Profile Text
Birth Name: Maurice Tillet
Date of Birth: 23 October, 1903
Place of Birth: Orenburg Governorate, Ural, Russian Empire (now Russia)
Date of Death: September 4, 1954
Place of Death: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Ethnicity: French
The French Angel, also known by his birth name Maurice Tillet, or as The Angel, World’s Ugliest Man, “The Angel” Maurice Tillet, or The Ogre of The Ring, was a Russian-born French professional wrestler, and rugby player. He was twice World Heavyweight Champion in the American Wrestling Association.
The French Angel was born in Orenburg Governorate, Ural, to French parents. His father was a railway worker, about whom little is known. His mother, Louise, was a school teacher. He carried his mother’s surname. Her ancestors came from northern France. The French Angel had acromegaly, a rare disease resulting in bone overgrowth and thickening. His father died young. He and his mother moved to France after the 1917 Russian Revolution, settling in Reims.
The French Angel’s maternal grandfather was Armand Anatole Robert Tillet (the son of Frédéric Marie Armant Tillet and Marie Anne Antoinette Taratre). Armand was born in Charly, Aisne, Picardie, to parents who were also born there. He was from a winegrowing family. Frédéric was the son of Nicolas Tillet and Apauline Roncelot. Marie Anne was the daughter of Joseph Antoine Taratre and Louise Marie Madelaine Ramelot.
The French Angel’s maternal grandmother was named Louise Alzire Gerant (the daughter of Louise Gerant). The French Angel’s grandmother Louise was born in Saint-Maixent-L’École, Deux-Sèvres, Poitou-Charentes, France, a rural region near the Atlantic coast.
Source: Genealogy of Maurice Tillet – https://gw.geneanet.org