Eunuch - Notable Eunuchs

Notable Eunuchs

In chronological order.

• Aspamistres or Mithridates (5th century BCE): bodyguard of Xerxes I of Persia, and (with Artabanus) his murderer.
• Artoxares: an envoy of Artaxerxes I and Darius II of Persia.
• Bagoas (4th century BCE): prime minister of king Artaxerxes III of Persia, and his assassin. (Bagoas is an old Persian word meaning eunuch.)
• Bagoas (4th century BCE): a favorite of Alexander the Great. Influential in changing Alexander's attitude toward Persians and therefore in the king's policy decision to try to integrate the conquered peoples fully into his Empire as loyal subjects. He thereby paved the way for the relative success of Alexander's Seleucid successors and greatly enhanced the diffusion of Greek culture to the East.
• Philetaerus (4th/3rd century BCE): founder of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamum
• Sima Qian (old romanization Ssu-ma Chi'en; 2nd/1st century BCE): the first person to have practiced modern historiography – gathering and analyzing both primary and secondary sources in order to write his monumental history of the Chinese empire.
• Ganymedes (1st century BCE): highly capable adviser and general of Cleopatra VII's sister and rival, Princess Arsinoe. Unsuccessfully attacked Julius Caesar three times at Alexandria.
• Pothinus (1st century BCE): regent for pharaoh Ptolemy XII.
• Sporus (1st century BCE): an attractive Roman boy who was castrated by, and later married to, Emperor Nero
• Unidentified eunuch of the Ethiopian court (1st century CE), described in The Acts of the Apostles (chapter 8). Philip the Evangelist, one of the original seven deacons, is directed by the Holy Spirit to catch up to the eunuch's chariot and hears him reading from the Book of Isaiah (chapter 53). Philip believed the section prophesies Jesus' crucifixion, which Philip described to the eunuch. The eunuch was baptized shortly thereafter.
• Cai Lun (old romanization Ts'ai Lun; 1st/2nd century CE): reasonable evidence exists to suggest that he was truly the inventor of paper. At the very least, he established the importance of paper and standardized its manufacture in the Chinese empire.
• Origen: early Christian theologian, allegedly castrated himself based on his reading of the Gospel of Matthew 19:12 (For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it.). Despite the fact that the early Christian theologian Tertullian wrote that Jesus was a eunuch, there is no corroboration in any other early source. (The Skoptsy did, however, believe it to be true.)
• Eutropius (5th century): only eunuch known to have attained the highly distinguished and very influential position of Roman Consul.
• Chrysaphius: chief minister of Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II, architect of imperial policy towards the Huns.
• Narses (478–573): general of Byzantine emperor Justinian I, responsible for destroying the Ostrogoths in 552 at the Battle of Taginae in Italy and saving Rome for the empire.
• Solomon: general and governor of Africa under Justinian I
• Staurakios: chief associate and minister of the Byzantine empress Irene of Athens
• Ignatius of Constantinople (799–877): twice Patriarch of Constantinople during troubled political times . First absolutely unquestioned eunuch saint, recognized by both the Orthodox and Roman Churches. (There are a great many early saints who were probably eunuchs, though few either as influential nor unquestioned as to their castration.)
• Yazaman al-Khadim (died 891): Emir of Tarsus and successful commander in the wars against Byzantium
• Mu'nis al-Khadim (845/846–933/934): Commander-in-chief of the Abbasid armies between 908 and his death,
• Joseph Bringas: chief minister of the Byzantine Empire under Romanos II (959-963).
• Jia Xian (c. 1010- c. 1070): Chinese mathematician, Invented the Jia Xian triangle for the calculation of square roots and cube roots.
• Ly Thuong Kiet (1019–1105): general during the Lý Dynasty in Vietnam. Penned what is considered the first Vietnamese declaration of independence. Regarded as a Vietnamese national hero.
• Pierre Abélard (1079–1142): French scholastic philosopher and theologian. Forcibly castrated by his girlfriend's uncle while in bed.
• Malik Kafur (fl. 1296–1316): a eunuch slave who became a general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate.
• Zheng He (1371–1433): famous admiral who led huge Chinese fleets of exploration around the Indian Ocean.
• Judar Pasha (late 16th century): a Spanish eunuch who became the head of the Moroccan invasion force into the Songhai Empire.
• Kim Cheo Seon: one of the most famous eunuchs in Korean Joseon Dynasty, ably served kings in the Joseon dynasty. His life is now the subject of a historical drama in South Korea.
• Mohammad Khan Qajar: chief of the Qajar tribe. He became the King/Shah of Persia in 1794 and established the Qajar dynasty.
• Zhao Gao: favourite of Qin Shihuangdi, who plotted against Li Si (died 210 BC)
• Zhang Rang: head of the infamous "10 Changshi" (Ten attendants) of Eastern Han Dynasty
• Huang Hao: eunuch in the state of Shu; also appears in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
• Cen Hun: eunuch in the state of Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period
• Gao Lishi: a loyal and trusted friend of Tang emperor Xuanzong
• Le Van Duyet: famous 18th century Vietnamese eunuch, military strategist and government official (not a true eunuch, he was born a hermaphrodite)
• Senesino (1686 – 1758): Italian contralto castrato singer.
• Farinelli (1705 – 1782): Italian soprano castrato singer.
• Giusto Fernando Tenducci (c1736-1790): Italian soprano castrato singer.
• Li Fuguo: The Tang eunuch who began another era of eunuch rule
• Yu Chao'en: Tang eunuch who began his "career" as army supervisor
• Wang Zhen: first Ming eunuch with much power, see Tumu Crisis
• Gang Bing: patron saint of eunuchs in China who castrated himself to demonstrate his loyalty to emperor Yongle
• Yishiha: admiral in charge of expeditions down the Amur River under the Yongle and Xuande Emperors
• Liu Jin: a well-known eunuch despot
• Wei Zhongxian: most infamous eunuch in Chinese history
• Li Lianying: a despotic eunuch of the Qing Dynasty
• Boston Corbett (1832 – presumed dead 1894): who killed John Wilkes Booth, castrated himself to avoid temptation from prostitutes
• Alessandro Moreschi (1858 - 1922), Italian castrato singer, the only one to make recordings.
• Sun Yaoting (1902–1996): last surviving imperial eunuch of Chinese history