Captain George Costentenus
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Captain George Costentenus, also known as "The Greek Albanian" or "The Tattooed Greek Prince", (April 17, 1833 - ?) was a
circus performer A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
in the late 1800s. A man who was
tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...
ed over his entire body, he was a famous traveling attraction who claimed to have been kidnapped by
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
Tartars Tartary (Latin: ''Tartaria''; ; ; ) or Tatary () was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounded by the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the northern borders of China ...
and tattooed against his will. His surname was sometimes spelled as Constantenus and Constantinius. He was also known as Djordgi Konstantinus and Georgius Constantine.


Fictive origins as reported in America

In 1867 he was travelling with an American and a Spaniard in
Tartary Tartary (Latin: ''Tartaria''; ; ; ) or Tatary () was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounded by the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the northern borders of China, ...
on a mining expedition. A rebellion arose and they sided with the insurgents. They were taken prisoner and subjected to a three-month-long tattooing session as punishment. After the tattooing was completed, the three escaped from prison. The American survived only a few months. The Spaniard went blind and died in
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
. The tattooing was done with
indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...
and
cinnabar Cinnabar (; ), or cinnabarite (), also known as ''mercurblende'' is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of Mercury sulfide, mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining mercury (element), elemental mercury and is t ...
, and covered him from head to foot. The only exceptions were the soles of his feet and parts of his ears. All together he had 387 figures tattooed on his body. Those images ranged from exotic animals to flowers to geometric figures to foreign writing. He was known to be able to speak multiple languages.


Early life

George Costentenus was born on April 17, 1833. He was a native of
Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
, in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, however his family was ethnically
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and they were
Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
. As an adult, he was a pirate and adventurer. He was able to speak Greek, Arabic, Persian, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and English. In the 1860s, he took part in a French expedition to
Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
that was in search of gold. The expedition was proclaimed hostile by the
Konbaung dynasty The Konbaung dynasty (), also known as the Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်), was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in history of Mya ...
government at Awa. He and eleven companions fell into the hands of the
Royal Burmese armed forces The Royal Armed Forces (,See (Maha Yazawin 2006: 26), (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 236), (Hmannan Vol. 2 2012: 2) for example. ) were the armed forces of the History of Myanmar, Burmese monarchy from the 9th to 19th centuries. It refers to the ...
troops. Nine of the party were executed. Costentenus and two others were punished by tattooing at
Bhamo Bhamo ( ''ban: mau mrui.'', also spelt Banmaw), historically known as Manmaw (; ) or Hsinkai () is a city in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, south of the state capital, (Myitkyina). It is on the Ayeyarwady River. It lies within of the border ...
. During the three-month long process, he had to be held down by four men. He eventually escaped and spent four months travelling through southern China before reaching
Amoy Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...
. The European consul there helped him reach
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
, where he was sick for some time. He then traveled to
British Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British Empire, British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 ...
, took a ship through the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
, and then went to
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
,
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
for a lengthy period. In the early 1870s while in Vienna, he attracted the attention of medical professionals and anthropologists. They counted 388 figures. The tattoos on his fingers were translated from Burmese and indicated his was considered to be a poor character. The academics who examined him did notice several variations in the story he told, and somewhat doubted that the process took only three months. They did believe his tattoos to be authentic examples of Burmese tattooing.


Career

After being examined by the academic community, Costentenus began to exhibit himself in western Europe. In October 1874, Costentenus was exhibiting himself in Paris, France. He came to United States around 1875 due to the coming
Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition, officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was the first official wo ...
. By 1876, he was under contract with
P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was ...
and was being paid $100 a day. He toured with P. T. Barnum's New and Greatest Show on Earth in 1876 and 1877. In June 1878, while again on tour with Barnum a fight broke between Costentenus and the giant
Colonel Routh Goshen Routh Goshen, born Arthur James Caley (1824 – February 12, 1889), was most commonly known as Colonel Routh Goshen or the Arabian Giant or the Palestine Giant. He was billed as the tallest man in the world at and but was most likely no mo ...
. The fight was said to have originated after Costentenus insulted some ladies within Goshen's presence. Costentenus was injured during the fight. Costentenus toured the United States with Barnum again in 1879 and 1880. When not exhibiting himself as near to naked as could be allowed, Costentenus dressed heavily and wore expensive jewelry. In early 1882, he was exhibiting himself at the
Royal Aquarium The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a place of amusement in Westminster, London. It opened in 1876, and the building was demolished in 1903. The attraction was located northwest of Westminster Abbey on Tothill Street. The building was design ...
with an exhibition arranged by
William Leonard Hunt William Leonard Hunt (June 10, 1838 – January 17, 1929), also known by the stage name The Great Farini, was a well-known nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Canadian funambulist, entertainment promoter and inventor, as well as the first know ...
. That same year, he became a resident of New York City. In December 1883, Costentenus applied for United States citizenship. At the time, he was planning to go to Europe for treatment for his failing eyesight, but wanted to do so as an American citizen. At the time he was blind in one eye and losing his sight in the other. He claimed to have been in the country for seven years. He became an American citizen on December 22, 1883. On February 16, 1884, he sailed for Europe aboard the SS ''Republic''. In 1885 he was said to have gone blind and retired to a wealthy estate in Greece. By June 1889, he was exhibiting himself at the
Folies Bergère 150px, Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg">Walery, 1927 The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the arc ...
in Paris, France. In October 1889, he returned to New York. In 1890, he applied for a passport to travel to Europe and planned to return two years later. He applied for another passport in 1894. After that date he disappears from records.


Footnotes


References

* Carlyn Beccia, ''Who Put the B in the Ballyhoo?'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2007. ) * Leonard Cassuto, ''The Inhuman Race: The Racial Grotesque in American Literature and Culture'', p183. (Columbia University Press, 1997. ) *
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
: Attitudes About Tattooing
Attitudes in the 1800s.

South Street Seaport Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Costentenus, Captain George Year of death missing 1833 births Sideshow performers People known for being heavily tattooed Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Austria-Hungary 19th-century circus performers