Known to many as "ape woman" or "the world's ugliest woman", Julia Pastrana was finally buried in Mexico on Feb. 12, 2013, more than 150 years after her death.
Pastrana was born in 1834 and suffered from a condition called hypertrichosis which gave her a large jaw and covered her face in hair.
She spent her life as a human freak show exhibit at circuses around the world until her death in 1860.
According to Reuters, Julia Pastrana died in Moscow after giving birth to a son who also had hypertrichosis. The child lived for a few days and they were both embalmed and placed in a glass cabinet for all to see.
"A human being should not be the object of anyone." - Father Jaime Reyes Retana
In 1921, a carnival owner purchased her the embalmed bodies. Years later in 1976, Pastrana's remains were stolen. Police recovered them and they ended up in storage at the University of Oslo's Department of Anatomy.
Finally, Julia Pastrana was given a proper burial this week in her native home in northern Mexico. Her body was placed in a white coffin adorned with white roses.
Reuters reports that crowds of people went to Sinaloa de Leyva on Tuesday to pay their respects.
Comments