Julia Pastrana

Julia Pastrana (August 1834 – 25 March 1860) was a Mexican singer and exhibition performer who toured North America and Europe during the mid-19th century. Born in the state of Sinaloa, she had generalized hypertrichosis and gingival hyperplasia, medical conditions that affected her appearance and led to her being exhibited under promotional names such as "The Nondescript", "Bear Woman", and "Ape Woman".

Julia Pastrana
Lithograph of Julia Pastrana by V. Katzler circa 1860
Born	August 1834 Sinaloa, Mexico
Died	25 March 1860 (age 25) Moscow, Russian Empire
Other names	Bear Woman, The Apewoman, The Nondescript
Height	4 ft 5 in (1.35 m)
Spouse	Theodore Lent ​ (m. 1855)​
Children	1

Pastrana began performing in the United States in 1854 and was managed first by American showman J. W. Beach and later by her husband, Theodore Lent. Although frequently advertised as a curiosity, she was also a professional entertainer whose performances included singing, dancing, conversation, and public appearances. Contemporary observers often commented on her intelligence, poise, and musical ability.

During her lifetime, Pastrana attracted considerable attention from physicians, naturalists, and other researchers, who debated the causes of her appearance and advanced competing theories about her origins. Her case was later discussed by Charles Darwin in The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868).

Pastrana died in Moscow, Russian Empire, in 1860 following complications of childbirth. After her death, the preserved bodies of Pastrana and her infant son were exhibited for more than a century in museums, circuses, and amusement venues. In 2013, her remains were repatriated from Norway to Mexico and buried in Sinaloa de Leyva, near her birthplace.

Early life

Multiple versions of Pastrana's early life exist. Literature produced by those who managed the freak shows she appeared in described her as belonging to a Native American tribe, the "Root Diggers", whose members were similar to apes and lived in caves. In this version, it is said that a woman identified only as Mrs. Espinosa was kidnapped by the tribe and held in a cave and took Pastrana with her when she was able to escape. In another version, which is based on the words of Indigenous villagers in Ocoroni, Mexico, Pastrana was a local girl, whom they called "wolf woman". In this version, Pastrana lived with her mother until her mother died, after which her uncle sold her to the circus. Both accounts claim that, at some point, she lived in the home of Pedro Sanchez, a governor of Sinaloa, and left the home in 1854.

Career

In 1854, at about 20 years of age, Pastrana left Sinaloa and began appearing in exhibitions in the United States. According to Mexican writer Ireneo Paz, she was brought to the country by Francisco Sepúlveda, a customs official in Mazatlán. She initially performed under the management of J. W. Beach, an American showman, and appeared in cities including New York, Boston, and Baltimore.

Although often advertised as a curiosity, Pastrana was also a professional entertainer. Her performances included singing, dancing, conversing with audiences, and appearing at public receptions and social gatherings. Contemporary observers frequently remarked on her intelligence, poise, and musical ability.

On 10 November 1855, Pastrana married Theodore Lent, her manager, in Baltimore, Maryland. Lent subsequently assumed control of her career, and the couple toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.

In July 1857, she made her debut in London as the "Wonder of the World". Over the next several years, she continued performing across Europe and became one of the best-known exhibition performers of her era. She appeared before audiences that ranged from working-class spectators to aristocrats and members of royal households.

After nearly six years on tour in North America and Europe, Pastrana's travels eventually brought her to Moscow, Russian Empire, where she continued performing until shortly before her death in March 1860.

Scientific study and interpretation

Julia Pastrana, "the nondescript", advertised for an exhibition of the famous bearded Lady.

Pastrana had a rare combination of medical conditions now identified as generalized hypertrichosis, which causes extensive hair growth over the face and body, and gingival hyperplasia, which enlarged her gums and affected the appearance of her lips, mouth, and teeth.

Throughout her career, Pastrana attracted the attention of doctors, scientists, and naturalists, who examined her and published competing interpretations of her appearance. Her managers also used these examinations to promote her exhibitions. She was advertised under names such as "The Nondescript", "Misnomer", "Bear Woman", "Baboon Lady", "Ape Woman", "Hybrid Indian", "Extraordinary Lady", and "The Ugliest Woman in the World".

Some observers argued that Pastrana represented a distinct species or a human-animal hybrid. Physician Alexander B. Mott claimed that she was the result of a union between a human and an orangutan, while S. Brainerd of Cleveland described her as belonging to a distinct species. Others rejected these claims. Naturalist Francis Trevelyan Buckland described her as a "deformed Mexican Indian woman", and comparative anatomist Samuel Kneeland of the Boston Society of Natural History concluded that she was human and of Indigenous Mexican ancestry.

