Claude-Ambroise Seurat

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Claude-Ambroise Seurat
BornVariously listed as:
  • (1797-04-10)10 April 1797[1]
  • (1798-04-04)4 April 1798[2]

Troyes, France
Diedafter 1833[2]
NationalityFrench
Other names
  • Anatomical Man
  • The Living Human Skeleton
OccupationFreak show attraction
Known forbeing extraordinarily underweight
HeightVariously given as:
  • 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) in 1832[2]
  • 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) in 1825[1]
  • 5 ft 7+1⁄2 in (1.71 m)[3]

Claude-Ambroise Seurat (10 April 1797[1] or 4 April 1798[2] – after 1833[2]) was a freak show attraction from Troyes, France. He was known as "the anatomical man or the living skeleton" (French: l'homme anatomique ou le squelette vivant) due to his extraordinarily low body weight.[4][5][6]

Life

The date of Seurat's birth is uncertain, being variously reported as either 10 April 1797[1] or 4 April 1798.[2] Seurat's tours across Europe aroused controversy and because of the publicity, there was extensive interest in his life,[1] particularly from the medical establishment.[7] An account, for instance, cited that Seurat was born healthy and was normal like other children except for his depressed chest.[1]

By age 14, his health dwindled so that his frame already became skeletal in form.[1] When he visited London for a tour in 1825,[1] Seurat was described having normal height, being between 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m)[1] and 5 ft 7+1⁄2 in (1.71 m),[3] but with an emaciated body; at the time, he weighed 78 pounds (35.4 kg).[1] The circumference of his upper arms was 4 inches (100 mm), his waist was less than 2 feet (0.61 m) around, while his neck was short, flat, and broad.[3]

Later, in 1832, he was stated to have weighed 43 French pounds and was 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) tall.[2] Seurat's last recorded performance was in 1833 at Dinan in Brittany.[2]

Seurat was also the subject of an anatomical drawing of Francisco Goya after the Spanish painter met him in 1826 at a circus in Bordeaux.

The date of Seurat's death is unknown. In 1868, Gilbert Richard Redgrave commented: "I have not yet been able to ascertain the date of his death. Who knows whether the poor fellow may not still be going the round of the French fairs?"[2]

After his death it was discovered that a tapeworm had been depriving Seurat of nutrition.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Park, Richard; Park, Maureen (21 December 1991). "Goya's living skeleton". BMJ. 303 (6817): 1594–1596. doi:10.1136/bmj.303.6817.1594. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 1676240. PMID 1820772.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Redgrave, Gilbert R. (4 July 1868). "Reply: The Living Skeleton, Claude Ambroise Seurat". Notes and Queries: A Medium of Inter-Communication for Literary Men, General Readers, ETC. 4th. Vol. 2 (1st ed.). London: The Philosophical Institution (published July–December 1868). p. 21. Retrieved 12 October 2018 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b c Altick, Richard Daniel (1978). The Shows of London. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 261. ISBN 978-0674807310.
  4. ^ William Hone. "The Every-Day Book". Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  5. ^ Cissé, Joseph de (n.d.). Description intéressante de Claude-Ambroise Seurat appelé l'homme anatomique, ou le squelette vivant [Interesting description of Claude-Ambroise Seurat called the anatomical man, or the living skeleton]. Nantes: Victor Mangin.
  6. ^ Le livre des records, 1984
  7. ^ Armstrong, Rachel (1993). "The role of caricature in medicine". Journal of Audiovisual Media in Medicine. 16 (4): 165–169. doi:10.3109/17453059309064864. PMID 8263282.
  8. ^ HOARE, STEPHEN (2020). Piccadilly. The History Press.

External links

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