Rosalia, an Italian child born on December 13 in the year 1918, died due to pneumonia as a result of the Spanish flu less than two years later, on December 6, 1920. Rosalia's dad, Official Mario Lombardo, was sorely grieved after her death, so he approached Alfredo Salafia, a noted embalmer, to preserve her. The Normans were a group from France unified by a famous Viking called Rollo who took over much of Europe. Then one day one of the descendants of the Salaria family remembered that she had kept an old manuscript. Rosalias body is now preserved in a new glass coffin, which is designed to block the growth of fungi or bacteria. Get notified of the best best booming posts weekly. ", "This Mummified Two-Year-Old Appears to Blink Every Day", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rosalia_Lombardo&oldid=1135738502, Sleeping Beauty of the Capuchin Catacombs, Being in an especially well preserved state in her tomb, in the, This page was last edited on 26 January 2023, at 15:26. Connect to 3,088 Lombardo profiles on Geni, Dec 13 1918 - Palermo, Province of Palermo, Sicily, Italy, Dec 6 1920 - Palermo, Province of Palermo, Sicily, Italy, Mario Lombardo, Maria Lombardo (ne Di Cara), Cause of death: Pneumonia - Dec 6 1920 - Palermo, Mario Lombardo, Maria Lombardo (born Di Cara), Palermo, Province of Palermo, Sicily, Italy, Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Palermo, Province of Palermo, Sicily, Italy. They are arranged in sections such as religious figures, professions, women, virgins and children. The Lombardo family was Italian and although the Spanish flu pandemic was ending, it seemed that Rosalia's pneumonia may have been caused by this deadly disease. The empty body is then filled with natron salts, which desiccate it. There is one last curiosity concerning Rosalia Lombardo. Some believed that some supernatural force was at work, and that the mummy actually blinked. If you think you have been blocked in error, contact the owner of this site for assistance. But even so, there are many who prefer to believe that her spirit really does return to her body! These blue eyes, like the rest of her body, are remarkably intact. Mario and Maria are not married at the time of Rosalia's birth, but they are very much in love. Alfredo Salafia was considered the best as he had a lot of experience preserving corpses. A 2009 National Geographic photograph of Rosalia Lombardo shows the mummy is beginning to show signs of decomposition, most notably discoloration. Mario, her father, approached Alfredo Salafia, embalmer and taxidermist, to preserve her. Her father Mario Lombardo was understandably so beset with heartache that he sought out a renowned local embalmer by the name of Alfredo Salafia. Genealogy profile for Mario Lombardo. Her body is kept in a small chapel placed on a wooden pedestal. After 7 months from the birth of the child they also decide to get married, aware that they need to take this step in order to guarantee serenity and tranquility for their family. [1][8] Rossella Lorenzi of Discovery News reported that the formalin was used to kill bacteria, the glycerin used to prevent desiccation, and the salicylic acid used to eliminate any fungi within the flesh, with the purpose of the zinc salts being petrifaction. What happened to little Rosalia's body after she died. Its thought that changes in temperature inside the crypt cause her eyelids to contract to produce the blinking effect. Mario Lombardo, her father, wanted to uncover the specific cause of her death so he could blame someone. Mario was grieving so much after her death that he asked Alfredo Salafia (a well-known Italian chemist) to mummify her and keep her as alive as possible (looking). The embalmers relatives gave him several of Alfredo Salafias documents. Rosalia's father, Official Mario Lombardo, was sorely grieved upon her death, so he approached Alfredo Salafia, a noted embalmer, to preserve her. Rosalia's daddy, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. When reports of Rosalia Lombardos eyes opening shocked the local community an Anthropologist called Dario Piombino-Mascali investigated the catacombs. In fact, the body of little Rosalia has organs in a perfect state of preservation and you can see how one lung is denser than the other, a clear sign that the little girl actually fell ill with bronchopneumonia. Mario Lombardo refused to bury her daughter, claiming that losing his son had left him distraught. Rosalia's face has very sweet features, with the plump cheeks of a two-year-old girl, delicately framed by fair hair. Her body was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. Rosalia Lombardo, a two-year-old girl, died in 1920 from an intensified case of bronchopneumonia, a kind of pneumonia that involves inflammation in the alveoli. Luckily for the scientific community they consented and Dario found a handwritten memoir reveling the exact formula injected into Rosalia. A symbol of love, death, loss and a reminder of just how short life can be. It is thanks to all of this that little Rosalia's body has reached us intact. All rights reserved. Heres some history and a video: Rosalia Lombardo (December 13, 1918 in Palermo, Italy December 6, 1920), was an Italian child who died of pneumonia. 