A WEIRD PERSON IN HISTORY: TARRARE

A French boy named Tarrare was born in France in 1770. Even when he was a toddler, he was always hungry and cried for food even when he’d just finished a meal. At the age of 15, Tarrare stole livestock from village barns.

Tarrare was kicked out by his family because of his uncontrollable appetite, and he went to Paris. He turned his hunger into a career: Eating strange things for gathering crowds and making a living. He ate all types of inedible things and including live animals and even stones. When the French Revolution started, Tarrare became a soldier. However, he was chronically ill from eating stray animals and all kinds of strange things.

One day, A General in the French Army met Tarrare and saw an opportunity in him. He used Tarrare as a spy to deliver military secrets in his stomach. He ingested a note in a wooden box for an imprisoned French colonel. Tarrare was captured only a day after he crossed the Prussian borders and dumped close to French lines. Tarrare died around the age of 26. His unusual eating habits had significantly damaged his organs in many ways.