The woman in the photograph is Mary Ann Bevan, née Webster; in her thirties she came to be called the ugliest woman in the world

The woman in the photograph is Mary Ann Bevan, née Webster; in her thirties she came to be called the ugliest woman in the world. A nurse and mother of four, Mary Ann fell ill with acromegaly, which is caused by a disorder of the pituitary gland and shows itself in the uncontrolled, gradual growth of the bones. Constant headaches and muscle pains and a rapid change in her appearance tormented the woman terribly; her bones lengthened along with her internal organs, and the doctors were powerless. Soon she lost her post as a nurse. A few years later her husband died, and after 11 years of marriage the widow had to support the family alone. Finding work was not easy: no one wanted an employee with so distorted a face, and what remained were poorly paid jobs to be done at home, which she also found hard going. There was no one to look to for help; Mary herself came from a poor family with many children. Besides the dreadful pain, she had to put up with the endless mockery and abuse of those around her. One day she came across an advertisement for a competition with a large prize fund: a contest for the title of the ugliest woman in the world. Probably no woman would wish to be spoken of in such a way, but the survival of the Bevan family was at stake. She submitted an entry and won. It was a dreadful sort of fame; the newspapers wrote dreadful, coarse, humiliating things about her, and beside her name and surname the words «the ugliest in the world» invariably appeared. Mary Ann endured these torments for the sake of her children. But that was not all: she was invited to the USA to take part in a show of «freaks» on Coney Island. She appeared before the public in circus costume, and her whole job consisted in enduring mockery. She quickly became the brightest character in the troupe, appearing every working day before spectators who laughed at her, humiliated her, and shouted obscenities and insults. Mary Ann was invited to the World's Fair, and she did not refuse that either. She knew that her life would not be long, that the illness was incurable and her health was growing worse and worse, and that she had to provide for the family that would be left without her. In 1933 the sufferings of Mary Ann Bevan came to an end; she died at the age of 59. She has gone down in history as the ugliest woman in the world, but in justice she should be called the bravest, the most selfless and the most beautiful.