Josef Drásal (4 July 1841 – 16 December 1886) is the tallest
Czech who ever lived and one of the
tallest people of the world. He measured at least and weighed .
Life
Drásal was born in
Chromeč
Chromeč is a municipality and village in Šumperk District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants.
Geography
Chromeč is located about southwest of Šumperk and northwest of Olomouc. It lies in the Mohelnice D ...
, into a poor family as the third of six children. At an early age, he differed from his peers and reportedly suffered from the pain they attributed to his abnormally rapid growth. Growth pain probably affected his mental development. He had great strength, but despite graduating from elementary school, he did not learn to read and write properly.
Drásal was considered a good and gentle man. After school he started working as a day
laborer in his native village and then as a
coachman in
Bludov Chateau
Bludov Chateau ( cs, Bludovský zámek) is a manor house in Bludov in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It is a Baroque building with late Renaissance elements.
History
A stronghold was established in the place probably in the 1570s. ...
. In 1860 he went to the town of
Holešov to work as an agricultural worker.
In Holešov, a local innkeeper noticed him and turned him into a circus attraction. He became known as "
Hanakian Giant" and performed in the
traditional costume typical of this ethnographic region. He travelled all over Europe with his performance, most notable were his performances for emperors
Napoleon III and
Wilhelm II. His circus career earned him his own house in
Holešov, where he lived until his death. Nothing has been preserved from the building modifications adapting the house to his height.
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]
Height
Drásal's height was caused by acromegaly
Acromegaly is a disorder that results from excess growth hormone (GH) after the growth plates have closed. The initial symptom is typically enlargement of the hands and feet. There may also be an enlargement of the forehead, jaw, and nose. Other ...
disease. No evidence of his height has been preserved, but a copy of his skeleton is stored in the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University in Brno. The most frequently mentioned height based on his skeleton is ,[ but according to other measurement of the torsion after exhumations, he probably measured .][
]
Honours and legacy
Drásal's name bears the prestigious and most difficult Czech cross-country cycling race named ''Bikemaraton Drásal'', which takes place every year in Holešov.
A street in Holešov is named after Drásal.
A permanent exhibition on Josef Drásal has been in the Regional Museum in Olomouc since 2015. It includes his unique costume.
See also
* List of tallest people
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drasal, Josef
1841 births
1886 deaths
People from Austria-Hungary
People from Šumperk District
People with gigantism