Random Historical Figures With Animal Sidekicks (13 items)

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  (#10) Frida Kahlo

  • Dec. at 47 (1907-1954)

  Frida Kahlo is a countercultural icon, and it makes sense for her to have had a few unique animal companions. Kahlo had a practical menagerie, including several monkeys, exotic birds, and even an eagle. Perhaps Kahlo’s most treasured pet, however, was a deer that she took in as a fawn. The deer was named Granizo and was predictably adorable. It may have even inspired a famous piece of art in which Frida placed her head on the body of a deer, The Wounded Deer (1946).
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  (#8) Licinius Muraena Was The Ultimate Eel Tamer

  Licinius Muraena is so associated with moray eels that he took his consul name from the Latin word for eel. The Romans contended that eels made for excellent eating and even better pets, but Licinius took his love of eels to the extreme. He had dozens of pools on his property in which he raised thousands of morays with doting care. Licinius’s eels unfortunately couldn't accompany him on his journeys, but his actions did help spread the animal’s false reputation of being dangerous to humans in the wild.
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  (#12) George Gordon Byron

  • Dec. at 36 (1788-1824)

  Lord Byron’s pet bear is a direct result of his spiteful desire to exploit a loophole. When Byron went away to college, he was dismayed to learn that he could not keep a dog on campus. He checked the rules, which didn't say anything about other large mammals, so he showed up with a pet bear, which became his roommate. Apparently, the bear was well behaved, so nobody really did anything about it, and Byron got away with his ursine rebellion. The bear later got to retire to Byron’s ancestral home, where it shared the grounds with a friendly wolf. How delightful!
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  (#9) Nero

  • Dec. at 31 (37-68)

  Nero is one of the least popular Roman leaders from history, and his lack of love for his people is well known. Some say the only living thing he ever truly loved was his tigress, Phoebe. And no, "tigress" is not a metaphor. Nero first saw the big cat fighting in the Colloseum, and he immediately fell for its ability to disembowel people. Nero adopted the tiger and kept it in a golden cage most of the time; although, he occasionally allowed it to come out and eat at the table. When provoked, Nero was known to feed unfortunate guests to Phoebe as her main course.
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  (#5) Ramesses II

  • Dec. at 90 (1302 BC-1212 BC)

  Most historical pets are companions in the sense that they spent a lot of time with their owner. Not so for a lion owned by Egypt’s Ramesses II, however; this tough pet accompanied his pharaoh master into battle on several occasions. The lion, whose name roughly translates to “Slayer of Foes,” was fiercely aggressive and loyal only to Ramesses, making him a deadly element in war. Slayer of Foes was not the only lion used in battles by the Egyptians, but he was the most famous and saw his most notable action against the Hittites.
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  (#1) Tycho Brahe

  • Dec. at 55 (1546-1601)

  Sources will differ as to whether the famed Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe, owned a moose or an elk; although, a moose seems more likely. All sources agree, however, that Brahe got that large mammal astoundingly drunk on a regular basis, whatever species it was. Brahe respected his pet moose so much that he sometimes sent it to visit various nobility as an envoy of sorts. It was on one such diplomatic mission that the moose met its tragic end, getting far too drunk late into the night and then falling down a set of castle stairs to its death.

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