Friday, 18 September 2020

Tutankhamun's Ailments

This week I have decided to change things up a little. I am still looking at a historic figure, however, I am focusing on the closeness of their family.

Tutankhamun is perhaps the best known of the Egyptian pharaohs. He was the boy king whose death is surrounded by mystery, having died in c.1324 BCE, aged 19. His remains were discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter and the objects found in his tomb have become synonymous with Ancient Egypt. It is less well known that he lived with a series of disabling ailments.

Tutankhamun’s Illnesses

When scientists were able to properly examine Tut’s body, they discovered that he was riddled with disease and impairment during his lifetime. Starting at the head, he was found to have a cleft palate. Further down, his spine was curved which may have been very debilitating for him. However, worse was yet to come. Upon examining his feet, it was discovered that the left foot was badly deformed. Researchers identified this as Kohler’s disease or bone necrosis. This meant that the bones in his foot were dying, leading many scholars to believe that the 130 canes found in his tomb were used as mobility aids. If having a damaged foot was not bad enough, they also found traces of multiple strains of malaria tropica in his body. This is the deadliest form of malaria, and up until that point, nobody had found earlier proof of the disease. So, I think it is safe to say that he was not a healthy individual.

While these discoveries were surprising, researchers were able to dispel some bizarre myths about Tutankhamun’s appearance. During his reign and that of his father, Akhenaten, statues were created depicting them with feminine characteristics such as wide hips and breasts. This led some researchers to believe that they had the condition gynecomastia, which causes men to develop breasts. However, when their mummies were examined, no female characteristics were discovered. Instead, it is thought the depictions mimicked those of the god Aten, who Akhenaten worshipped.

Tutankhamun with Walking Stick

Why so many Ailments?

You are probably thinking ‘another disabled ruler? I though this post would be different’. Firstly, it is notoriously difficult to discover information about specific ordinary people, especially disabled people. Secondly, the way Tutankhamun obtained his conditions is what makes it fascinating….

Royal families are an unusual concept. One family ruling for generations, until they are either overthrown or die out. In Ancient Egypt, pharaohs were considered to be gods. As such, it was important to keep the blood line as pure as possible, i.e. not contaminate it with mortal blood. Can you see where I’m going with this yet? The ingenious solution they came up with was for brothers and sisters to marry each other!! That way the bloodline remained pure. Ironically, humans actually need diversity in the bloodline to stay healthy and thrive.

Where was I? Ah… incest. DNA analyses of 11 mummies including Tutankhamun undertaken between 2007 and 2009 indicated that Tutankhamun’s father was Akhenaten and his mother was a sister of Akhenaten. However, they have been unable to identify her. Just when you think it cannot get any stranger, it somehow does. Tutankhamun got married to his sister/half-sister Ankhesenamun, and unsurprisingly lost both their daughters while Ankhesenamun was pregnant.

An important aspect of inter-family marriage is that any flaws are accumulated and passed down the generations until someone (in this case Tutankhamun) is severely afflicted. The researchers who examined the mummies discovered that four of them, including Tut, were infected with malaria at some point in their lives. It is no wonder then that Tutankhamun was so sickly.

How did Tutankhamun Die?

Since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, there has been a debate as to what caused his death after ten years as pharaoh. Some of the most popular theories were: that he was murdered by a blow to the back of the head, he fell from his chariot at speed, or most gruesomely, he was run over by someone else’s chariot. People who believe this theory point to the fact that he was mummified with a broken leg. However, the researchers who carried out the DNA tests believe that it was nothing as exciting as these theories. Instead, they believe that unable to walk properly, he fell, possible from a carried chair and broke his leg. As he was sickly and ill with malaria, his body simply could not cope and he died.

What I find interesting is that his tomb appears to have been equipped with his impairments in mind. A pharaohs’ tomb was usually filled with items they could use in the afterlife. Along with 130 canes which he could use as mobility aides, the tomb was filled with several chairs and stools which are obviously useful for someone who struggles walking. Furthermore, there was an unusual amount of plants, the vast majority of which are known to have medicinal purposes. It has been thought that the tomb was rushed with little thought behind it. However, as it seemed to have the necessary equipment and medicine, I would tend to disagree.

What do you think? Did the people who arranged the tomb do so to assist with his impairments in the afterlife? Let me know in the comments.

To keep up to date with my latest blog posts, you can like my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter. You can find them by clicking the relevant icons in the sidebar.

