Vosges.
Julia Pastrana
During her long life Percilla Lauther was known by many names. Originally she was descriptively dubbed ‘the hairy little girl’ and later as ‘the monkey girl’, but it is quite likely that she will forever be remembered by those dear to her as Percilla Bejano – loving wife of Emmitt the Alligator-Skinned Man.
The hirsute Percilla was born on April 26 of 1911 in the Puerto Rican town of Bayamon. Percilla had been born with hypertrichosis, she possessed two rows of teeth and drew immediate attention from the public and the medical community. Percilla’s father was a native of Spain and he did not know what to make of his hairy daughter initially. Percilla’s parents traveled to New York City seeking answers from American doctors and there they remained for seven months until Percilla’s father developed the idea of exhibiting his daughter for profit.
Percilla’s father was not a greedy man. He merely saw an opportunity to make the most of the situation nature had thrust upon his daughter. However his limited knowledge of English and business made promoting Percilla difficult and he approached showman Karl. L. Lauther for assistance. Lauther was an accomplished promoter and he owned and operated several shows during his lifetime. He took an instant interest in Percilla and hired her on the spot. Lauther also hired an assistant to help Percilla’s father care for the child after his wife returned to Puerto Rico. That arrangement was short lived however, as Percilla’s father was shot and killed in Gainesville. Upon his death, and according to his final wish, Lauther adopted young Percilla as his own daughter.
PERCILLA - The Monkey GirlThe case of Julia Pastrana has long been held as a tragic example of exploitation. The remarkable bearded prodigy lived a life of manipulation and in death her body was abused and disgraced by callous souls and ignorance. The life of her contemporary could have easily followed the same shadowed path however her story is of true love, inner beauty and respect.
During her long life Percilla Lauther was known by many names. Originally she was descriptively dubbed ‘the hairy little girl’ and later as ‘the monkey girl’, but it is quite likely that she will forever be remembered by those dear to her as Percilla Bejano – loving wife of Emmitt the Alligator-Skinned Man.
The hirsute Percilla was born on April 26 of 1911 in the Puerto Rican town of Bayamon. Percilla had been born with hypertrichosis, she possessed two rows of teeth and drew immediate attention from the public and the medical community. Percilla’s father was a native of Spain and he did not know what to make of his hairy daughter initially. Percilla’s parents traveled to New York City seeking answers from American doctors and there they remained for seven months until Percilla’s father developed the idea of exhibiting his daughter for profit.
Percilla’s father was not a greedy man. He merely saw an opportunity to make the most of the situation nature had thrust upon his daughter. However his limited knowledge of English and business made promoting Percilla difficult and he approached showman Karl. L. Lauther for assistance. Lauther was an accomplished promoter and he owned and operated several shows during his lifetime. He took an instant interest in Percilla and hired her on the spot. Lauther also hired an assistant to help Percilla’s father care for the child after his wife returned to Puerto Rico. That arrangement was short lived however, as Percilla’s father was shot and killed in Gainesville. Upon his death, and according to his final wish, Lauther adopted young Percilla as his own daughter.
Percilla never said anything ill of her adoptive father, thus one may assume that he was a compassionate and loving man. In fact all evidence indicates that despite exhibiting Percilla for profit, Lauther was extremely sensitive to the public perception of his adoptive daughter. Lauther disliked the fact that the public took to calling Percilla a ‘monkey girl’ and verbally lashed out at anyone bold enough to call her a ‘freak’. But the ‘Monkey Girl’ moniker stuck and Lauther gave in and began to publicly pair Percilla with a trained chimpanzee named Josephine. He may have had the last laugh, however, as the two attractions were juxtaposed. Percilla would warmly and graciously welcome guests to her exhibit while Josephine would rudely smoke cigarettes and spit.
In the late 1930’s, while performing with the Johnny J. Jones Exposition, Percilla met fellow marvel Emmitt Bejano, the Alligator-Skinned Man. Despite her heavy beard and his ichthyosis a sweet romance blossomed between the unique couple. The pair saw past their physical differences. Emmitt was a man with calloused skin who spent performance intermissions submerged in vats of ice water because he could not sweat. Emmitt was quite literally ‘thick skinned’ and he had a ‘hard shell to crack’ but beneath he was a compassionate, gentle, charming and passionate man. Percilla, despite looking more beast than beauty, was elegant, eloquent and possessed an enchanting singing voice. Before long Percilla realized that the gentle Emmitt was the love of her life and the two eloped in 1938.
A year later, the couple welcomed a daughter, Francine, into their family. Unfortunately pneumonia extinguished her life after a scant four months.
