In 1772, a French boy was born with an appetite that could never be satisfied. No matter how much Tarrare ate, he was always hungry—and always eating. Doctors called it polyphagia, an insatiable hunger disorder. The public called him a monster.

For 26 years, Tarrare performed on French streets, eating anything crowds would bring him—whole chickens, rocks, live animals, even objects that weren't food. His jaw could unhinge like a snake's. His body stank so badly people couldn't stand within 20 paces. When he begged the French military for help, they tried to use him as a spy instead. He swallowed documents in wooden boxes and passed them through his system like a human carrier pigeon.

But this isn't just a story about the grotesque. It's about a man trapped in his own body, suffering from a brain disorder science still barely understands. When Tarrare died at 26 in a military hospital, begging for a cure that never came, doctors couldn't even study his remains—his body decayed too rapidly from the damage his condition had caused.

This forgotten story forces us to confront how we treat people whose suffering we don't understand.

Discover more forgotten American stories with Hometown History. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

In This Episode:

• What polyphagia is and how it turned Tarrare into a medical curiosity
• His career as a street performer who ate anything audiences brought him
• How the French military tried to use him as a document-carrying spy
• The medical experiments conducted on him in military hospitals
• The brain abnormalities that may explain his insatiable appetite
• His tragic death at 26 and why doctors couldn't study his body
• What modern science knows (and doesn't know) about extreme eating disorders

Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of extreme medical conditions, animal consumption, and disturbing historical behavior. Listener discretion advised.

Key Figures:

• Tarrare (1772-1798) - French polyphagia sufferer and street performer
• General Alexandre de Beauharnais - French Revolutionary general who recruited Tarrare as spy
• Napoleon Bonaparte - Commander during Tarrare's military service
• Dr. Jan Bondeson - Swedish rheumatologist who studied the case
• Professor Percy - Doctor who documented Tarrare's condition
• M. Tiser - Chief surgeon who attempted to examine Tarrare's body after death

Timeline:

• 1772: Tarrare born in France
• 1780s-1790s: Works as street performer and joins traveling show
• 1792-1799: French Revolutionary Wars period
• 1793-1794: Enlists in French army under General de Beauharnais
• 1794: Used as military spy; captured and tortured by German forces
• 1794: Admitted to military hospital seeking cure for appetite
• 1794: Expelled from hospital after infant goes missing
• 1798: Resurfaces at hospital in Versailles
• 1798: Dies at age 26 from tuberculosis and organ failure

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