LIONEL – The Lion Faced Boy

LIONEL – The Lion Faced Boy

Stefan Bibrowski was born in 1890 in Warsaw. He was discovered by a unknown German showman at the age of four and, with the permission of his parents, he began his exhibition career in 1895. He was given the name Lionel The Lion-Faced Boy and a back story involving his mother witnessing his father being eaten by a lion was added to his biography. This was cited as the cause of his four inch long fur and the concept – know as imprinting – was a commonly held belief in the 1800′s.

He did indeed have hypertrichosis and by all accounts was a very intelligent man who spoke at least five languages and had aspirations of being a dentist. Physically he was not an imposing figure as his official height was only five feet, three inches. Also, as is common with many forms of hypertrichosis, Lionel only had a couple of teeth in his mouth.

Lionel toured mostly in Europe but he did do several American tours – almost always with Barnum & Bailey Shows and once with Coney Island Dreamland Circus in New Jersey. He actually truly enjoyed the opportunities provided by his unusual hairiness. In fact, in 1904 in New York, the hotel he was staying at caught fire and Lionel was the very first man out. He was terrified of having his furry faced singed. He was quoted as stating if that happened he ‘would just be an ordinary man’.

Shortly after becoming a German citizen in 1932, Lionel passed away. He had no wife and or children on record. According to some reports he died in Italy and according to others, he died in a Nazi concentration camp – despite being a Catholic.

Wikipedia: Stephan Bibrowski (1891–1932), better known as Lionel the Lion-faced Man, was a famous sideshow performer. His whole body was covered with long hair that gave him the appearance of a lion; this was likely due to a rare condition called hypertrichosis.

Bibrowski was born in 1891 in Bielsk near Plock in Poland with one-inch hair covering his body. His mother blamed the condition on the mauling of his father by a lion, which she witnessed while pregnant with Stephan. She considered Stephan an abomination and gave him up to a German impresario named Sedlmayer when he was four. Sedlmayer gave him his stage name and started exhibiting him around Europe.

By the time he was put on exhibit, Lionel's hair had grown to eight inches (20 cm) on his face and hung about four inches (10 cm) everywhere else. His body was almost entirely covered with hair, the only exceptions being the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. In 1901, Lionel traveled to the United States and started appearing with the Barnum and Bailey Circus. He toured with the circus from then on, occasionally going back to Europe.

In his act, Lionel performed gymnastic tricks, and also spoke to people to show his gentle side that sharply contrasted with his appearance. He was known to be a perfect gentleman, and always impeccably dressed. He was also well-educated and spoke five languages. He settled down permanently in the US in 1920, as he became a popular attraction. He moved to New York City and was a fixture at Coney Island for a while.

By the late 1920s, Lionel retired from his sideshow career and moved back to Germany. He was reported to have died in Berlin from a heart attack in 1932 at the age of 41. Images of Lionel are often confused with those of Jo-Jo and for decades images of the two were interchangable and few realized the men where two individuals.