Although it might sound a bit strange and terrifying at the same time, there is “the most beautiful mummy in the world” and her name is Rosalía Lombardo. She is a beautiful girl who was born in December 1918, in Sicily, Italy, but she died when she was barely two years old. Her parents Mario Lombardo and María Di Cara got married a few months after the little girl’s birth, something that made them very happy. However, on December 6, 1920, everything ended for them. Rosalía became seriously ill with pneumonia and died.
In the midst of their sadness, her father sought out Alfredo Salafia, the most famous embalmer of that time, to ask him to do everything possible to preserve the body of her daughter. Salafia attended to his request in great detail, that more than 100 years after her death, her appearance remains like that of a sleeping girl. Rosalía’s father took her body to the children’s room of the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo and was one of the last to be admitted.
The agreement was that sometime later, the coffin had to be moved; however, because her relatives visited her constantly, it was decided that it would remain visible in the Capuchin catacombs. Time was taking its toll and the corpse was beginning to show slight signs of division, so it had to be removed from public view. The people who came to this place and saw her claimed that she opened her eyes. The experts explained that it was something impossible since it was proven that she never had them completely closed, so, depending on the light, she gave the sensation that she was blinking.
But how was her body preserved for so long?
At least 10 years ago, investigators found the notebook in which the embalmer made notes about the procedures he followed. First, he points out, he injected a salicylic acid compound to kill the fungus; He used zinc bandages to keep the outside rigid, alcohol to dry and formalin against bacteria; and at the end, he spread glycerin to prevent excessive drying. The most surprising thing is that a couple of years ago, they took X-rays and were very surprised that the organs were intact.
Among the 163 children’s bodies waiting at that site, Rosalía‘s is the best preserved, earning the title of “the most beautiful mummy in the world” or “Sleeping Beauty“, in relation to the tenderness she reflects as the character from Disney.
This story was written in Spanish by Nayeli Párraga in Cultura Colectiva
