The skeleton of the giant Jacob Lolly is a unique “brand” of the department of normal anatomy

Abstract

The paper presents the history of the appearance of the legendary skeleton of the giant Jacob Lolli in the museum collection of the Department of Normal Anatomy of the Military medical Academy. Research has been conducted on archival documents, including old magazines, newspapers, monographs, and minutes of the Academy Conference meetings stored in the Russian National Library, as well as the catalog and card index of the fundamental museum of the department. Data at the time of making the giant skeleton given in the catalog of the fundamental museum and literary sources of the 19^th century were quite different and refer to the period from 1814 to 1818. Probably, the giant’s corpse was taken to the Department of Anatomy and Physiology of the Imperial Medical–Surgical Academy to establish the cause of death. After a while, the skeleton was presented to the Academy Conference as a rare museum exhibit and presented to its president, Jacov Willie, who returned the skeleton to the department. From 1818 to 1824, the skeleton temporarily left the walls of the academy and was examined by I.V. Buyalsky in the home museum. After the scientific work, the skeleton was returned to the department; as a result of the research conducted by I.V. Buyalsky in 1847, the article “Measure of the skeleton and the weight of the bones of the giant Jacob Lolly”, was the only published scientific work on the skeleton of a giant. The measurements were translated into the modern system of units. A brief description of the giant’s skull as a vivid example of typical changes in acromegaly was made a hundred years later by A.P. Bystrov, an employee of the department, in the book, “Past, present, future of man”. Two hundred years after its construction, the giant’s skeleton needed restoration, including delicate cleaning, restoration of destroyed fragments, and replacement of the material to imitate the cartilaginous components of the skeleton. The restorers’ work process is described, and the result of their activity is presented.

Keywords

Department of Normal Anatomy / Fundamental Museum / Jacob Lolli / giant skeleton / acromegaly / bone system anomalies / restoration / Department of Anatomy and Physiology / Ilya Vasilievich Buyalsky / Alexey Petrovich Bystrov

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RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Gaivoronsky I.V., Tvardovskaya M.V., Solovyev K.V., Kirillova M.P., Spirina T.S., Vinogradov S.V., Semenova A.A.