Franek Kluski, real name Teofil Modrzejewski (1873-1943), was a Polish physical
medium
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criticized by trained
magicians
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* A practitioner of magic (supernatural)
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and skeptics as a fraud. Kluski was best known for his séances in which alleged "spirit" molds of hands materialized. It was later demonstrated by
Massimo Polidoro
Massimo Polidoro (born 10 March 1969) is an Italian psychologist, writer, journalist, television personality, and co-founder and executive director of the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Pseudosciences (CICAP).
Early lif ...
and chemist Luigi Garlaschelli that these molds could have easily been made by fraudulent methods.
Career
Kluski was born in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. According to
French psychical researcher
Gustav Geley
Gustav Geley (13 April 1868 – 15 July 1924) was a French physician, psychical researcher and director of the Institute Metapsychique International from 1919 to 1924.[séance
A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spea ...](_ ...<br></span></div>, Kluski's claimed psychic powers manifested themselves during childhood and after undergoing a psychological change he became ''Franek Kluski''. Kluski's powers during <div class=)
s were said to include physical manifestation of human limbs and various animals.
Between 8 November and 31 December 1920, Geley of the
Institute Metapsychique International attended fourteen séances with Kluski in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. A bowl of hot paraffin was placed in the room and according to Kluski spirits dipped their limbs into the
paraffin Paraffin may refer to:
Substances
* Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications
* Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes
* Alkan ...
and then into a bath of water to materialize. Three other series of séances were held in Warsaw in Kluski's own apartment, these took place over a period of three years. Kluski was not searched in any of the séances. Photographs of the moulds were obtained during the four series of experiments and were published by Geley in 1924. Skeptics have pointed out that the experiments were not conducted in fraud proof conditions and the moulds could have easily been produced by fraudulent techniques.
[ Polidoro, Massimo. (2003). ''Secrets of the Psychics: Investigating Paranormal Claims''. Prometheus Books. pp. 168-176. ]
Geley has been described as an unreliable investigator. Physician
Antônio da Silva Mello noted that Geley "published many writings on ectoplasms and teleplastic phenomena, things which today are quite out of date and totally discredited." Magicians have been able to easily replicate the "
materialization" moulds. The magician
Carlos María de Heredia revealed how fake materialization hands could be made by using a rubber glove, paraffin and a jar of cold water.
Geley and
Arthur Conan Doyle objected to the medium having used a rubber glove. In response,
Harry Houdini demonstrated that a glove was not needed as he replicated the Kluski materialization moulds by using his hands and a bowl of hot paraffin.
Harry Price
Harry Price (17 January 1881 – 29 March 1948) was a British psychic researcher and author, who gained public prominence for his investigations into psychical phenomena and exposing fraudulent spiritualist mediums. He is best known for ...
wrote regarding Kluski "His mediumship is unsatisfactory from the point of view that no scientific body has investigated the alleged miracles. On each of my two visits to Warsaw I attempted to obtain sittings with Kluski, without results." Researchers have compared Kluski's mediumship to the medium
Eva Carrière
Eva Carrière (born Marthe Béraud 1886 in France, died 1943), and have speculated that he introduced items in the séance room by fraud. A psychical researcher sent a letter to
Hereward Carrington
Hereward Carrington (17 October 1880 – 26 December 1958) was a well-known British-born American investigator of psychic phenomena and author. His subjects included several of the most high-profile cases of apparent psychic ability of his times, ...
claiming Kluski had been detected in fraud.
Massimo Polidoro
Massimo Polidoro (born 10 March 1969) is an Italian psychologist, writer, journalist, television personality, and co-founder and executive director of the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Pseudosciences (CICAP).
Early lif ...
and Luigi Garlaschelli have produced wax-moulds directly from one's hand which were exactly the same copies as Geley obtained from Kluski, which are kept at the Institute Metapsychique International.
Fraud incident
In a notable incident during a séance that Paul Heuzé attended the medium was requested to produce a face impression. However, a large-sized
buttocks
The buttocks (singular: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed ...
impression was found in the wax.
[ Mello, Antônio da Silva. (1960). ''Mysteries and Realities of This World and the Next''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 408] It was alleged by a séance sitter that "Kluski dropped... his pants and placed his buttocks in the paraffin".
Heuze believed the impression was Kluski's. This was later confirmed as it was discovered that Kluski had suffered from a burnt buttocks for many days after the incident.
Confession
Some later authors have written about an alleged confession from Kluski. In his book ''Sixty Years of Psychical Research'' (1950), magician
Joseph Rinn
Joseph Francis Rinn (1868–1952) was an American magician and skeptic of paranormal phenomena.
Career
Rinn grew up in New York City. He coached Harry Houdini as a teenager in running at the Pastime Athletic Club. He remained a friend to Houdin ...
claimed that Kluski had confessed to fraud.
In 1978, researcher
Melvin Harris
Melvin is a masculine given name and surname, likely a variant of Melville and a descendant of the French surname de Maleuin and the later Melwin. It may alternatively be spelled as Melvyn or, in Welsh, Melfyn and the name Melivinia or Melva may b ...
also noted that Kluski had confessed to fraud.
[ Harris, Melvin. (1978). ''Strange to Relate''. Granada Publishing. p. 102. "Doyle was also duped by Kluski, a medium who produced wax moulds, said to be made by 'spirit hands'! Yet Kluski later admitted that he was just a cunning trickster."]
References
Further reading
*
Hereward Carrington
Hereward Carrington (17 October 1880 – 26 December 1958) was a well-known British-born American investigator of psychic phenomena and author. His subjects included several of the most high-profile cases of apparent psychic ability of his times, ...
. (1907)
''The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism'' Herbert B. Turner & Co. pp. 224–229 reveals the "Paraffine Mould Test" trick mediums used.
*
*
*
*Zofia Weaver. (2015). ''Other Realities?: The Enigma of Franek Kluski's Mediumship''. White Crow Books.
External links
(Houdini making hand moulds)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kluski, Franek
1873 births
1943 deaths
People from Warsaw
Polish fraudsters
Spiritual mediums