Pasqual Piñón (1889–1929), known as The Two-Headed Mexican, was a performer with the

Sells-Floto Circus The Sells Floto Circus was a combination of the Floto Dog & Pony Show and the Sells Brothers Circus that toured with sideshow acts in the United States during the early 1900s. History Frederick Gilmer Bonfils and Harry Heye Tammen owned the firs ...

in the early 1900s. A railroad worker from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, Piñón was discovered by a sideshow promoter whose attention had been caught by a large benign

cyst A cyst is a closed sac, having a distinct envelope and division compared with the nearby tissue. Hence, it is a cluster of cells that have grouped together to form a sac (like the manner in which water molecules group together to form a bubble) ...

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

at the top of Piñón's head. The promoter drafted Piñón into his

freak show 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 ...

and had a fake face made of wax to place onto the growth, allowing the claim that Piñón had two heads. Some reports state that it was made of

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

and surgically placed under the skin. After several years of touring, the circus manager paid to have the growth removed, and Piñón returned to Texas. While it is possible for a person to have two heads, the condition

craniopagus parasiticus Craniopagus parasiticus is an extremely rare type of parasitic twinning occurring in about 2 to 3 of 5,000,000 births. In craniopagus parasiticus, a parasitic twin head with an undeveloped body is attached to the head of a developed twin. Fewer t ...

, a form of

conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''Uterus, in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher in ...

, sees one head upside-down on top of the other – Piñón's "second head" was oriented like his actual head. The novels ''Downfall'' and ''The Book about Blanche and Marie'' by

Per Olov Enquist Per Olov Enquist, also known as P. O. Enquist, (23 September 1934 – 25 April 2020) was a Swedish author. He had worked as a journalist, playwright and novelist. Biography Enquist was born and raised in , a village in present-day Skellef ...

feature Piñón, though they portray the story as factual and, in the former book, make the second head female. The short fictional story ''My Pet Trilobite'' by Kristin Harley, published in ''Ricky's Back Yard – Cult'' issue (vol. 1, no. 1), features Piñón, narrated by the other head who is in physical and political conflict with him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinon, Pasqual Sideshow performers 1889 births 1929 deaths

See also

References