mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
This article has nothing to do with the supernatural; it’s about real bodies that just can’t seem to rest in peace, or at least had to wait for their chance.
A couple of recent cases raise the question of how much respect a dead body should be given. The mummy of King Tut was taken from his tomb in 1922 after 3,000 years. Since then, it’s been robbed, dismembered, scanned, and finally displayed to the public last year. Padre Pio was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002. Now, the church wants to exhume his body 40 years after his death for a display this spring. His family is prepared to sue the local bishop to prevent this action. And you are of course familiar with the corpse of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, still on display
at the Kremlin as it has been since his death in 1924. There was a movement to remove the body from public display after the fall of the Soviet Union, but that idea never came to fruition. Tourists still visit him at the Lenin Mausoleum at Red Square in Moscow.
There are quite a few other cases of corpses that were left above ground, open to the public eye. Some images may be disturbing to the sensitive.
1. Ötzi the Iceman
Ötzi had been lying in a glacier in the Alps for 53 centuries before he was discovered in 1991. His corpse was damaged and vandalized before his age was determined. Since then, he has been studied extensively, from x-rays to DNA analysis to microscopic identification of his stomach contents. Scientists believe Ötzi was murdered, by an arrow or a blow to the head. He and his belongings have been on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy since 1998.
2. Mojo the Mummy
A black teenager was found dead near the railroad tracks in Calvert, Texas in the early 1920s. The local funeral home embalmed him, or possibly overembalmed him, and placed him in a coffin with a wire screen covering. When the boy’s family was located a couple of months later, they were presented with a bill for $108 for the embalming. They didn’t have the money, so left the body in the hands of the funeral home. The cause of death was never determined, and his name was lost over time. The body mummified and remained in the back room of the mortuary, which changed ownership several times over the next 80 years. Local gamblers considered him to be a lucky charm, and nicknamed the mummy Mojo. In 2001, Calvert elected a new mayor, Briscoe Cain, who made it his personal mission to give Mojo a proper burial. Local businesses chipped in for expenses, and Mojo was finally buried in 2002.
3. Julia Pastrana
Julia Pastrana was born in 1834 with hypertrichosis terminalis, meaning her entire body was covered with hair several inches long. She also had a deformed mouth with huge teeth, leading one doctor of the day to declare that she was ‘a hybrid between human and orangutan’. She was exhibited by Theodor Lent, who eventually married her. At age 26, Julia gave birth in Moscow to a son who was also covered with hair, and who died within two days. Julia herself died five days later.
Her husband sold the bodies to Professor Sukolov of Moscow University, who embalmed them and began exhibiting the mummies. Lent, not one to pass up an opportunity, demanded the bodies back and put them on exhibit in England. Lent toured with the mummies or alternately rented out to other exhibitions for years. He married another woman with hypertrichosis and exhibited her as Zenora Pastrana, Julia’s “sister”, at times along with the mummies. After Lent’s death, Zenora gave the mummies away, and ownership changed hands several times. They were almost destroyed by Nazis during World War II, but the current owner, Mr. Lund, convinced the authorities of their profitability. Lund, and then his son, took the mummies on occasional tours until 1973, when they were placed in storage in Oslo. An act of vandalism destroyed the baby’s body in 1976, and Julia herself was stolen in 1979. In 1990, it was discovered that a found corpse which had been stored at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Oslo without identification was indeed Julia Pastrana. By all accounts, she is still there.
4. The Cadaver Synod
The Dark Ages were a time of upheaval and political struggles within the Roman Catholic church. The pope known as Formosus made plenty of enemies before he ascended to the papacy in 891 AD. After his death in 896, he was succeeded by Boniface VI, then by Stephen VI. In January of 897, Pope Stephen VI (also known as Stephen VII) had the body of Formosus exhumed and ordered to stand trial for various church crimes. Formosus’ corpse, which had spent the previous seven months interred in St. Peter’s Basilica, was dressed in papal vestments and propped into a chair to attend the proceedings. A teenage deacon was assigned to stand behind the corpse and speak for him.
