Tarrare

Tarrare was a French man from the late 18th century who became known for extreme, medically unusual hunger and the ability to eat very large quantities of food.

Tarrare was a French man from the late 18th century who became known for extreme, medically unusual hunger and the ability to eat very large quantities of food. He was studied by physicians, briefly used by the French Revolutionary Army, and later became a historical medical curiosity because no single diagnosis fully explains his condition.

Biography

Tarrare was born in Lyon in 1772 and became known in France for his extraordinary appetite. He later appeared in military and medical contexts during the French Revolutionary era.

Military service

Accounts say he joined the French Revolutionary Army and was used in a courier role because of his ability to swallow a hidden message. He was later captured and returned to medical attention.

Medical case

Physicians described him as able to consume enormous quantities of food and, in some reports, animals and other non-standard items. His condition drew interest because it did not fit known medical explanations of the time.

Death and legacy

Tarrare died in 1798. His case is still discussed in medical history as an extreme and unresolved example of pathological hunger.