Next week, I will be examining another royal family, the Habsburgs.

The Wheelchair Historian

Further Reading

story.php?storyId=123781211 Accessed: 18 September 2020.

Hawass, Zahi; Gad, Yehia Z.; Ismail, Somaia; et al., ‘Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun's Family’, JAMA. 2010;303(7):638-647 (doi:10.1001/jama.2010.121) http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/303/7/638 Accessed: 18 September 2020.

McCoy, Terrence, ‘The real King Tut revealed: Tutankhamun was many things, but handsome he was not’, Thursday 13 August 2015 00:28 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/the-real-king-tut-revealed-tutankhamun-was-many-things-but-handsome-he-was-not-10452398.html Accessed: 18 September 2020.

Morris, Alexandra F., ‘Let that Be Your Last Battlefield: Tutankhamun and Disability’, Athens Journal of History - Volume 6, Issue 1, January 2020 – Pages 53-72.

Nuwer, Rachel, ‘Newest King Tut Theory: He Suffered Severe Disorders From Inbreeding’, smithsonianmag.com, October 22, 2014 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/newest-king-tut-theory-he-suffered-severe-disorders-due-inbreeding-180953113/ Accessed: 18 September 2020.

Than, Ker, ‘King Tut Mysteries Solved: Was Disabled, Malarial, and Inbred’, National Geographic News ,February 17, 2010 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/2/100216-king-tut-malaria-bones-inbred-tutankhamun/ Accessed: 18 September 2020.

Troup Buchanan, Rose, ‘King Tutankhamun did not die in chariot crash, virtual autopsy reveals’, Monday 20 October 2014 16:03 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/king-tutankhamun-did-not-die-in-chariot-crash-virtual-autopsy-reveals-9806586.html Accessed: 18 September 2020.

Wilson, Jacque, ‘King Tut's 'virtual autopsy' reveals surprises’, CNN, Updated 1139 GMT (1939 HKT) January 25, 2016 https://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/21/world/king-tut-visual-autopsy/index.html Accessed: 18 September 2020.

Friday, 11 September 2020

William Hay, Esq. Disabled Politician


By Unknown engraver - Google Books, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25372958

Over the last few posts, I have discussed historical figures who happened to be disabled. Another factor uniting them all was that they were the leaders of their countries or empires. So, this week I have decided to mix it up a bit. I present to you the tale of William Hay.

Who was William Hay?

William Hay (1695-1755) was an English politician who served as a member of Parliament for Seaford, in East Sussex. Hay had a difficult upbringing, losing his father the same year he was born, while also losing his mother and grandparents before he turned six. He was taken in by his aunt and went on to matriculate from Christ Church, Oxford, when he was sixteen. He was then admitted to the bar, however, disaster struck! While studying, he contracted smallpox, which not only disfigured his face, but also seriously damaged his sight. This was not the only thing which made him stand out physically. He was described as several centimetres short of five feet tall and was also hunchbacked.

These defects did not prevent him from holding several judicial positions and eventually being elected to the House of Commons in 1734, where he remained until his death. (I assume they let him out occasionally). During his time there, he introduced bills to aid in the relief and employment of the poor. He also held the position of 'keeper of records in the Tower' (of London). I think it is fair to say that he had a successful career.

His Attitude Towards Disability

So, William Hay was a hunchbacked dwarf who was a member of parliament in the 1700s. Interesting, but is that enough to warrant an entire post on him? I don’t think so. It is one of his written works which is the fascination. In 1754, Hay wrote Deformity: An Essay, describing what it was like living as a disabled person in 18^th Century England. This book is historically significant as very rarely do we get a personal account of what living with a disability was like. Usually we hear about disabled people from someone else’s perspective, so it is tricky to establish the truth.

Throughout the book, Hay emphasises the challenges he faces due to his height. He states that he avoids crowds for fear of receiving an elbow to the back, or even being trampled on. Amusingly, he even refers to instances when the person walking alongside him has accidentally knocked the hat off his head. Hay also takes it upon himself to advise other ‘deformed’ people on how to live their lives. Some of which is quite good. For instance, if someone is incapable of work that requires plenty of physical activity, e.g. joining the army, they should instead focus on jobs of the mind, e.g. playwright, poet, writer, adviser etc. Sounds like good advice to me!

