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Jaqueline Foroni was born in 1779 in a small hamlet near Mantua, Italy. Although she exhibited both male and female physical characteristics, Foroni was raised as a girl and believed herself to be one. In 1802, just shy of her 23rd birthday, she was examined by an Italian scientific committee from the Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana, acting under government authorization.
The committee published a report on her case titled Relazione, riflessioni e giudizio sul sesso di un individuo umano vivente chiamato e conosciuto sotto il nome di Giacoma Foroni. This report was translated into French the same year. Intriguingly, the committee concluded that Foroni’s sex was male—a determination that came as a surprise to Foroni herself.
In modern terms, Foroni’s condition would likely be described as "intersex," a concept subtly referenced in the translator’s foreword, which mentions individuals “who belong neither to the class of men nor to the class of women.”
Foroni argued for her female identity in part by pointing to her sexual attraction to men. Interestingly, the committee did not classify this as homosexuality, suggesting an implicit recognition of the distinction between sex and gender—a nuanced perspective for the time.
The report provides a remarkably detailed account of Foroni’s body, accompanied by plates that depict her in peasant attire, a full-length nude view, and detailed illustrations of her genitalia. The French edition of the report was expanded to include an additional case study by Joseph Sonsis, first published in Brugnatelli’s Journal de Physique. This appendix details the case of Marie-Christine Zanneboni and features a full-page illustration.
The work remains a fascinating historical document, shedding light on early medical and societal perceptions of sex, gender, and identity.
Cf. Seth, 'Sexing the body. The case of Giacoma Foroni', in: Eighteenth-Century Archives of the Body (2013), pp. 67-81.
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