The Eleonore Zugun Poltergeist

Eleonore Zugun was a young Romanian girl whose poltergeist phenomena attracted international attention in the 1920s. Unlike many such cases, Eleonore’s was extensively documented by psychical researchers who witnessed spontaneous injuries appearing on her body—bite marks, scratches, and welts that formed while she was under observation.

Background

Eleonore was born in 1913 in the village of Talpa in northeastern Romania. She was an illiterate peasant girl from a poor family. The phenomena that would make her famous began when she was approximately twelve years old.

According to the initial accounts, the disturbances began after Eleonore found some money on the road. Her grandmother declared that the money was “from the Devil” and must be thrown away. Shortly afterward, strange events began.

Village Phenomena

In Talpa, the activity was typical poltergeist fare—objects flew through the air, items vanished and reappeared, crashes and bangs occurred without explanation. The village attributed the phenomena to the Dracu—the Devil—and Eleonore became an outcast.

Her family attempted various remedies, including exorcism by a local priest. Nothing worked. The phenomena continued, and Eleonore was eventually committed to an asylum.

Rescue and Research

Countess Zoe Wassilko-Serecki, an Austrian noblewoman interested in psychical research, learned of Eleonore’s case and arranged for her release. The Countess brought Eleonore to Vienna, where she could be studied under controlled conditions.

The phenomena continued in Vienna. Objects moved in Eleonore’s presence. But more remarkably, injuries began appearing on her body—teeth marks, scratches, and welts that formed spontaneously while observers watched.

The Stigmata

The bodily phenomena became the focus of investigation. Researchers watched as marks appeared on Eleonore’s arms, face, and hands. The marks included what appeared to be bite wounds, scratches, and welts.

Harry Price, the famous British psychical researcher, investigated Eleonore in London in 1926. He observed the phenomena under what he considered controlled conditions. He saw scratches appear on her skin while her hands were visible and restrained.

Price photographed the phenomena and published accounts in psychical research journals. He believed he had witnessed genuine paranormal phenomena.

Skeptical Challenges

Not everyone was convinced. Some researchers suggested that Eleonore could have produced the marks herself through hidden movements or self-induced scratching that observers failed to detect. The marks were not deep and could have been made with fingernails.

Others noted that Eleonore had been living in institutional settings for months and had every incentive to produce phenomena that kept her out of the asylum. The attention she received—travel to Vienna and London, meals and shelter, visits from distinguished researchers—might have motivated continued performance.

The End

The phenomena decreased as Eleonore matured. By 1927, the activity had largely ceased. Eleonore returned to Romania and eventually married. She lived a quiet life and rarely spoke of her earlier experiences.

Legacy

The Eleonore Zugun case remains controversial. Believers point to Harry Price’s observations and the difficulty of producing genuine-appearing bite marks and scratches through self-injury. Skeptics note the lack of truly rigorous controls and the psychological motivations for fraud.

The case influenced subsequent poltergeist research. The “stigmata” phenomena—spontaneous marks appearing on the body—have been reported in other cases and remain among the most dramatic claims in poltergeist literature.

Assessment

Whether Eleonore Zugun was a genuine poltergeist focus, a troubled girl who learned to produce phenomena for attention, or something in between, her case attracted serious investigation during her era and continues to be debated today.

The case represents both the possibilities and limitations of psychical research: dramatic phenomena were observed by credentialed investigators, yet doubts remain about the adequacy of controls and the possibility of deception.