Born in Puebla de Alcocer (Badajoz), where they have a museum dedicated to his countryman, he was born in 1849 and grew to measure 2.35 meters. This more than considerable height was due to an illness: he suffered from acromegaly. Disease caused by a tumor located in the pituitary gland producing excessive secretion of growth hormone, causing limbs, skull and internal organs to grow more than normal.
In 1875 Agustín arrived in Madrid, the national press echoed the news. While doctor Velasco inaugurates his museum. Velasco is an enthusiast for the study of anatomical malformations, which is why he is immediately interested in the case.
Agustín Luengo died on December 31 of that same year, the doctor convincing the mother to donate her body “in the interest of science.” That same New Year’s Eve he autopsies the corpse, creates a plaster cast and preserves the giant’s skeleton. Both the plaster mold and the bone remains can be visited at the Anthropological Museum of Madrid.
It has been said of the giant that he worked in a circus exhibiting his excessive size, as well as that he led a dissolute life that caused his early death, at the age of 26, facts that, according to Luis Ángel Sánchez Gómez, doctor of History and professor holder of the Complutense University of Madrid, do not seem to be true.
The excessive growth began to be noticed from the age of fourteen. The acromegaly he suffered from caused him health problems, including loss of vision and pain. In fact, it was these conditions that led mother and son to travel to Madrid, first passing through Andalusia and the Fuensanta baths, in Ciudad Real, in search of a remedy.
In Madrid he was received by Alfonso XII, picking it up in the press of the time. It seems that the monarch gave him a pair of leather boots, number 52.
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