Biography
Contemporaries have not seen in man's merryk. For them, he was a monster, outcast and those who externally distinguished from the majority. Creatively gifted, an estate-free elephant became a hostage of his own illness and for years earned for a couple of years that he put himself at the bottom. The rudeness and the cruelty of people did not turn Joseph into the reasancer unauthorized. Until the end of his days, he was an open cheerful man who, despite the absence of an external gloss, was internally beautiful.Childhood and youth
Joseph Cary Merrick was born on August 5, 1862 in the East of Great Britain - in the city of Leicester. Joseph was older from three children. His younger brother William Arthur died of Scarlantine at the age of four, and the younger sister Marion Eliza was born with disabilities and died in 24 years. According to the autobiographical note Merrick, the disability began to manifest itself when he was five years old. His mother Mary Jane Potterton - a Sunday school teacher - died in 1873. Next year, his father Joseph Rockley Merrick took another woman in his wife.
Merrick's family believed that ugliness appeared as a result of the incident, which occurred with Mary Jane shortly before his birth. Being a pregnant woman, the woman was frightened at the Fair of the Begging Elephant. The myth that emotional experiences of mothers are reflected on the physical appearance of unborn children, was still common in the UK in the 19th century. Merrick threw school at 13 years old. His life with a stepmother and father turned into a fortune of hell, for neither the one nor the other showed warm feelings towards him.
The driven by the desire to reset the Son from his neck Rockley took care that Joseph Jr. would receive a license of a street merchant. However, the idea was failed. Potential customers with horror responded to Merrik's appearance. After a couple of years, Joseph, Joseph managed to find a job on a tobacco factory, but the progressive deformation of the right hand led to the fact that in three years he could no longer fulfill the cigar production rate. In 1877, his father beat Joseph, and he left home forever.
In 1884, Merrick began to perform in the circus of the show of Tom Norman. Closer to the 1886th in Victorian England "Show freaks" were announced outside the law. Merrik was sent to tour in Europe. After he deceived him and threw an employer without a penny in Brussels, Joseph had to go to Essex, and then from there by train arrive in London. It is not known how the life of a person-an elephant would have developed if the famous doctor of trivz, who has studied Merrick's disease during a couple of years, did not suit Joseph to the Royal London Hospital.
Popularity
The press turned the monster and expensive in the landmark of London. The materials published in the newspapers fundamentally changed the public relations to Merrik. His story of his life touched the heart of even Queen of Great Britain - Alexandra Danish. Empress, accompanied by Sweet, repeatedly visited Joseph. In archival documents that have come down to this day, it was said that the woman could talk with the Merrita.
Joseph was educated with a rich inner world man - thanks to the help of trivzes, he managed to visit theaters and exhibitions. He read a lot, and in the late years I wrote both prose and poetry. It is reliably known that in the last stages of life, Merrica normally functioned only the left hand. This restriction did not prevent Creatively gifted Joseph to collect the Cathedral models from paper, which he later gave the nurses and doctors career.
Summer 1887, 1888 and 1889, an elephant man spent a couple of weeks in nature. In order to disappear Merrika from unnecessary attention to the yawak from the city, Joseph was taken out in a carriage with tightly closed curtains. Men did not touch this aspect at all. He was glad to leave the urbanized London. Unity with nature went to him. He rested not so much body as the soul.
Death
The last years of the life of a human elephant was held at the Royal London Hospital. The staff of the medical institution took care of the Merrita and did everything possible so that the man was comfortable. Let and for a short period of time, but Joseph still managed to feel like a full-fledged member of society. The surrounding no longer saw a monster in it. They treated him as a similar one: they did not look at Kosos and did not poke her finger. Joseph could calmly go to walk and communicate with patients and doctors. Among other things, people often come to his tragic fate.
Merrick died on April 11, 1890 (27 years old). On the day of death, he stayed in his room one and, contrary to the prohibitions of doctors, lay down in a horizontal position (due to the deformation of the head he was allowed to sleep only sitting). At 13:00 30 minutes, the heavy head overtakes a thin neck, and the elephant man died of asphyxia.
Illness and its causes
According to ancient Greek mythology, the sea of the sea protea has had the ability to change the form of his body. This phenomenon moved from myths into real life. In modern interpretation, the phenomenon was called - the proteus syndrome. Such a deviation is a congenital disease caused by the genetic mutation of cells. To date, the development of the alend is impossible to prevent. For the first time this disease in 1979, Michael Cohen described in his scientific work.
Children born with a protesty syndrome in the early years are developing as all normal people. Signs of illness begin to manifest after 2 years of life and later. The symptoms are extremely diverse. The main feature is the growing of individual parts of the body to incredibly large sizes. Leather, bones, muscles, adipose tissue, lymphatic and blood vessels are involved in the process. For example, limbs may increase, neck, head, face. Changes are usually asymmetrical. The growth of tissues leads to complications, among which: fractures, diseases of the joints and muscles of the limbs, convulsive seizures, reducing vision, swelling.
Other possible syndrome syndrome syndrome: skin neoplasm, changing pigmentation, anomalies of the structure of the fingers and legs. The proteus syndrome is diagnosed on the basis of external signs. As a rule, the visual inspection is complemented by the use of such instrumental techniques as an ultrasound, MRI and CT. A genetic test is carried out for final confirmation of the diagnosis, while the patient's blood and samples of hypertrophied tissues are investigated.
No disease does not have etiological treatment. Therapy is aimed at correction of symptoms and prevention of complications. Tactics of "braking" of the disease is selected individually. The disease in itself does not affect intellectual development. True, bone deformations and the growth of tissues can provoke neurological disorders and cognitive changes. Among other things, patients experience difficulties with the selection of clothing and shoes, as well as with the execution of primary self-service skills (eating, malfunction). Because of the external defects, people suffering from this disease are difficult to adapt in society and find their place in life.
Image in culture
- The play of American playwright Bernard Pomerance "Elephant Man" in the production of director Jack Hofsessa (1978);
- Television version of the Broadway play "Man-Elephant" (1982);
- Movie David Lynch "Elephant Man" with John Hurt in the role of Joseph Merrick and Anthony Hopkins in the role of Frederick Trivza (1980);
- Albert's film and Allen Hughes "from Hell", in which an elephant man appears episodically (2001);
- Opera of the French composer Laurent Plumyrian "Joseph Merrick, Elephant" based on the original libretto Eric Nonna in the formulation of Daniel Megisha (2002);
- Clip Michael Jackson "LEAVE ME ALONE" (1989). In the video, the artist danced next to the Merrik's plasticine skeleton;
- Squeezing to the story of Joseph are present in the short film Pablo Larkuen "Elephant";
- Roman Spanish writer Felix H. Palma - "Time Map" (2008);
- Documentary television "Curse of the Elephant" (2003);
- In the second season of the British television series "Street of the Ripper", Joseph Merrick and Frederick Trivz became characters of several episions (2013);
- The elephant man appeared in the episode of the American Cleveland Show Cartoon Tape (2013);
- The image of Joseph was used in the advertisement of Nik Naks chips.