The trial was completely dominated by Stephen VII, who overawed the assemblage with his frenzied tirades. While the frightened clergy silently watched in horror, Stephen VII screamed and raved, hurling insults at and mocking the rotting corpse. Occasionally, when the furious torrent of execrations and maledictions would die down momentarily, the deacon would stammer out a few words weakly denying the charges. When the grotesque farce concluded, Formosus was convicted on all counts by the court.
As part of the sentence, the corpse was stripped and buried in a common grave. Within a few days it was dug up again and thrown into the Tiber River, where it was retreived and hidden by a monk. The “Cadaver Synod”, as it came to be known, led to the downfall of Stephen VI. In November of the same year, Pope Theodore II ordered the body of Formosus reburied at St. Peters with normal papal honors.
5. Khambo Lama Itigilov
Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov was the Pandido Khambo Lama, leader of all Russian Buddhists of the Tibetan tradition from 1911 til his death in 1927. He was interred sitting in the Lotus postion as he requested. Itigilov had predicted that his body was “incorruptable” and stipulated that his corpse be exhumed and examined years after his death. Buddhist monks monitored the corpse over the years, noting that the body, which had not been embalmed, did not decay. In 2002, he was officially disinterred and examined by monks and scientists. Some devotees claim that Itigilov is not dead, but in a state of nirvana. Scientists attribute his condition to an excessive amount of bromine in the tissue. Since 2005, Itigilov’s body has been in a glass case at the Buddist monastery Ivolginsky Datsan in Siberia. He is shown to the public on seven Buddhist holidays every year.
6. Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher and social reformer who died in 1832 at age 84. His will stated that his body should be preserved and dressed and seated in a wooden box, so that his disciples and friends could meet around it. This display box is called the Auto-Icon. The preservation process went “disastrously wrong” and the head was replaced with a wax facsimile. The Auto-Icon is housed at the University College London since 1850. When this picture was taken, Bentham’s real head was displayed on the floor between his feet. After several incidences of theft, Bentham’s original head is now stored elsewhere.
Further reading: 6 More Restless Corpses and 6 Restless Corpses: Heads of State Edition
Comments (34)
Comment
I can’t believe that the most infamous restless corpse of all is not on this list.
BERNIE!?
posted by Betty on 2-26-2008 at 7:02 am
Aren’t Evita Peron and Ho Chi Min also preserved and on display as historical icons?
posted by Annette on 2-26-2008 at 7:46 am
Check out the Garden of Eden in Lucas, KS, and the preserved body of S.P. Dinsmoor.
posted by Ross on 2-26-2008 at 7:49 am
Ho Chi Minh- yes.
Eva Peron- not anymore.
posted by Miss Cellania on 2-26-2008 at 8:03 am
Great (weird!) post! There’s also the ‘funhouse mummy,’ featured on one of the Dr. Baden specials on HBO a while back. From the Wikipedia article about the case (click my name for the link):
“During filming of the 1977 episode “Carnival of Spies” for the television show The Six Million Dollar Man, which was shot at the Pike [amusement park] in December of 1976, a crew member was moving what was thought to be a wax mannequin that was hanging from a gallows. When the mannequin’s arm broke off, it was discovered that it was in fact the embalmed and mummified remains of a human.”
posted by Roger on 2-26-2008 at 8:16 am
I’m not usually grossed out very easily, however, the picture of the fellow handling the iceman with his bare hands gave me the willies. ewwww..
posted by Pearl on 2-26-2008 at 9:31 am
What about Rosalita Lombardo - the little Italian girl who died in 1920 at the age of two and was the last person to be buried in the Capuchin Catacombs? She was embalmed with a mystery cocktail (the embalmer died without sharing the ingredients) and she still looks like a beautiful little sleeping toddler, but with a bronze tint to her skin. If you google her name the pictures are amazing.
