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Tattoos, Identity, and The Disturbing Fate of ‘Monsieur Bonheur’

Writer's picture: Nate ScharpingNate Scharping

Clues to who the 19th century Frenchman was can be read on his unusually preserved remains.



Smith et al., Archaeol Anthropol Sci 13, 55 (2021)/CC BY 4.0


When Gemma Angel met Monsieur Bonheur, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Angel, pursuing her doctorate at the University College London at the time, was studying a collection of hundreds of preserved pieces of tattooed skin from European soldiers, and she was no stranger to the unconventional and the macabre. But her first glimpse of Bonheur, in a private collection in London in 2010, still managed to surprise.


“Bonheur was in his library, covered up, just leaning against the wall,” Angel says. “And it was kind of a shock, but also fascinating.”


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© 2023 by Nate Scharping

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