page_title: Theo the Pipe Smoker
section_title: Achilles Itin (1786–1816)
hierarchical_section_title: Theo the Pipe Smoker / Achilles Itin (1786–1816)
caption_attribution_description: de:Theo der Pfeifenraucher: Taufeintrag Achilles Itin, 2. März 1786, Taufbuch der Theodorskirche
context_page_description: Theo the Pipe Smoker is the fictitious name of a man whose skeleton was found in 1984 in a former potter's field near the Theodorskirche in Kleinbasel. He was named after the church's cemetery in which he was found.
context_section_description: Achilles Itin was born in Basel as the third of seven children. On 2 March 1786, the professor of theology Jakob Meyer and the master dyer and Grand Councillor Achilles Miville were entered into the baptism register of the Theodorskirch as his godparents – perhaps a sign of charity towards the suffering family.
  The family probably lived in poor conditions in two or three subletted rooms in the district of the parish of St. Theodor in Kleinbasel. The father was a city soldier and had to feed the family of nine with a monthly wage of ten francs. His brother Hans Jakob Itin worked as a carter servant for the city. It is unknown whether they were supported by the city.
  Achilles, as the unmarried son, probably also lived with the family, together with his unmarried sisters. The oldest sister married Isaac Roth, a widower and silk weaver, in 1811. Of her seven children, the three youngest died as infants, the second son, Jacob Conrad Roth, drowned in the Rhine at the age of thirteen. Two of Achilles’ sisters bore an illegitimate daughter. One of the girls was born deaf and mute. She later gave birth to two illegitimate children who both died shortly after birth. Three of the sisters who remained unmarried died like their father in the hospital for the poor in Liestal.
  Achilles Itin remained unmarried and died at the age of 30 on 14 November 1816, a few months after his mother. Nothing is known about his professional activity and the cause of his death.
caption: Achilles Itin's entry in the baptismal register of the Theodorskirche on 2 March 1786
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "9713", "Image ImageLength": "2905", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2019:11:27 10:47:07", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "418", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3980", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "1005111102", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2369", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "709"}