posted by Groovygaia on 2-26-2008 at 10:01 am
If I get enough tips, I’ll “dig them up” and post a sequel!
posted by Miss Cellania on 2-26-2008 at 10:03 am
Freaky, but as always, fascinating!
posted by beth on 2-26-2008 at 10:20 am
Don’t forget Mao! He’s on display in his mausoleum. There’s also a wax replica that lies in his place when they’re doing whatever they’ve got to do to keep him looking his embalmed best.
posted by Meg on 2-26-2008 at 10:28 am
At University College meetings, Bentham is always recorded as “Present, but not voting”
posted by Fr. Simon on 2-26-2008 at 10:50 am
My favorite fact about Jeremy Bentham, per Wikipedia, “For the 100th and 150th anniversaries of the college, the Auto-Icon was brought to the meeting of the College Council, where he was listed as “present but not voting”. Tradition holds that if the council’s vote on any motion is tied, the auto-icon always breaks the tie by voting in favor of the motion”
posted by caitlen315 on 2-26-2008 at 11:07 am
Darn - Fr. Simon beat me to it. There goes “work” again - getting in the way of my internet frivolity!
posted by caitlen315 on 2-26-2008 at 11:11 am
Ross beat me to the Garden of Eden guy, darnit.
I googled Rosalita Lombardo and her name is actually Rosalia.
I am surprised you didn’t mention the BODIES exhibit currently touring the country. It is an exhibit of Chinese men (likely dissidents) which are posed to show muscles, etc. I am not sure where the home page is for them but there is description currently on www.cincymuseum.org where they are now.
posted by Cincy Scott on 2-26-2008 at 11:38 am
Hey Scott, I heard those cadavers were determined to not only be dissidents, but were killed by unsavory means, and the Bodyworlds exhibit is shutting down in disgrace over it. Not sure on that, though.
Miss C, once again you amaze. The Formosus scenario is pretty funny.
posted by Johnny Cat on 2-26-2008 at 12:35 pm
Very interesting and readable post Cellania - its amazing how well they are preserved and how much it tells about our history and forefathers.
It reminds of that The Norwegina Prime Minister Stoltenberg opens Svalbard Seed Vault today. Maybe its hope for the future generation too:
www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/smk/Whats-new/News/2008/prime-minister-stoltenberg-opens-svalbar.html?id=501720
posted by RennyBA on 2-26-2008 at 12:44 pm
There is also the
posted by Melissa on 2-26-2008 at 2:08 pm
“Thing” (darn keyboard buttons). There are signs all over the desert heading towards California that ask what is the “Thing”? Its at a gift shop/Dairy Queen out in the middle of nowhere. It was a $1 5 years ago and .25$ before then. You walk around to the back of the shop into someone’s back yard where they have a “museum” of junk and there he or is, I think its and ice person, but its so black and rotten its hard to tell. My mom said its been there like that for at least 50 years.
posted by Melissa on 2-26-2008 at 2:12 pm
I aspire to be a model corpse one day. Just not any time soon.
posted by Saskboy on 2-26-2008 at 2:19 pm
The exhibit Scott and Cat are discussing is Body Worlds 3, I just saw it in Saint Louis, MO.
The page won’t let me add a link but if you google “BodyWorlds”, you’ll find it.
They are careful to constantly remind the audience that the bodies were willing participants, and include information on how to donate your own body.
great post, big fan of Miss C.
posted by Lea on 2-26-2008 at 2:23 pm
I was surprised that Eva Peron’s story was not here. It really is quite fascinating.
posted by Don on 2-26-2008 at 2:32 pm
Great post - I am a paleopathologist so I deal with the dead all the time. For those of you mentioning Bodies and Body World they are actually two seperate productions/artists that claim to have completely different techniques (though I think that is questionable considering they deal with the bodies in very similar ways). In both cases the artists have hundreds if not thousands (v. popular in Eurpoe and Asia and growing in North America) of individuals whom have willed their bodies to them. They certainly were not “killed by unsavory means”.
