page_title: Daniel Cajanus
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Daniel Cajanus / Biography
caption_attribution_description: Daniel Cajanus im Blauw Jan, zeitgenössische Zeichnung, später im Almanak tot Not van't Algemen von 1802 veröffentlicht
context_page_description: Daniel Cajanus was a Finnish giant. He made his living by exhibiting himself for money; he appeared in many European countries and attracted the interest of scientists and laypeople, including royalty. After his death, portions of his skeleton found their way into museums, where some parts still remain.
context_section_description: Cajanus was born in Paltamo, Oulu, Finland, the son of a clergyman. Finland was at that time part of Sweden, and Cajanus was often referred to as the "Swedish Giant". Estimates of his adult height vary and range as high as 8 feet 1.4 inches (2.474 m). Jan Bondeson, a medical professional and author who has researched and written on Cajanus, suggests that his true height was around 7 feet 8 inches (2.34 m), supported by contemporaneous accounts in the London Annual Register. Various unconfirmed versions of his early life exist, but tax records indicate he may have left the country in 1723 or soon afterward, and Finnish and Swedish tradition recounts that he joined the bodyguard of Frederick William I of Prussia, which was composed of unusually tall soldiers and was nicknamed the Potsdam Giants.
  Cajanus lived for some years at the court of August II of Poland, where he served as a cavalry soldier. Following the king's death in 1733 he appears to have moved on, and according to Theophilus Cibber spent time in Germany before arriving in London, where he is recorded as having appeared at Drury Lane in February 1734, playing the part of Gargantua in the pantomime Cupid and Psyche, and in several other productions. He exhibited himself for money in various places in London, billed as the "Swedish Giant". His portrait was painted twice during his stay in England by the artist Enoch Seeman; one of these portraits is now in the National Museum of Finland and depicts him in his Polish soldier's uniform, with an inscription stating his height as 7 feet 10 inches (2.39 m). In 1735 he traveled to Paris, where he exhibited himself to paying audiences and was received privately at Versailles by Louis XV, the queen and the dauphin. Later he took up residence in Amsterdam, where he lived from 1735 to 1741 as the guest of the landlord of the Blauw Jan, an inn where natural curiosities could be seen and traded. After an unsuccessful spell as a moneylender Cajanus returned to exhibiting himself, visiting England again in 1741 and 1742 and appearing before a meeting of the Royal Society, where his height was marked against a pillar and reported to be 7 feet 4 ¹⁄₄ inches (224.2 cm) in his shoes. The society's president Martin Folkes observed that Cajanus appeared weak at this meeting, and could not stand for long.
  The publisher Thomas Boreman met Cajanus during his visit to London in 1742 and produced a book purporting to be his biography. The History of Cajanus, the Swedish Giant, from his Birth to the Present Time was published on 23 September of that year, and advertisements for it encouraged the reader to visit the exhibition opposite the Mansion House where Cajanus himself could be seen.
caption: Daniel Cajanus at the Blauw Jan inn. Contemporary engraving.
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