What happened to Napoleon's manhood, treacherously stolen after death

The French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte is an extraordinary person and, without any doubt, a great one. He still has a huge army of fans, many of whom amaze unsophisticated philistines with their fanaticism. The history of the stolen sexual organ of Napoleon, thanks to these personalities, is more saturated and interesting than the biography of many modern politicians of the first magnitude.

The great Corsican died in exile on the island of Saint Helena on May 5, 1821 and is buried in Paris, under one of the pompous domes of the Invalides. However, not all of Bonaparte was laid to rest — some parts of his body were seized as relics or souvenirs, as you like.

The autopsy of Napoleon's body was attended by 17 people, 8 of whom were doctors. Everything happened there, as in the famous saying about seven nannies who have a child without an eye. Despite a considerable number of those present, no doubt interested in contemplating the autopsy of such an outstanding person, the penis was cut off and stolen from the body.

There are two versions about the identity of the person who took such a liberty with one of the greatest rulers in history. According to the first, the imperial member was coveted by Dr. Francesco Antommarchi, who led the autopsy. Perhaps those present had gone out to smoke or drink coffee, and the aesculapius had "robbed" the dead man at that time.

The second version places the responsibility for the unusual theft on an even less suitable person clothed with spiritual dignity. It is said that the penis of the disgraced monarch was stolen by Ange-Paul Vignali, Napoleon's confessor, while performing the last rites over the body.

There is a version that the penis is not the only part of the body that Bonaparte was deprived of after his death. The emperor's valet Louis-Etienne Saint-Denis confessed later that he stole two small pieces of intestines left after opening the abdominal cavity of the deceased. These relics were also given for some reason to the Holy Father Vinyali.

The priest unhindered Napoleon's manhood to himself (and the emperor) at home, on the island of Corsica. Until 1916, the family of the daring chaplain completely owned the mummified "secret oud" of Bonaparte, but at the height of the First World War, need forced the descendants of Vignali to part with the relic. The member was sold to the British company Maggs Bros Ltd., engaged in the sale of books.

In the capital of the British, Bonaparte's main enemies, in London, the emperor's penis stayed for eight years, after which it was purchased by the bookseller Abraham Rosenbach from Philadelphia, USA. In fairness, it should be noted that the elderly Jew did not hunt specifically for the penis of an outstanding person, but bought it as part of the family heirlooms of the Vinali family, along with silverware and porcelain figurines of shepherdesses.

For this meeting, the crown of which, undoubtedly, was a royal member, Rosenbach laid out an impressive sum of $ 2,000 at that time. It is quite clear that the new owner did not intend to enjoy the contemplation of value alone, but quickly made a hash of it. Already in 1927 , everyone could be disappointed in Napoleon Bonaparte right in the Museum of French Art in In New York, after paying a couple of dollars and standing in a considerable queue.

Why be disappointed? This extravagant exhibit was best described by a New York tabloid, who compared Napoleon's mummified manhood with a poorly made leather cord or an eel clumsily dried to beer. Nevertheless, there was a serious stir around this small piece of dried flesh.

20 years later, after the Second World War, a very decrepit Rosenbach sold a penis to a second-hand bookseller Donald Hyde. Have you noticed that Bonaparte's member is mainly interested in people related to books? Hyde was not happy about the acquisition for long and ... soon died. His wife did not know what to do with the wealth that had fallen on her head and wanted to return the member to Rosenbach, but he had also gone to another world. The Vignali collection, with the legendary organ at its head, was returned to the bookseller's heir, John Fleming.

John was not sentimental and sold several boxes of Corsican chaplain's junk, and with it a casket with a dried penis, to the collector of curiosities Bruce Gimelson. He did not stint and gave Fleming as much as 35 thousand dollars for all this happiness.

For some time nothing was known about the relic, but in 1972 it was discovered at one of the prestigious London auctions. But the finest hour of the process did not strike — there were no people willing to buy it. There were a lot of jokes in the press about this. For example, one American newspaper headlined an article about the fiasco with the sale: "Josephine, not today." Obviously, Bonaparte's first wife Josephine de Beauharnais was meant.

In 1977, after several unsuccessful attempts, the penis found a new owner — it was acquired by an American urologist John Lattimer. Most likely, the outlandish thing was supposed to attract the attention of customers to the doctor's clinic. It is not known for sure whether it worked or not, but after the death of the vain medic, the rarity passed to his daughter. It is still kept in the private collection of Evan Lattimer, who is only known to the world as the owner of a member of Napoleon.

The woman does not intend to part with her treasure, although she has already been offered good money for a piece of the emperor's body. In an interview, Evan said that the maximum amount that Bonaparte fans were willing to pay her was 100 thousand dollars (7.3 million rubles). Lattimer refused to say what kind of rich man is doing here, referring to the fact that the buyer wished to remain anonymous.

Finally, it remains to report that no one has any confidence that a dry leather pod, no more than 5 centimeters long, was once part of Napoleon. The examination showed that this is actually a male reproductive organ, which at the best of times was far from outstanding in size. This nuance caused many Bonaparte fans to shout that the penis is a fake.

It is difficult to say whether there is a direct connection between the historical scale of a person and his pisyun, perhaps they will write a dissertation about it someday. A more serious reason to doubt the originality of the body part was the examination of two pieces of intestine, which the valet cheekily stole from the doctors.

Authoritative experts have established that the tissues belonged to a person suffering from cancer of the intestine at the last stage, and it is known for sure that Napoleon did not suffer from such a disease. Is it possible now to believe in the true origin of the penis? In any case, carrying out a genetic examination and establishing the truth may not be at all in the hands of the current owner of the organ, so the truth is still hidden from us.