When Emmitt and Percilla returned to exhibition they were promoted as the World’s Strangest Married Couple. Percilla and Emmitt shared the stage and most notably worked for Ringling Brothers and other shows successfully for over a decade. They appeared together in the 1980 film Carny opposite Jodie Foster and Gary Busey. Eventually the couple grew tired of life in the public eye and opted to retire to a private life in Gibbstown, Florida. There the two remained madly in love for many more years. Their union ended with Emmitt’s passing in 1995.
Percilla carried on, clean shaven for the first time in her life, and briefly appeared in various documentaries and on the Jerry Springer show where she charmed the audience with stories of her beloved Emmitt and by shyly singing his favourite song ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’.
Percilla herself passed away in her sleep in February of 2001. She is dearly missed by all who knew her.
Julia Pastrana-Bejano
Julia Pastrana (1834 - 25 March 1860) was a Mexican-born woman with hypertrichosis who exhibited herself in 19th-century Europe.
Julia Pastrana, a Mexican Indian, was born in 1834. She had hypertrichosis terminalis; that is, her face and body were covered with straight black hair. Her ears and nose were unusually large and her teeth were irregular.
Theodor Lent discovered her and purchased her from a woman who might have been her mother. Lent taught her to dance and play music and took her on a worldwide tour with the name "Bearded and Hairy Lady". She also learned to read and write in three languages. Eventually they were married and she became pregnant.
During a tour in Moscow, Pastrana gave birth to a baby with features similar to her own. The child survived only three days, and Pastrana died of post-birth complications soon after.
Lent did not abandon the tour; he contacted a Russian professor named Sokoloff, had his wife and the child mummified and displayed them in a glass cabinet. He eventually found another woman with similar features, married her and named her Zenora Pastrana. He was eventually committed to a mental institution.
The mummies disappeared from the public view. They appeared in Norway in 1921 and were on display until the 1970s when the Norwegian government threatened confiscation if they were not withdrawn from the public. The mummies were stolen in 1979 but later recovered and stored at the Oslo Forensic Institute where they were rediscovered in 1990.
Jennifer Miller
Jennifer Miller (born 1961) is an American circus entertainer, writer, and professor at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY and in the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures. She is a bearded woman, juggler, and fire eater. Miller lives in New York City.
Miller is the youngest daughter of two Jewish-turned-Quaker professors and she grew up in Connecticut and California. Miller became involved in the performing arts and theater while in high school, and was involved in the downtown dance scene in New York in the early 1980s. In her career as a performing artist, which has spanned over 20 years, she has performed with numerous choreographers and dancers, several circus companies, and in the Coney Island SideShow.
In 1989, she and co-performer Janet-Marie Ivanka Sunders founded the acclaimed NYC political performance troupe Circus Amok and has directed it ever since. She was also a focus of Tami Gold's documentary Juggling Gender and Circus Amok has been the subject of numerous documentary films. Miller is widely recognized for her work and is the recipient of awards including the Obie, Bessie, BAX 10, and most recently the Ethyl Eichelberger Award. She currently teaches in New York at Pratt Institute, and has taught at several universities including UCLA, Cal Arts, Scripps College, and NYU.
Supatra Sasuphan
Thai girl Supatra Sasuphan, nicknamed Nat
The six-year-old has Congenital Hypertrichosis - meaning she has excessive hair covering her face and parts of her body. There are fewer than 40 cases documented worldwide of people with this genetic condition.
More on Hirsutism (French) : Femmes a barbe
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Hirsutism
Aka "Bearded Lady"
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John Henry George Lee Aka "The Man They Couldn't Hang".
John Henry George Lee (1864 – c. 1945), better known as John "Babbacombe" Lee or "The Man They Couldn't Hang", was a British man famous for surviving three attempts to hang him for murder.
Lee was born in Abbotskerswell, Devon, served in the Royal Navy and was a known thief. In 1885, he was convicted of the brutal murder of his employer, Emma Keyse, at her home at Babbacombe Bay near Torquay on 15 November, 1884.
On the night of Saturday 15th November 1884 at her home at The Glen, Babbacombe, Torquay, Miss Emma Keyse was bludgeoned to death with an axe, her throat slashed with a knife and her house set on fire. Among those in service to Miss Keyse were John Henry George Lee and his half sister Elizabeth Hamyln Esterbrook Harris.Of the 3 servants in the house at the time, which included Elizabeth Harris, it was John Lee, whose behavior and appearance was described as very suspicious and together with his recent record of imprisonment and the fact he was under notice to quit the service of Miss Keyse, was arrested and charged with the murder.
