Gottlieb Göttlich (born Marie Rosine Göttlich, March 6, 1798) was an

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...

man in the 1800s who became well-known for his condition, as it was the first time many medical practitioners had seen such a case.

Early life

Göttlich was born March 6, 1798, in the Saxon village of Nieder Leuba, then part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

and now

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. At birth, Göttlich was presumed female and raised as Marie Rosine. At the age of 33, Göttlich started to have severe pains in her abdominal section, believing the pain to be caused by herniated organs. Professor Friedrich Tiedmann from the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

examined Göttlich in November 1832. Upon examination, he found Göttlich "was evidently a man, with genitals of uncommon formation. She will dress herself, therefore, in men's clothes, and adopt the name of Gottlieb."

Career as a medical case

Göttlich embraced a male identity, and used his unique situation to make a living for himself. He obtained a new passport with a male sex listed and toured across Europe, allowing schools and medical personnel to examine him for a price. Göttlich was examined in the German cities of

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

, Offenbach, Breslau and

Breme Breme (Lombard language, Lombard: ''Bräm'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about southwest of Milan and about west of Pavia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 8 ...

. In Britain, he exhibited himself in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

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Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Montrose and

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. In Ireland, he exhibited himself in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. In continuing to travel across Europe, Göttlich reached "fame and fortune" because of his situation. When surgical aid was offered to "correct" his genitalia, Göttlich was “averse to a proposal of this kind, since it would at once deprive him of his... easy and profitable mode of subsistence”. However, this was a reciprocal relationship. Dreger describes how: "in exchange for letting them examine him and publish reports about him, the medical and scientific men gave Göttlich certificates which testifies that his case was of deep interest to the medical man". The investigators built their reputations on such cases. Göttlich's case has been described as one of a "

circus freak A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...

" by multiple authors. Most works refer to Göttlich as a "

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

", though this term has fallen out of favor in recent years. The term "intersex" for those people with

ambiguous Ambiguity is the type of meaning (linguistics), meaning in which a phrase, statement or resolution is not explicitly defined, making several interpretations wikt:plausible#Adjective, plausible. A common aspect of ambiguity is uncertainty. It ...

or non-conforming genitalia is the modern term.

In literature

Göttlich has appeared in many books, including fiction and non-fiction. Some of these include: * ''

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

'' by

Jeffrey Eugenides Jeffrey Kent Eugenides (born March 8, 1960) is an American novelist and short story writer. He has written numerous short stories and essays, as well as three novels: ''The Virgin Suicides'' (1993), ''Middlesex'' (2002), and'' The Marriage Plot'' ...

* ''Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex'' by Alice Domurat Dreger * ''The One-Sex Body on Trial: The Classical and Early Modern Evidence'' by Professor Helen King * ''Hermaphroditismus beim Menschen'' by Franz Ludwig von Neugebaue * ''Dr Handyside's Case of Hermaphrodism'' by Peter Handyside in ''The Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal'', Volume 43, pages 313-318

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gottlich, Gottlieb 1798 births Intersex men Year of death missing Intersex in history

Early life

Career as a medical case

In literature

See also

References