Julia Pastrana

Julia Pastrana (1834-1860) was a Mexican-born woman with hypertrichosis who exhibited herself in 19th century Europe.

Girl who was later to become Julia Pastrana was born a Mexican Digger Indian 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.

Man only known as 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 to a worldwide tour with a name "Bearded and hairy Lady". Julia 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 deformed baby with features similar to herself. Child lived only for three days and Pastrana died of post-birth complications soon after.

Lent did not abandon the tour; he contacted Russian professor called Sokoloff, had Julia and the child mummified and displayed them in glass cabinet. He eventually found another women with similar features, married her and named her Zenora Pastrana. He was eventually committed for insanity.

Mummies of Julia and the child disappeared from the public view. They appeared in Norway in 1921 and were in display until 1970s when the Norwegian government threatened confiscation if they were not withdrawn from the public. Mummies were stolen 1979 but later recovered and stored at the Oslo Forensic Institute where they we rediscovered 1990.

Books

• Christopher Hals Gylseth and Sars O. Tolerud, Julia Pastrana: The Tragic Story of the Victorian Ape Woman (2003)