The evidence was weak and circumstantial, amounting to little more than Lee having been the only male in the house at the time of the murder, his previous criminal record, and being found with an unexplained cut on his arm. Despite this and his constant claim of innocence, he was sentenced to hang.
Initially John was unrepresented in court, much to the concern of many, however a solicitor R.Gwynne Templer eventually offered to assist and the trial was set to take place on Monday 2nd February 1885. Only two days before the trial Gwynne Templar became ill and was replaced by his younger brother Charles. On the side of the prosecution were two eminent counsels who presented the weak and mainly circumstantial evidence against John which amounted to little more than he having been the only male in the house at the time of the murder, his previous criminal record and unexplained blood on his clothes.
John Lee was represented in court by an MP who had earlier prosecuted him when he was convicted of theft from Colonel Brownlow. The defence was poorly prepared, it did not cross examine some witnesses for the prosecution nor did they call any witnesses on John's behalf.
Throughout the trial John Lee made constant claims of innonence.
The judge in his summation to the jury suggested that they must approach the case with an assumption in favour of innocence of the prisoner, and, whatever might be the result, he had never met a case where the evidence had been more fairly given, or its conduct had been more efficient.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty within 40 minutes.
The judge then passed the formal sentence of death.
Execution and after
On February 23, 1885, three attempts were made to carry out his execution at Exeter prison. All ended in failure, as the trap door of the scaffold failed to open. This was despite the fact it had been carefully tested by James Berry, the executioner, beforehand.
As a result, Home Secretary Sir William Harcourt commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. Lee continued to petition successive Home Secretaries and was finally released in 1907. The only other man in history known to have survived three hangings was Joseph Samuel.
Many theories have been advanced as to the cause of the failure, but Home Office papers show that the official report stated incorrect assembly of the gallows mechanism allowed the trap-door hinges to rest upon an eighth of an inch of drawbar, preventing them from opening when the doors were weighted. This incident helped to lead to a standard gallows design to prevent a reoccurrence.
The constant media attention of the murder and his narrow escape from death propelled John Lee to instant notoriety, not only as a murderer, but as John 'Babbacombe' Lee, The Man They Couldn’t Hang. Musicals, songs, poetry and plays were written and even a silent movie was made in Australia. These played almost continuously for many years to audiences throughout England and many other countries and even today these productions are still repeated.
After some 23 years in prison John, by now aged 41 and due to constant pressure to review his case, was released in December 1907. Ironically it was suggested that this was not because the merits of the case justified a review, but because of the infamous bungle which was made in attempting to hang him. Two years after his release he married and had children.
After his release, Lee seems to have exploited his notoriety, supporting himself through lecturing on his life, even becoming the subject of a silent film. Accounts of his whereabouts after 1916 are somewhat confused, and one researcher even speculated that in later years, there was more than one man claiming to be Lee. It was suspected that he died in the Tavistock workhouse sometime during World War II. However, one recent piece of research concludes that he died in the U.S. under the name of "James Lee" in 1945. According to the book titled The Man They Could Not Hang by Mike Holgate and Ian David Waugh, Lee's gravestone was found at Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee.
James Berry (8 February 1852 – 21 October 1913) was an English executioner from 1884 until 1891. Berry was born at Heckmondwike in Yorkshire.
His most important contribution to the science of hanging was the amendment and the refinement of the long drop method developed by William Marwood whom Berry knew quite well. His improvements were intended to diminish mental and physical suffering and some of them remained standard practice until the abolition of capital punishment for murder.
An insight into Berry's behaviour and methods can be read in the book "My Experiences as an Executioner" in which he describes his methods and recalls the final moments of some of the people he executed.
Career incidents
He was the hangman who famously failed to hang John Babbacombe Lee - "The Man They Couldn't Hang" - in 1884. The trap door repeatly failed to open and Lee's sentence was commuted.
The execution of Robert Goodale on 30 November 1885 at Norwich. The prisoner was given too long a drop so that the rope decapitated him.
Berry's time in office came to an end following interference in his judgement by the prison medical officer at Kirkdale regarding the appropriate length of drop; Berry compromised but the condemned man John Conway was nearly decapitated. In March 1892 Berry wrote his letter of resignation, probably without knowing that in October of the previous year the Home Office had already decided that "the employment of Berry as Executioner should no longer be recommended to the High Sheriffs".
Berry carried out 131 hangings in his seven years in office, including those of 5 women. James Berry also hanged William Bury, a man suspected by some of being Jack the Ripper. In his book My Experiences as an Executioner James Berry is convinced he was the one to put a final stop to the Whitechapel murders although there have always been multiple suspects.
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