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World of the Bizarre

Man lived 82 years without ever seeing an actual woman

By T.K. Randall
April 10, 2023
Old hands
Image: AI-generated (Midjourney)
Mihailo Tolotos, who was born in Greece and lived his entire life in a remote monastery, only read about women in books.
In what can only be described as one of the most extreme cases of isolationism we've heard of, Mihailo Tolotos - who was born in 1856 - never encountered a real woman in his 82 years of life.

His mother had died shortly after he was born and he ended up being adopted and raised by the Orthodox Monks at a monastery on Mount Athos in Greece.

The monastery had (and still does) have strict rules forbidding any woman from stepping inside as part of efforts to ensure that the monks all stick to their vow of celibacy.

What this meant, however, was that Tolotos - who never once stepped foot outside the grounds - never encountered an actual live woman at all for his entire eight decades of life.
Instead, he only ever learned of their existence through word of mouth and by reading books.

His choice never to go beyond the confines of the monastery was his own - there were no rules forbidding him from leaving and venturing to the nearest village, for example.

He died in 1938 at the age of 82.

Source: Mail Online




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