Lucía Zárate
{{Short description|Mexican entertainer with dwarfism (1864–1890)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lucía Zárate
| image = Luc%C3%ADa_Z%C3%A1rate.jpg
| caption = Photograph of Lucía Zárate
| birth_date = {{birth date|1864|1|2}}
| birth_place = Veracruz, Mexico
| death_date = {{death date and age|1890|1|15|1864|1|2}}
| death_place = Sierra Nevada, US
| known_for = "Lightest Recorded Adult"
| height = {{convert|50.8|cm|in|abbr=on|1}} (claimed)
{{convert|68|cm|in|abbr=on|1}} (GWR){{Cite web |title=Lightest person |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/67485-lightest-person |access-date=2022-05-09 |website=Guinness World Records |language=en-gb}}
}}
Lucía Zárate (January 2, 1864 – January 15, 1890) was a Mexican entertainer with dwarfism who performed in sideshows. Zárate is the first person to have been identified with Majewski osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II.{{cite journal| last1= Hall| first1= Judith G.| first2= Christina |last2= Flora| first3= Charles I. Jr.| last3= Scott| first4= Richard M. | last4= Pauli| first5= Kimi| last5= Tanak| year= 2004| url= http://www.primordialdwarfism.com/fulltext-1.pdf| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202014442/http://www.primordialdwarfism.com/fulltext-1.pdf |archive-date= 2007-02-02 | title= Majewski Osteodysplastic Primordial Dwarfism Type II (MOPD II): Natural History and Clinical Findings| journal= American Journal of Medical Genetics| volume= 130A| issue= 1| pages= 55–72| doi= 10.1002/ajmg.a.30203| pmid= 15368497| s2cid= 24104332}} She was entered into the Guinness World Records as the "lightest recorded adult", weighing {{convert|4.7|lb|kg}} at the age of 17.{{cite book| editor-last1= McFarlan| editor-first1= Donald| editor-first2= Norris | editor-last2= McWhirter| year= 1988| title= 1989 Guinness Book of World Records| url= https://archive.org/details/1989guinnessbook00mcfa| url-access= registration| publisher= Bantam Books| page= [https://archive.org/details/1989guinnessbook00mcfa/page/6 6]| isbn= 0-553-27926-2}}{{Cite web |title=Lightest person |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/67485-lightest-person |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=Guinness World Records |language=en-gb}}
Early life
She was born in Veracruz, Mexico, and settled on the Agostadero, (later Cempoala), Veracruz. According to an 1894 article in Strand Magazine, Zárate achieved her full growth by the age of one year.{{cite news| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8Q4wAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Lucia+Zarate%22&pg=RA1-PA437 | title= Giants and Dwarfs| work= The Strand Magazine| first= G. |last= Newnes| date= July–December 1894| volume= 8}} Her family home, Casa Grande (Big House) is open to the public as a museum.{{cite web| url= http://casagrande-museo.blogspot.com/ | title= Museo Casa Grande| via= casagrande-museo.blogspot.com}}
Career
At age twelve, Zárate moved from Mexico over to the United States, where she was exhibited for her small stature. She first worked as part of an act billed as the "Fairy Sisters", later partnering with Francis Joseph Flynn (billed under the stage name "General Mite") to exhibit internationally.{{cite book | first = Matthew | last = Sweet | title = Inventing the Victorians | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=b-CJCzpR3QYC&q=%22Lucia+Zarate%22&pg=PA149 | publisher = Macmillan | year = 2001 | isbn = 0-312-28326-1 | pages = 149–150}} In 1889 she was billed in The Washington Post as the "marvelous Mexican midget" and described as "a tiny but all powerful magnet to draw the public."{{cite news | last = Staff | title = Uffner's royal American midgets | newspaper = The Washington Post | date = 1889-02-25 | url = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/191121282.html?dids=191121282:191121282&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=FEB+25%2C+1889&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Uffner%27s+Royal+American+Midgets.&pqatl=google | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120721032357/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/191121282.html?dids=191121282:191121282&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=FEB+25,+1889&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Uffner's+Royal+American+Midgets.&pqatl=google | url-status = dead | archive-date = July 21, 2012 | accessdate = 2008-09-17}}
An 1876 book published by Oxford University discussed a visit to Zárate paid by several medical professionals, who could not certainly verify that she was twelve years old, but they could ascertain through her dental development that she was at least six years old. She weighed 14 pounds (6.4 kg) at her peak at age 20.{{cite book | first = James | last = Mason | title = The history of the year 1876, containing 'The Year book of facts' and 'The Annual summary' | year = 1876 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6DoIAAAAQAAJ&q=%22Lucia+Zarate%22&pg=PA1 | publisher = Oxford University | pages = 4–5}} At the time, her height was measured at {{cvt|20|in|cm}} tall, and her calf was measured as {{cvt|4|in|cm}} in circumference, {{cvt|1|in|cm}} more than the thumb of an average adult man. She was with her parents at the time and found to be healthy and intelligent, able to speak some English along with her native Spanish.
Death
After her circus train became stranded in the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains, Zárate died of hypothermia in 1890.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.sideshowworld.com/13-TGOD/2009/tgod-Lucia-Zarate-1.html Sideshow world] Article with a photo of Zarate
{{s-start}}
{{succession box | before = Nobody | title = Shortest Recognized Woman ever | years = 1864-1895 | after = Pauline Musters}}
{{s-end}}
{{s-start}}
{{succession box | before = Nobody | title = Shortest Recognized adult human ever | years = 1864-1895 | after = Pauline Musters}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zarate, Lucia}}
Category:Mexican women entertainers
Category:Entertainers with dwarfism