Josephine Clofullia (1829–1870) was a famous

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

-born

bearded lady A bearded lady (or bearded woman) is a female with a naturally occurring beard normally due to the condition known as hirsutism or hypertrichosis. Hypertrichosis causes people of either sex to develop excess hair over their entire body (includin ...

who toured with P. T. Barnum's " American Museum".

Early life

Madame Clofullia, as she was often billed, was born Josephine Boisdechêne in Versoix, Switzerland. She was born hairy and reputedly had a two-inch beard at the age of eight. At the age of fourteen she began to tour Europe, first accompanied by her father and an agent and then with her father alone. In Paris she met painter Fortune Clofullia and eventually married him. She is notorious for fashioning her beard to imitate that of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

. In return, the ruler gave her a large

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Personal life

Josephine gave birth to two children; the first, a daughter who was born in 1851, died in infancy. Her son Albert, who was born the next year, was as hirsute as his mother had been.

Sideshow career

All four — Clofullia, her husband, son and father — moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

where they joined forces with P. T. Barnum. Barnum had her beard officially measured as 6 inches, gave Albert a new name — "Infant

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", after the biblical character — and took them to his American Museum.

Law suit

In July 1853

William Charr William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

took Clofullia to court, claiming that she was actually a man and an impostor. During the case doctors examined her and verified that she was a female and the case was eventually dismissed. By hearsay it has been suspected that Barnum arranged the whole matter himself as a

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

Later life and death

In 1870 she was being exhibited at St. Matthews Fair in the town of

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

, England. In late September, Josephine became ill and whilst recovering in the Bridgwater Workhouse Hospital, she died. Her cause of death being listed on the death certificate as a "low fever." She is buried in the paupers section of Wembdon Road Cemetery, Bridgwater.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clofullia, Josephine Bearded women 1827 births 1870 deaths Swiss performance artists Swiss emigrants to the United States