However, some of his advice was not so good. He felt that ‘deformed’ people should dress in plain cloths, and avoid gathering in groups, so as not to look more ridiculous than they already were. He also suggested that being ugly was a good thing, as beautiful mythological people such as Narcissis were driven demented by their looks. So inspiring!

Hero or Villain?

As you can probably tell at this point, William Hay is a challenging role model for people with disabilities. On the one hand he managed to have a successful political career and publish a book about his life with a disability. While on the other hand, he held views regarding disabled people that would be deemed unacceptable today. One issue that some modern disability activists have with Hay is that he uses self-deprecating humour to try to fit in with his peer group. It is felt that disabled people should not have to belittle themselves to be accepted. However, I disagree. I feel a sense of humour is important when trying to ingratiate oneself into a group, regardless of disability.

As Hay was living in the 18^th Century, he had to act differently to how we would expect him to act now. Back then, physical difference was amusing. In fact, it had been for hundreds, if not thousands of years. There are several theories as to why this was. One which I particularly like is Simon Dickie’s suggestion, referenced in Lund’s article, that by laughing at the deformities of others, it helped relieve people’s fears about their own bodies’ inevitable decay.

While his views are not politically correct today, I think William Hay can still be seen as a disabled role model, for everything he achieved in his lifetime.

If you want to learn more about William Hay, I recommend you listen to the BBC's 'Disability: A New History' episode on him. I have included the link in the Further Reading below.

To keep up to date with my latest blog posts, you can like my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter. You can find them by clicking the relevant icons in the sidebar.

Next week I will examine what can go wrong when royal families intermarry.

The Wheelchair Historian

Further Reading

Adelson, Betty M., The Lives of Dwarfs: Their Journey From Public Curiosity Toward Social Liberation. (Rutgers University Press, 2005). pp. 60–1.

BBC, Disability: A New History, Episode 5: Finding a Voice https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b01snxyf Accessed: 11 September 2020.

Brooke, John, "Hay, William (1695–1755), of Glyndebourne, Suss". History of Parliament Online (1754-1790). Accessed: 11 September 2020.

Cruickshanks, Eveline, "HAY, William (1695-1755), of Glyndebourne, Suss". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Accessed: 24 August 2020.

Hay, William, Deformity: an Essay, Volume 1 (London, 1754), Google Books.

Lund, Roger. “Laughing at Cripples: Ridicule, Deformity and the Argument from Design.” Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 39, no. 1, 2005, pp. 91–114. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30053590. Accessed 11 September 2020.

Podewils, Karla, (ed. Markle, Bradley), ‘Hay’s DEFORMITY, AN ESSAY’ Enlightenment and Disability, https://enlightanddis.wordpress.com/spectacles-of-deviance/physical-deformity/william-hay-deformity-an-essay/ Accessed: 11 September 2020.

Taylor, Stephen, Hay, William (1695–1755) https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/12739 Accessed: 11 September 2020.

Friday, 4 September 2020

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) was the 32^nd President of the United States. He was in office for four terms and led the U.S. through The Great Depression and World War II. However, it is less well known that he was a wheelchair user.

Disability and Rehab

While vacationing at his family cottage in New Brunswick, Canada, in 1921, FDR fell off his yacht. For a few days after this the power in his legs deteriorated. It reached the point where they could no longer bare his weight. He was initially mis-diagnosed as having a blood clot in his lower back. However, a few days later he was told he had infantile paralysis/ poliomyelitis, better known as polio. FDR’s initial response was (and I’m paraphrasing here) “INFANTile paralysis!! But I’m a 39 year old man!’. However, when the doctor informed him that having a weak immune system made him susceptible, he accepted the diagnosis. The polio left FDR paralysed from the waist down.

FDR was an incredibly determined man. He set his mind on making a full recovery from his ailments and neglected politics for a few years. He exercised constantly and maintained a good spirit. He tried various methods to improve his condition, of which swimming and hydrotherapy were the most effective.

Rare Photo of Roosevelt in a wheelchair

The Cover Up?