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There are those who believe that it is really her, little Rosalia, who blinks forever, almost a way to communicate with the world of the living. The daughter was always sick. What is certain, however, is that Alfredo Salaria was a great lover of chemistry as well as anatomy and over the years he had the opportunity to do many experiments, first on animal bodies, then starting from the early 1900s also on human corpses. It is December 13, 1918. Interesting history topics are just a click away. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The glass case also protects the body from any effects of light. Curiosities about the body of Rosalia, who seems to be blinking. Rosalia's father, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. Rosalia captures the hearts of thousands each year. Piombino-Mascali made this amazing discovery in 2009 after some of the workers in the museum moved her coffin, which caused her body to shift a little bit. (In Pics) Ten Extinct Animals which Survive only in Drawings. Some said this was her spirit returning to her body. (The oldest is a friar from 1599 called Silvestro da Gubbio). Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that Rosalia's parents requested that the child's body be entrusted to Alfredo Salaria, one of the most famous embalmers of the twentieth century, with the hope in this way of being able to pay homage to the memory of the little girl, torn all too young to life, with the hope of being able to stop the passage of time. But the girl, whose second birthday celebration would have been in just seven days, had lost her fight against pneumonia, and with it all, Mario had . Xolotl the Dog God of the Aztec mythology that guides the dead to the underworld, The Ebers Papyrus: Ancient Egyptian medical text reveals medico-magical beliefs and beneficial treatments. The Lombardo family was from Italy and even if the Spanish flu pandemic was coming to an end, it seems that the girl's pneumonia was caused by this deadly virus. 2022 History of Yesterday | All Rights Reserved. People were curious to know what was causing the dead body to blink. It was still a mystery until the curator of Capuchin catacombs, Dario Piombino-Mascali, proved a new theory. Rosalia Lombardos angel face pushed him to improve the preservation technique in order to preserve its natural beauty. Recently, the mummification techniques used by Salafia were discovered in a handwritten memoir of Salafias. Alfredo Salafia, a taxidermist, and a skillful embalmer, then mummified the dead body of Rosalia Lombardo with impressive skill, preserving her so well that even her internal organs were kept intact. Looking closer, you can notice that her eyelids are not completely closed, which was most likely done with Alfredo Salafias goal of making her more alive. Get notified of the best booming posts weekly. Mario Lombardo, her father, wanted to uncover the specific cause of her death so he could "blame" someone. He approached a popular embalmer, Alfredo Salafia and asked to have her preserved for eternity. General Mario Lombardo, who is said to have been so grief-stricken when she died that he refused to bury her and instead chose to have her body preserved. He made a small puncture and injected a mixture of zinc salts, formalin, glycerin, and salicylic acid. The owner of this site is using Wordfence to manage access to their site. Geni requires JavaScript! But the proof of her heritage doesn't exist. This mystery of blinking eyes, and the well-preserved body is what makes Rosalias mummy so fascinating. How did you succeed in this feat? His body is not here, it has been buried. To address these issues the mummy was moved to a drier spot in the catacombs, and her original coffin was placed in a hermetically sealed glass enclosure with nitrogen gas to prevent decay. Thank you for your cooperation.You can sign-up to the Membership any time to remove the adds and enjoy the content with no interruptions, Rosalia Lombardos perfectly preserved body, by Andrei Tapalaga | Sep 6, 2022 | Culture. The grid is of the coffin beneath the body (Source:National Geographic). Life is full of constant reminders that we will one day die. It seems that it was a common practice to insert a bottle in the coffin containing the reagent capable of preventing the formation of mold and ensuring that the body was preserved longer. The story of Rosalia Lombardo got to Profesor Salafia, therefore he never charged the father for his services. The embalming of the body of Rosalia Lombardo by Alfredo Salaria. Full text data coming soon. There are those who say that a slight opening and closing of the eyelids actually occurs due to the humidity present and how it changes over the course of the day. Her father, Mario Lombardo wanted to know the exact cause of her death in order to "blame" someone. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 6 December 1920)[1] was a Palermitan child who died of pneumonia, resulting from the Spanish flu,[2] one week before her second birthday. Rosalia Lombardo in her glass coffin. The typical embalming procedures include the complete removal of organs. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 - 6 December 1920) was a Palermitan child who died of pneumonia, resulting from the Spanish flu, one week before her second birthday. On the historical island of Sicily sits the Sicilian capital of Palermo, resting on the toe of Italys boot-based geographical shape. Alfredo Salaria arrived at the house of the Lombardo spouses, located in Piazza San Francesco di Paola, about 24 hours after the child's death. Notes documenting Rosalias mummification were discovered in the 1970s. They were famed for their Romanesque architecture, characterized by semi-circular arches. They tell of a young child, born frail and weak, who endured more pain and sickness throughout her short life than most do in their lifetimes. Rosalia Lombardos one hundred year old body may be the most beautifully embalmed body in the world. