Meet the Hungriest Man in History

Quick Overview

The story details the bizarre historical case of Charles Michel de L'Épée, better known as Tarrare, an 18th-century Frenchman with an insatiable appetite (polyphagia) who could eat almost anything, including non-food items, and whose death revealed his stomach and gullet were wide enough to see into, although the exact cause of his condition remains an uncertain medical enigma.

Key Points: Tarrare, an 18th-century Frenchman from Lyon, possessed an extreme case of polyphagia, an abnormal desire to consume excessive amounts of food (0:05, 2:58). His diet included non-food items like live snakes, whole baskets of apples, corks, and even a dissected cat, which he devoured by lunchtime (0:51, 3:00). He was briefly enlisted in the French Revolution Army but deemed useless in combat (Ability in Combat: 0) but rated 100 for Appetite (1:43). After being caught smuggling secret plans inside a wooden box he swallowed, he was imprisoned near Landau in der Pfalz, later being treated by military surgeon Dr. Pierre-François Percy (1:17, 2:09). During an autopsy performed after his death from tuberculosis in a Versailles hospital, Dr. Percy found Tarrare's gullet was wide enough to see into his rotting, pus-covered stomach (2:42). Modern theories for his condition include a combination of neurological/metabolic disorders, hyperthyroidism, or parasitic infection, but the ultimate cause remains uncertain (3:05). Tarrare was famously the subject of an autopsy report detailing his internal anomalies before the report was later destroyed due to its extreme smell (2:50).

Context: This video tells the historical account of Charles Michel de L'Épée, known as Tarrare, a man from 18th-century Lyon, France, who became infamous for possessing an almost unbelievable, insatiable appetite described as polyphagia. The narrative unfolds through illustrated historical documents and reenactments, detailing his career as a street entertainer, his brief military service, and the bizarre medical findings upon his death.