Psalmanazar’s hoax ended only in 1706 when the “genius of lies” grew tired of his play and revealed his true face as a genuine European.
George Psalmanazar (1679-1763) is known by some historians as the most gifted liar in history. This genius liar has “pierced ” the whole of England for a long time with extremely fascinating myths.
George Psalmanazar – genius liar who pierced the nose of British society at that time.
Although he looks very much like a European, George Psalmanazar claims to have come from the Asian island of Formosan – a land that was still very mysterious to Europeans – and first set foot in Europe. . To convince people to believe him, Psalmanazar often spoke a strange language, dressed in uncharacteristic costumes and performed mysterious colorful rituals that no one understood the meaning of.
Psalmanazar recounts in great detail the strange customs of the island of Formosan. He even wrote a book called “Description of the History and Geography of Formosan Island”. According to the book, the men on the island usually wear no clothes, only use a belt to cover their penis , and their favorite food is snakes, which are caught using sticks.
With an established reputation, Psalmanazar traveled extensively giving lectures on the history and language of the strange land of his own making, and even translated bogus literary works about the fictional land. that.
Faced with skepticism about his European appearance, Psalmanazar asserted that everyone in the Formosan aristocracy had pale skin because they lived in houses deep underground.
Psalmanazar’s hoax ended only in 1706 when the “genius of lies” grew tired of his play and revealed his true face as a genuine European. Even so, Psalmanazar was not condemned by British society or received any punishment. He later became a theologian and associated with many prominent intellectuals of 18th-century England.