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 - 6 December 1920) was an Italian child who died of pneumonia, resulting from the Spanish flu, one week shy of her second birthday. (Sibeaster / Wikimedia Commons). The father refused to bury his daughter, seemingly extremely traumatized because of losing his child.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'historyofyesterday_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_5',104,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofyesterday_com-medrectangle-3-0'); Rosalias death took place only a week shy of her second birthday. A city steeped in religious history; it was also home to a Catholic sect called the Capuchins (An order of friars and one of the main offshoots of the Franciscan order created by famous religious devout Francis of Assisi). Rosalia Lombardo (December 13, 1918 - December 6, 1920), was an Italian child who passed away of pneumonia. The embalming took place right there, in that house where the little girl lived her first two years of life, happy and surrounded by the love of her family. STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. Your email address will not be published. Zinc to petrify the body. But why the bottle under Rosalia's head is completely empty remains an inexplicable mystery. It is possible that contact with the air before its replacement may have resulted in damage. He then handed it over to the researchers who discovered the formula right there to guarantee a body the eternal sleep it deserves. Recommended Visit: Most visitors to her mummified remains say she is a miracle because she blinks even though she has been dead for a long time. Mario Lombardo Unfortunately, though Rosalia is just 98 years old (a fairly young mummy) the truth about her life before death and her family is speculated, but unconfirmed. Rosalia meant the world to her family, especially her father who sought to preserve her eternally. Many others thought that the eyes might blink due to the temperature changes inside the catacomb, which made her eyelids contract and thus produced the blink-like effect. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Avid Writer with invaluable knowledge of Humanity! We are talking about the body of Rosalia Lombardo, a 2-year-old girl, who has been in the Catacombs for over 100 years, masterfully embalmed, in perfect condition, who also seems to be about to open her eyes and come back to life. According to Piombino-Mascali, the blinking eyes of Rosalia were just an optical illusion, caused when light from windows strikes her eyes at different angles. Accept Read More, https://www.youtube.com/embed/jrbbOCuDJCE, Post Mortem Photography Immortalizing the Dead, Padre Pio Stigmata, Miracle Worker or Fraud, https://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/01/rosalia-lombardo-mummy-that-blinks.html, https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/06/mystery-of-blinking-child-mummy-solved.html. In short, Rosalia is a 98 year old mummy. [2] (Sibeaster / Wikimedia Commons). 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. According to him, everything people are seeing is actually an optical illusion. The beautifully peaceful yet pallid face of the fallen angel Rosalia Lombardo is a chilling aide-mmoire that death can come anytime and to anyone. He was always waiting for . Despite providing her with the greatest medicine available at the time, she was still extremely young and lacked the necessary immune system to combat bronchopneumonia. Zinc salts to keep a state of preservation He used many modern and original techniques to mummify young Rosalia to perfection. While this sparked stories about the mummy who could open her eyes on the internet, in 2009, Italian biological anthropologist Dario Piombino-Mascali disproved the core myth surrounding Rosalia Lombardo. In fact, the only proof Rosalia the mummy has a sister is that there is a Rosalia Lombardo who was in discussion with the Sicilian government about the poor treatment of Rosalia by National Geographic. It is a location rich in history between Europe and Africa on the banks of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Rosalia's father, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. Rosalia died due to pneumonia in a region which becomes extremely cold in the winter months. Rosalia died due to pneumonia in a region which becomes extremely cold in the winter months. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Rosalia's father, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. Glycerin prevented her body from desiccating or drying out. Many find it too overwhelming to be underground with what looks like an army of the dead from a horror film, including an Argentinian companion of mine who had to surface for air and rejoin the mortal beings above. But what curiosity are we talking about? The catacombs of the Capuchins of Palermo. Much of their rules involved living in as much austerity that was practical. 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