posted by Katie on 2-26-2008 at 3:09 pm
There are a lot of old bodies and body parts lying around college biology departments and high school science classrooms. Most of them have little to no provenance, and many are just bits, pickled or dried. It’s sobering to me to think that this is probably not what they were intending when they donated their bodies to science.
posted by neklaw on 2-26-2008 at 5:59 pm
I didn’t notice Jeremy Bentham’s head between his feet until you mentioned it. Now I’m terrified!
posted by K on 2-26-2008 at 7:39 pm
Ick. But it’s kind of like a car crash–you just can’t look away!
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Bernadette of Lourdes–she’s a bit of a heroine at my high school. She has staunchly refused to decay for over a hundred years now. Even her liver is still soft. It’s really gross, but those nuns at my school think she is the bestest.
posted by Allison on 2-26-2008 at 8:05 pm
Nobody has mentioned Bredo Morstoel - the star of Frozen Dead Guy Days winter festival in Nederland, Colorado? Anybody?
posted by David on 2-26-2008 at 9:34 pm
This is fascinating to me. There is a Roman Catholic church in St. Louis that has “child martyrs”…they are dressed up and lying under glass. There are also boxes with skulls of martyrs in glass boxes that are adorned with ribbons and beautiful materials….all these little tiny bones are tied with the ribbons and arranged very nicely in front of the skull. It is SO creepy!
Check out the “catacombe dei cappuccini” …just do a search and look under pics—-whoa…
posted by Patty on 2-26-2008 at 10:29 pm
I saw Ho Chi Minh’s body a couple of weeks ago, it was kinda creepy. There’s this whole rigamarol in order to see it and then you file through to see his body and it’s all weirdly lighted; he looks too pink. It was decidedly creepy though!
posted by Ashe on 2-26-2008 at 11:59 pm
Rosalia Lombardo has been mentioned, but she is only the most famous, best-preserved, and most recently deceased body in the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo. There are about 8000 mummified bodies on display there, of Palermitan clergy and wealthy citizens from the 17th-19th century. All dressed up in attire of the period, most lying in coffins with glass insets, some fixed with wires in a standing position against the wall. I was there a few years ago, a very fascinating place, a little creepy of course.
King Tut is not the only Egyptian mummy on display (but the only one still in its original tomb). In the Egyptian Museum in Cairo there are several mummys of Pharaos, some very well preserved, especially that of King Ramses II.
posted by Marc on 2-27-2008 at 2:26 am
BODIES is at the Carnegie Science Center in my lovely hometown of Pittsburgh. Click my name for a link to their site.
I haven’t personally been able to see it yet, but the boyfriend took his son. He said it was weird, creepy, and really interesting. Which means it would be right up my alley.
That head in the last pic is freaky!
posted by Sarah on 2-27-2008 at 8:24 am
The magnificence of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is disrupted by all the creepy bishops and saints in glass coffins all over the place.
posted by hannah on 2-27-2008 at 3:01 pm
David…I used to live in Nederland. It’s pretty neat community.
posted by FishFearMe on 2-27-2008 at 7:03 pm
there’s someone else who can be added to the list.. Former Philippine President (Dictator) Ferdinand Marcos. He died in 1989 and his body still isn’t buried. His embalmed body is on display in their family mausoleum, in a glass case. His wife refuses to bury him until the government agrees that Ferdinand Marcos can be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Cemetary of the Heroes)
posted by StarDust on 2-27-2008 at 8:44 pm
You left out Floyd Collins. He was a spelunker who got caught in a cave in the area that Mamoth Cave is in and eventually died there.
When I was in collge, folks in my area of Kentucky were often spotted wearing “Free Floyd Collins” t-shirts. His coffin was still in the caves with chains around it to keep rival caves from stealing it again. He died in 1925 and was buried in 1989.
posted by Veetie on 2-27-2008 at 10:39 pm