Giacomo and Giovanni Battista Tocci
Italian dicephalic parapagus twins exhibited in circuses.
Giacomo and Giovanni Battista Tocci were conjoined twins born in Locana, Italy, on 4 October 1877. They were of the dicephalic parapagus tetrabrachius subtype, meaning they had one merged trunk, four arms, and two heads. The twins toured in a circus, and erroneous reports about their later life circulated well after their death in 1894.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 4 October 1877
- Died
- 13 December 1894
- Place of birth
- Locana, Italy
- Subtype
- dicephalic parapagus tetrabrachius
- Mother
- Maria Luigia Mezzano-Rosa
- Father
- Giovanni Tocci
Facts from the source article.
Early childhood
The parents refused thorough medical examinations, believing it would reduce the twins' fame. The father took them to Turin for exhibition, where professors of the Turin Academy of Medicine predicted they would not live long. After a Paris tour, two doctors in Lyon, France, determined the twins would survive. In August 1879, a doctor before the Swiss Society of Natural Science also concluded they were likely to live. The twins had two heads, two necks, two ribcages joining at the sixth rib, four arms, and two legs; internally they had two hearts, two stomachs, two sets of lungs, two separate diaphragms, and shared a large and small intestine. Each twin controlled his own leg and did not feel his twin's body. They were exhibited almost daily in major cities across Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland, and France through the 1880s. Although an English doctor later called Giacomo idiotic and Giovanni intelligent and artistic, every subsequent doctor stated both were clever. They never learned to walk due to lack of leg muscle development from constant exhibition, but could stand using a chair or object for balance, and moved by tumbling on all six limbs or using a wheelchair.
Adolescence
The Tocci twins were multilingual, speaking Italian, French, and German. They often used their fists to resolve arguments. Giovanni enjoyed beer, while Giacomo preferred mineral water; Giacomo was the more talkative of the two, with Giovanni being reserved. Their United States tour began in 1891, paying them $1,000 weekly. They spent three weeks in New York City starting March 1892, and what was meant to be a one-year tour stretched into five. By 1894, their father and stepmother had brought them back to Vesignano, Italy, where both twins died on December 16 at age 17.
Speculation
After the twins' exhibition, the family sought privacy, leading to scant information and various speculative stories. One tale claimed they retired to a villa in Venice, becoming recluses. A 1900 report said they were alive and well; in 1904 it was reported they had married two women, prompting legal speculation. Later reports contradicted each other: a 1906 claim of death, a 1911 report of life, and a 1934 account stating they were still alive in 1912 and had children. Another report claimed they died childless in 1940.
More in Conjoined Twins
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced