Séraphin (1747-1800), “the facetious hunchback”: How ankylosing spondylitis contributed to the success of his shadow puppet theatre

Séraphin (1747–1800) is considered the founder of shadow puppetry in France. This “facetious hunchback”, well known to Parisians in the late 18th century, ran his own theater until his death in 1800 at the age of 53. His deformity seems to have left its mark on popular memory, and was an integral part of the “Théâtre Séraphin”. Part of his skeleton was preserved in the Dupuytren Museum in Paris. In 1897, it was described as a “particular kind of ankylosis, probably different from ordinary kyphosis”. Then, in 1899, Dr. André Léri, a pupil of Pierre Marie, hypothesized from skeletal analysis that Séraphin must have suffered from rhizomelic spondylosis (the first french name for ankylosing spondylitis). In this article, we present the recent analysis of his skeleton, restored at the Dupuytren Museum, as well as old documents, a graphic representation and texts that allow us to make the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis. These documents show how this deforming disease contributed to the success of Seraphin’s theatre.