1. The Scottish Brothers

1. The Scottish Brothers

The Scottish Brothers were born in 1490, somewhere near Glasgow. Little is known about them but it has been suggested that they were dicephalus conjoined twins, meaning two heads on a single body. However, other sources say that they were conjoined purely below the waist.

In either case, it is known that the Scottish Brothers were taken to the court of King James IV. The King ordered their careful upbringing and education. Thus, they learned how to sing and were fluent in several languages. They also quaralled a lot and sometimes even fought physically.

They died at the age of twenty eight in 1518. The cause of their death is unknown.

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2. The Hungarian sisters

2. The Hungarian sisters

Helen and Judith of Szony, most often referred to as ‘The Hungarian Sisters’, were born in Hungary in 1701. The appearance of the twins baffled everyone and doctors soon decided that they were born conjoined due to their mother’s overactive imagination during pregnancy.

Since Helen was born first (Judith was born three hours later) she was considered stronger, as well as more intelligent and attractive. Understanding the need to take advantage of their situation, the twins soon turned to music and began performing at various shows and exhibitons throughout Europe.

However, their career was not to last for long. Shortly after entering a convent, Judith died of an unclassified brain trauma. Helen died a couple of hours later.

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3. Eliza and Mary Chulkhurst

3. Eliza and Mary Chulkhurst

Eliza and Mary Chulkhurst, better known as the Biddenden Maids, were born in 1100 to a wealthy family. The Biddenden Maids are considered to be one of the earliest cases of conjoined twins on record.

It is said that the twins were conjoined at the hips and shoulders. However, such occurence of twins being conjoined in two places is extremely rare and thus most teratologists dismiss such possibility. Thus, it is most likely that the twins were simply conjoined at the hips. However, due to their custom of walking with their arms around each other’s shoulders, it could have looked like they were also conjoined at the shoulders.

In 1134, Mary died from illness. It was suggested that Eliza should be separated from her sister to ensure that she goes on living. However, Eliza disagreed, saying that together they came into this world, and together they shall go. Thus, Eliza died six hours later.

The sisters left their wealth to the poor and for many years, every Easter Sunday, bread, cheese, cakes and beer were distributed to those less fortunate.

An annual festival has been celebrated in the Biddendem Maid honour right up until the early 1900s. An important tradition of the festival has been the creation and consumption of ‘Biddenden Cakes’ which featured the two famous sisters.

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4. Ritta and Christina Parodi

4. Ritta and Christina Parodi

Ritta and Christina were born in 1829 in Sardina. Their family, although poor, decided to make a trip to France where they hoped that doctors and scientists would pay good money to examine the twins. However, the family did not know how to promote the twins and thus grew poorer and poorer each day.

The family then tried to exhibit them publicly but the city officials would have none of that. However, word spread and to the family’s delight, doctors came to examine Ritta and Christina. Unfortunately, the constant observation interfered with the twins sleep and Ritta, who was of ill health since the day she was born, grew weaker and weaker by the minute. She eventually died eight months after she was born. Christina, who was always of strong and of good health, died only moments later.

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5. Radica and Doodica

5. Radica and Doodica

Radica and Doodica, also known as the Orissa sisters, were born in India in 1889. The residents of the village were distraught by the twins’ appearance, saying that they were ‘symbols of divine wrath.’ The whole family was chased out of town. Upset with how his daughters looked, their father was about to separate the girls himself but was stopped by an official who handed the girls to a local temple.

In 1893 the twins were sold to a showman Captain Colman. They then began to travel around Europe, performing at various shows and exhibitions. Captain Colman is said to have been a nice man who treated the twins more like an adoptive father as opposed to an exploitive owner.

Unfortunately, in 1902, Doodica developed tuberculosis and the twins were separated in an attempt to save Radica. The surgery was considered a success although Doodica died shortly after the seperation. However, Radica still developed tuberculosis and died in 1903.

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6. Rosa and Josepha Blažek

6. Rosa and Josepha Blažek

Rosa and Josepha Blažek were born in 1878 in Bohemia. They began appearing in shows and exhibitions at the tender age of one. When the girls were thirteen years old, they went to Paris to see doctors about the possibility of separation. However, since they shared a lower vertebrae they were told that seperation was impossible.

The twins, as often is the case, were different in many ways. Rosa was chatty and witty whereas Josepha was introverted and quiet. Rosa was also stronger Josepha, both physically and personality wise. In 1910, Rosa gave birth to a son by vaginal delivery (findagrave.com). It is interesting to note that Rosa is the only conjoined female twin in history to bear a viable child. It is said that the boy’s father was forbidden to marry Rosa on the grounds of morality

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7. Millie and Christine McKoy

7. Millie and Christine McKoy

Millie and Christine McKoy were born into slavery in 1851 in North Carolina. Their parents were slaves owned by a blacksmith named Jabez McKay. McKay saw the commercial value of the twins and sold them for $1,000 to an agent for public exhibition. The twins were sold and bought numerous times before they finally settled with Joseph Pearson Smith and his family. They were hired out to various road shows and became known as the ‘Carolina twins.’

It was during this period that the girl were kidnapped and taken to England where they continued to appear at various shows and exhibitions. However, Smith tracked the twins down and took them back to America. The girls continued to perform and were soon known as the ‘Two Headed Girl’ or the ‘Two Headed Nightingale‘.

In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation brought an end to slavery but Millie and Christine decided to stay with the Smiths. They continued appearing at various shows and circuses and in 1871 they performed for Queen Victoria who in turn gave them diamond hairclips.

However, eventually Millie’s ill health stopped the twins from further performances and they retired to their home in rural Columbus County where they continued the charitable work they had started before.

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