“Woman or man?
Famous “travesties” and their modern imitators.”
Part I
The following announcement appeared in a Berlin newspaper last December:
“Transvestite, 30 years old, living as a lady, loving art, would like to get rid of loneliness. Please send serious proposals under No. 72 to the address of the newspaper’s office.”
Undoubtedly, for many, the meaning of this announcement is completely incomprehensible. The German doctor Magnus Hirschfeld says that the name “Transvestid” must be understood as a person who refuses to wear the dress usually worn by members of that sex. Motive – this suit does not correspond to the make-up of his figure, the features of his face, it seems ugly and uncomfortable…
In criminology, a special place is given to “transvestites”, since many crimes can be explained if we take into account the lives and needs of these men in skirts and ladies in jackets.
Dr. Hirschfeld recalls one story, which he calls “the story of the false court lady.” One Berlin hairdresser, dressed in
an expensive lady’s dress, under the name of Countess Arkin came to the best jeweler in Potsdam and tried to steal the jewelry. Thanks to sheer chance, he got caught…
Of the men and women, the most famous was the Chevalier Eon. He lived 83 years, 49 of them as a man and 34 years as a woman.
After his death in 1810 in London, the corpse was examined and, in addition, an autopsy of the skull took place. The doctors definitely determined that it was a man in whom there was nothing abnormal.
Eon began with military service, with the rank of lieutenant, distinguished himself in battle and was
awarded the Cross of St. Louis. In the regiment he was famous as an excellent fencer; he was credited with about 30 duels. In Paris, Eon met and became friends with Countess Rochefort. The Countess amused herself by dressing her lover in a woman’s dress.
One day, the Countess dressed Eon in a luxurious women’s dress and brought him to a court ball. The king liked the “pretty young lady”
Louis XV. He and “her” had a long conversation and in the end “she” ended up in the king’s office. At that moment, the Marquise of Pompadour entered the office, who was privy to this story and made the king laugh.
Disillusioned with Eon as a “pretty woman,” the king, however, decided to use him for a special diplomatic mission. He sent him, disguised as a lady and accompanied by Chevalier Douglas, to St. Petersburg to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in order to attract Russia to the side of France in the upcoming war with Prussia.
(“Illustrated Russia” (Paris), December 15, 1928)
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
