What is it about?
After syphilis appeared in Europe in 1495, one of its most feared consequences was the collapse or destruction of the nose (the saddle nose), caused by late-stage or congenital disease and by toxic mercury treatments. Writers from Shakespeare onwards mentioned it, and artists such as Gaetano Zummo and Rembrandt depicted it. A satirical account from 1709, The Secret History of London Clubs, describes a club founded by a Mr Crumpton where people with flattened or missing noses met once a month - a gentlemen club built around a shared stigma. In this historical essay we tell the story of this no-nose club, describe how widespread syphilis was in Georgian England, and trace early attempts to repair the nose, from Gaspare Tagliacozzi arm-skin flaps in the 16th century to artificial noses of metal, ivory or leather.
Featured Image
Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash
Why is it important?
The story of the no-nose club shows how deeply a sexually transmitted infection shaped social life, identity and stigma, and how it pushed the birth of reconstructive surgery. At a time when syphilis is again increasing worldwide, history reminds us that shame and silence help infections spread, while openness, diagnosis and treatment protect patients.
Perspectives
History of medicine allows us to talk about sexually transmitted infections with curiosity rather than judgement. This essay, another product of our Trieste history-of-medicine group led by Omar Simonetti, made me reflect on how stigma has always accompanied syphilis, and why fighting it remains part of our job as infectious diseases physicians.
Professor Stefano Di Bella
Universita degli Studi di Trieste
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: No‐nose club: Sharing the stigma of syphilis in 18th‐century London, Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, September 2025, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/jdv.70030.
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