Case file · Cryptid
Victor of Aveyron
A boy of about nine who had lived alone in the woods of southern France was captured in 1800 and studied by the physician Jean Itard, the best-documented 'wild child' case.
1800 CE · 44.35, 2.57 · status: explained
The account
Victor had run away many times before he was taken to Paris. Itard worked with him for five years, and his methods influenced special education and, later, Maria Montessori. Victor learned little speech and died in 1828.
The sceptical view
A human child, probably with an intellectual disability or autism, abandoned or lost; his case was once read as evidence of 'wild men' in the forests.