Piccadilly Circus

In 1810 there was a shameful exhibition at Piccadilly Circus. Saartjie Baartman was exhibited here as a Khoikhoi woman . She became an attraction in Europe under the name Hottentot-Venus . Saartjie Baartman was born in the Eastern Cape of South Africa . Baartman was a slave of Dutch farmers in Cape Town , and spoke Dutch fluently. Hendrick Cezar, the brother of her owner, wanted to exhibit her in London . He promised her that she would return as a rich woman. Saartjie was exhibited because white Europeans wanted to see her physique. Saartjie was in fact very small, had a brown skin color, a large butt , excessively long labia and thick lips, as was especially the case with the Khoi. She was lured to London in 1810 by the handy entrepreneur Hendrik Cesars and exhibited here at Piccadilly Circus . Saartjie Baartman later traveled with him to Paris ( France ) and eventually died on 29 December 1815 of an infectious disease, possibly smallpox but also other possibilities such as pneumonia are suggested. The famous anatomist Georges Cuvier performed a section on her and made a number of anatomical preparations that he also published about. Afterwards, her brain and genitalia were put on strong water. Together with her skeleton they can be admired in a museum in Paris until 1974. After Nelson Mandela became President, he requested the French government to return its mortal remains. In 2002, 192 years after her departure, she was buried in Hankey .

Dromos