Looking back on it now, I’m sure you must be thinking that there is no way Americans of the 1930s were open-minded enough to elect a disabled person to the highest office in the land. Well…. apparently, they were. There has been a long running tale that FDR managed to keep his disability hidden from the public from 1921 until his death in 1945. Admittedly, he made arrangements with the media, prohibiting them from photographing him in his wheelchair, or being maneuvered in a way that made his impairments obvious. I mean, the paparazzi would never invade someone’s privacy to get a story, right? Anyway, his disability was public knowledge before his election to president even occurred. In July 1931, almost two years before FDR took office, Liberty magazine with a circulation of 2.5 million, ran the article “Is Franklin D. Roosevelt Physically Fit to Be President?”. It stated,

“It is an amazing possibility that the next President of the United States may be a cripple. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor of the State of New York, was crippled by infantile paralysis in the epidemic of 1921 and still walks with the help of a crutch and a walking stick. Yet, by all the political signs he will emerge as the Democratic nominee.”

The fact that he ‘still walks with the help of a crutch and a walking stick’ indicated to the American people that he had recovered to a certain extent and perhaps further improvement was possible. The same article shows FDR standing barelegged wearing the metal braces which held him in an upright position. He used these braces when standing at podiums delivering speeches. He had his son and his aides essentially carry him from place to place in a way that made it seem as though he was walking. FDR tried to conceal it, but it was a known fact that he had problems.

His Charitable Work

Not too long after he was afflicted with polio, FDR was told by his friend, George Foster Peabody, that a young man, Louis Joseph, had been cured of polio, by the “healing waters” of Warm Springs in Georgia. Therefore, in 1924, FDR headed to Warm Springs in the hope of improving his condition, as the water was pure and rich in minerals. He continued to visit throughout his life causing the resort to grow in popularity. However, in 1926 Warm Springs came into financial difficulty and was on the verge of closure. Therefore, FDR invested a vast amount of his wealth into buying the resort and turning it into a rehabilitation centre for people with polio. The purchase of the resort alone before renovation cost $200,000.

Warm Springs was different from a hospital, or anywhere else where polio patients were treated. The centre was owned and managed by the people with polio who attended it. They hired the doctors and therapists and gave instructions as to what was required of them. The attendees also designed and developed their own appliances and equipment. Furthermore, Roosevelt personally developed a program of water therapy, functional training, and practical exercises. As well as this, he invented exercises, muscle charts, and equipment, while also designing wheelchairs. What’s more, he oversaw centre activities, any construction, and even paid the bills for the first two years!!

FDR began to raise money for Warm Springs with the first of his annual Birthday Balls in 1934. He encouraged people to make donations to help the centre and in the first year raised 1 million dollars. In 1938 the money also went to FDR’s new founded National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which is now known as March of Dimes. The continued Birthday Balls went on to fund the Salk vaccine for polio.

It is clear that Franklin D. Roosevelt did not let his disability prevent him from being a good president and making positive change in the world.

If you are interested, there is a documentary on this topic called "Franklin D. Roosevelt - The Wheelchair President".

To keep up to date with my latest blog posts, you can like my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter. You can find them by clicking the relevant icons in the sidebar.

You may have noticed that so far, all my historical figures posts have been about powerful men, who led empires or countries. Have no fear! Next week I will be looking into…. a British politician. Slight improvement.

The Wheelchair Historian

Further Reading

Berish, Amy, ‘FDR and Polio’, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum https://www.fdrlibrary.org/polio Accessed: 4 September 2020.

Clausen, Christopher. “The President and the Wheelchair.” The Wilson Quarterly (1976-), vol. 29, no. 3, 2005, pp. 24–29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40233058. Accessed 19 Aug. 2020.

Gallagher, Hugh, ‘FDR's Cover-Up: The Extent of His Handicap’, January 24, 1982 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1982/01/24/fdrs-cover-up-the-extent-of-his-handicap/9e3f26df-c0a4-4cb6-9852-754fd54d3cae/?utm_term=.ab6c1b2c3a9c Accessed: 4 September 2020.

Ott, Tim, 'How Franklin Roosevelt’s Health Affected His Presidency’, Jan 8, 2019 https://www.biography.com/news/franklin-roosevelt-health Accessed: 4 September 2020.

Porter, Tom, ‘How FDR kept his partial paralysis a secret from the American public — even while he was on the campaign trail’ May 10, 2019, 4:10 PM https://www.businessinsider.com/how-fdr-hid-his-paralysis-from-american-public-even-while-campaigning-2019-4?r=US&IR=T Accessed: 4 September 2020.

Pressman, Matthew, ‘The Myth of FDR’s Secret Disability’, July 12, 2013 https://ideas.time.com/2013/07/12/the-myth-of-fdrs-secret-disability/ Accessed: 4 September 2020.