The Mysterious Julia Pastrana

I have been intrigued with Julia Pastrana (1832/34-1860) for many years. The story of her life is so well known that I will not dwell on it.

The image seen here is an enhancement I performed (pastels) on a photo (head detail) of her mummified remains (I changed the eye stare so that she is looking at you - like Mona Lisa.)

While medical science in the early-mid 1800s was a far cry from that of today, it does appear that current scientists think their predecessors were not too bright. While Julia was alive, she was examined by at least two doctors. Dr. Alexander B. Mott of New York, declared her to be “one of the most extraordinary beings of the present day,” a hybrid between human and orangutan. Professor S. Brainerd, M.D, of Cleveland, concluded that her hair, skin and protruding jaws, “entitle her, I think, to the rank of distinct species."

The last doctor to my knowledge that took any great interest in Julia was Dr. Jan Bondeson. He wrote a book on unusual medical-related cases entitled A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities (Cornell University Press, 1997). Julia got top billing (as she did throughtout her life) and adorns the dust cover. Dr. Bondeson saw Julia's mummy in 1990 and wrote extensively on here life and medical condition. His conclusion: "Julia Pastrana represents an extreme case of congenital hypertrichosis (with terminal hair) and gingival hyperplasia, perhaps the most extreme of all time. Nothing ever resembling her gross facial deformity - the think lips, broad and flat nose, and large ears - has been seen in any later examples of this syndrome."

Although it is highly unlikely that Julia was somehow the off-spring of some sort of hominid (Like Zana, the Russian woman), I am still curious as to what a DNA analysis of Julia would reveal.

Her mummy resides at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway. However, in 1996, there was a petition to have her remains cremated. While the petition failed, the following year a woman claiming to be the mummy's rightful owner contacted the hospital wishing to have Julia's remains buried in Mexico, the place of her birth. I have not heard anything further, and hope that this request was also denied.

I have attempted to get "sasquatch" professionals involved in having a look at Julia, even getting hair samples (of which Bondeson states he has) just to see how they might compare to alleged sasquatch hair - all to no avail.

UPDATE (May 24, 2006) This is a photograph taken of Julia in 1857, three years before she died. I missed it somehow in my original research.

Tag: chris murphy julia pastrana photo mummy mummified remains sasquatch alexander b mott new york brainerd cleveland hair skin jaws species mexico