Contemporary descriptions often portrayed Pastrana as both intelligent and animal-like. After seeing her exhibited in New York City in 1854, theatre chronicler George C. D. Odell wrote that her eyes "beam with intelligence", while also describing her in animalistic terms.

Pastrana's case continued to attract scientific interest after her death. In The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868), Charles Darwin described her as "a remarkably fine woman" with a "thick masculine beard and a hairy forehead". He noted that her preserved skin had been exhibited publicly and discussed her unusual dentition, writing that she had "an irregular double set of teeth, one row being placed within the other". Darwin concluded that the redundancy of her teeth caused her mouth to project and gave her face "a gorilla-like appearance".

Death and preservation

During a tour in Moscow, Russian Empire, Pastrana gave birth to a son who shared many of her physical characteristics, including extensive hair growth. The child survived for three days. Pastrana developed complications following childbirth and died five days after giving birth, on 25 March 1860, at the age of 25.

After Pastrana's death, Lent sold her body and their son's body to Professor Sukolov of Moscow University who permanently preserved them. Her body was taxidermically preserved. The process was a blend of taxidermy techniques and embalming chemicals. Although generically referred to as a "mummy" by some authors, her preserved body was technically not a mummy because it was not mummified. Her body was "stuffed", as noted by renowned naturalist and taxidermist Charles Darwin.

Exhibition after death

Julia Pastrana, image from a 1900 book, showing her preserved remains

After the bodies were preserved by Sukolov, Lent re-purchased them from him and began exhibiting them throughout Europe. Lent later found another woman with similar features, married her and changed her name from Marie Bartel to Zenora Pastrana, becoming wealthy from her exhibition.

For over a hundred years, the bodies of Pastrana and her son were displayed around the world in museums, circuses and amusement parks. They appeared in Norway in 1921 and toured the US as late as 1972. Later that year, a tour of Sweden drew considerable public opposition, leading to the bodies being withdrawn from public view. Vandals broke into the storage facility in August 1976 and damaged the baby's body. The remains were consumed by mice. Julia's preserved body was stolen in 1979, but stored at the Oslo Forensic Institute after the body was reported to police but not identified. It was identified in 1990 and for many years rested in a sealed coffin at the Department of Anatomy, Oslo University. In 1994, the Norwergian Parliament recommended burying her remains, but the Minister of Sciences decided to keep them, so scientists could perform research. A special permit was required to gain access to her remains.

Repatriation

In 2012, Norwegian authorities agreed to return Pastrana's remains to Mexico. In February 2013, more than 150 years after her death, her remains were repatriated to Mexico with the assistance of Sinaloa governor Mario López Valdez, visual artist Laura Anderson Barbata, and Norwegian authorities.

Pastrana was buried in Sinaloa de Leyva, a town in the Mexican state of Sinaloa near her birthplace. Hundreds of people attended her Catholic funeral. After a funeral mass, her coffin was carried to the town cemetery while a band played traditional music.

Filmmaker Eva Aridjis filmed the burial for her documentary Chuy, The Wolf Man, which follows a modern Mexican family living with congenital hypertrichosis.

Theatre

A musical Pastrana by Australian writers Allan McFadden and Peter Northwood was performed by Melbourne's Church Theatre in 1989. The production was nominated for five Melbourne Green Room Awards.

A play based on Pastrana's life, The True History of the Tragic Life and Triumphant Death of Julia Pastrana, the Ugliest Woman in the World (1998) was written by Shaun Prendergast. 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.

TV Series

In 2024 Disney produced an eight-episode TV series "La increíble historia de Julia Pastrana". The series, based on Julia Pastrana's life, was released in 2025.

Music

The musical supergroup Apparatjik released a single titled "Julia" on March 20, 2020, accompanied by a lyric video.

See also

• Bearded lady
• Alice Elizabeth Doherty, "The Minnesota Woolly Girl"
• Annie Jones, "The Bearded Woman"
• Krao Farini, "The Missing Link"
• Ferriman-Gallwey score
• Negro of Banyoles, example of a taxidermied human
• Repatriation of human remains
• Sarah Baartman
• Human Zoo

References

• Bartra, Roger. "El trágico viaje de una mujer salvaje mexicana al mundo civilizado". Istor 64 (2016): 179-198. México.
• Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie (January 2017). "Julia Pastrana, the 'extraordinary lady'". Alter. 11 (1): 35–49. doi:10.1016/j.alter.2016.12.001.
• Gylseth, Christopher Hals; Lars O. Toverud (2003). Julia Pastrana: The Tragic Story of the Victorian Ape Woman. Sutton. ISBN 978-0-7509-3312-4. OCLC 52829869.
• Miles, A.E.W. (February 1974). "Julia Pastrana: The Bearded Lady". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. 67 (2): 160–164. doi:10.1177/003591577406700229. PMC 1645262. PMID 4595237.

External links

• Julia Pastrana Online