Caroline Crachami

Caroline Crachami (possibly b. 1815— June 1824) is sometimes cited as being the smallest person in recorded history, but as she was nine years old or less at the time of her death, it is unlikely that she had finished growing. Said to have been born in Palermo, Italy, she was known as the "Sicilian Fairy" or "Sicilian Dwarf." She was the first person recognised to have primordial dwarfism [cite web|url=http://www.primordialdwarfism.com/medmain2.htm|title=Where We Were: A Little Bit of History from www.primordialdwarfism.com|accessdate=2008-04-30] , and was only about 19 1/2 inches (50 cm) tall at the time of her death; it was claimed that at birth she had weighed only one pound (454 grams) and measured approximately 8 inches (20cm) in height [cite book|last=Bondeson|first=Jan|title=The Pig-faced Lady of Manchester Square & Other Medical Marvels|publisher=Tempus|date=2004|isbn=0-7524-2968-X] .

Exhibition and death

Caroline Crachami first came to public notice in April 1824, when she was exhibited in London by a Dr Gilligan, who initially claimed to be her father. She was a great success, attracting many distinguished visitors, and was presented at Court. Observers noted that she appeared of normal intelligence for a child of her supposed years, had a good command of spoken English, and suffered from a bad coughBondeson, Op. cit.] .

She died in June 1824, apparently of a respiratory ailment, probably tuberculosis. A week later her real father, Louis Emmanuel Crachami, a musician at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, arrived in London and began legal attempts to retrieve his daughter's body for burial. He claimed to have consulted Dr. Gilligan in Dublin about Caroline's health. Gilligan apparently prescribed a trip to a dryer climate, and offered to take Caroline to London if he could exhibit her to cover the costs of the trip. After her death he attempted to sell her body for anatomisation, then left London with the proceeds of the exhibition. Despite Crachami's efforts, Caroline's body was acquired by the anatomist John Hunter, who dissected it. To this day, her skeleton is on display in the Hunterian Museum along with that of Charles Byrne, the "Irish Giant".

Doubts over her reported age

Studies of Caroline Crachami's skull in the 1950s put her dental age at just 3 years old, and this was confirmed in 1998 [cite journal|last=Berkovitz|first=B K|coauthors=Grigson, C; Dean M C|date=April 1998|title=Caroline Crachami, the Sicilian dwarf (1815-1824): was she really nine years old at death?|journal=American Journal of Medical Genetics|volume=76|issue=4|pages=343-348] . It was suggested that Caroline was in fact 3 years old at her death, rather than 9, although contemporary reports of her abilities and language suggest an older child, and make this a matter for debate.

References

ources

*Wood, Gaby. "The Smallest Of All Persons Mentioned In The Records Of Littleness". Profile, 1998, ISBN 978-1861970886
* [http://www.richmondreview.co.uk/books/smallest.html Richmond Review: The Smallest of All Persons]
* [http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1753402 Caroline Crachami at Everything2@.com]