A
woman branded the 'ugliest woman in the world' after a rare disease left her
body covered in hair has finally returned to her birthplace in Mexico for a
proper burial - 153 years after her death.
Julia
Pastrana was exploited as part of a traveling exhibition through Europe until
she died from complications of childbirth in 1860. Even after her death, her
body was exhibited across the world.
It
eventually ended up in a storage room at an Oslo research institute, and after
learning of the body's whereabouts, visual artist Laura Anderson Barbata
campaigned to have it returned to Mexico.
'I
felt she deserved the right to regain her dignity and her place in history, and
in the world's memory,' Barbata, who learned Pastrana's story while working on
a play about her life, told the New York Times. 'I hoped to help
change her position as a victim to one where she can be seen in her entirety
and complexity.' Barbata, who lives in New York but hails from Mexico
City, eventually won her decade-long battle and on Tuesday, Pastrana's body
will finally be buried in Sinaloa de Leyva.
Pastrana was born
in Mexico in 1834 and suffered from congenital terminal hypertrichosis,
which left her face and body covered in thick hair. She also suffered
from gingival hyperplasia, which made her lips and gums thick. She was not
diagnosed with either condition in her lifetime. In 1854, she was bought
by a Mexican customs administrator and he began exhibiting her through the U.S.
and Canada. While in New York, she married Theodore Lent, who became her
manager.Historians believe that while she was in love with Lent, he only
married her to control her earnings, the New York Times reported.
Lent toured his wife, whom he called a 'bear woman', through
Europe. Critics called her 'revolting in the extreme' and doctors said she was
the result a human mating with an 'Orang Outang'. But she is also
documented in 19th century history books as having an affinity for singing,
music, dancing and languages, as well as great generosity to local charities.
Na
waa ooo....Oyibo get wahala! But the 'chic' wowo oooo!!!
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