Читать книгу The Book Of Lists - David Wallechinsky - Страница 12

1 RUDOLF I OF HAPSBURG (German king and Holy Roman Emperor, 1218–91) According to one historian of anatomy, Rudolf ‘had so large a nose that no artist would ever paint its full dimension’.

2 MICHELANGELO (Italian artist, 1475–1564) Michelangelo’s nose was so squashed against his face that, in the words of one historian, ‘his forehead almost overhangs the nose’. As a boy, Michelangelo had mercilessly teased the painter Pietro Torrigiano while Torrigiano was trying to study some art inside a church. Angered, Torrigiano turned on young Michelangelo and, in his own words, ‘dealt him such a blow on the nose that I felt the bone and the cartilage yield under my fist as if they had been made of crisp wafer. And so he’ll go with my mark on him to his dying day’.

3 MATTHEW PARKER (English clergyman, 1504–75) Matthew Parker’s name entered the English language as ‘Nosey’ Parker – meaning someone who pokes his nose into other people’s business. Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Elizabeth I. Though shy and modest, he was over-inquisitive about Church matters, and his enemies began to call him ‘Nosey’ Parker.

4 TYCHO BRAHE (Danish astronomer, 1546–1601) Brahe lost the bridge of his nose in a swordfight when he was 20 and replaced it with a silver one.

5 CYRANO DE BERGERAC (French dramatist, 1619–55) He really was a living person. He is said to have fought 1,000 duels over insults concerning his enormous nose.

6 THOMAS WEDDERS (English circus freak, 1700s) Wedders had the longest-known nose of any human being in history. It measured 7½ inches in length. He was exhibited throughout England and was said to be mentally retarded.

7 JOSEF MYSLIVEČEK (Czech composer, 1737–81) Nicknamed ‘The Bohemian’, Mysliveček was known for his operas Armida and Il Bellerofonte, and for the fact that he had no nose. In 1777, suffering from a venereal disease, he went to a third-rate doctor who told him that the only way to cure the disease was to remove his nose. So off it came. This led to the collapse of his career and he died in poverty.

8 DUKE OF WELLINGTON (British soldier and statesman, 1769–1852) In addition to the more familiar (and more respectful) nickname of ‘The Iron Duke’, Wellington was also called ‘Old Nosey’ by many of his soldiers because of his prominent nose. During the Peninsular War, Wellington was riding near the frontlines when he was challenged by a sentry. Unfortunately, he had forgotten the day’s password. Fortunately, the sentry recognised his nose. ‘God bless your crooked nose, sir,’ the soldier is said to have remarked. ‘I would rather see it than 10,000 men.’

9 KATE ELDER, alias FISHER (American brothel owner, 1870s) Elder was famous in the Wild West as ‘Big Nose’ Kate. Her nose was of the bulbous variety. She ran a house of ill repute in Dodge City, Kansas, and was the mistress of bad man Doc Holliday. Once when Holliday, in an argument over a poker hand, slit his opponent’s throat and was about to be arrested, ‘Big Nose’ Kate set the livery stable afire, creating a distraction that allowed her lover to escape.

10 MEHMET OZYUREK (Long Nose Contest Winner) Ozyurek is the only two-time winner of the Longest Nose competition in Rise, Turkey. Proudly displaying his 3½-inch nose, he won the inaugural contest in 1997 and then regained the title in 2000.

– I.W. & J.Be.