Embalmed Tramp Found in Artist's Studio
Alasdair Baxter
By Richard Savill
Daily Telegraph UK.
(Filed: 12/10/2002)
The death of an artist has solved the mystery of what he did with the
body of a tramp he embalmed and concealed 18 years ago.
"Diogenes", whose real name was Edwin MacKenzie, was found lying in a
cupboard drawer in Robert Lenkiewicz's studio. The body is now being
stored at a hospital mortuary until a "legal right to possession" can
be established.
Mr Lenkiewicz, who died in August aged 60, claimed an intellectual
interest in vagrancy, and featured Mr MacKenzie in some of his works
after he found him living in a concrete barrel under a tree
overlooking a rubbish tip in Plymouth.
He gave him the nickname Diogenes after the Greek philosopher who also
lived in a barrel.
He embalmed Mr MacKenzie after his death from cancer in 1984, aged 72,
insisting that it was the tramp's personal wish to be preserved. He
then hid the body, a move that infuriated environmental health
officers, who wanted to cremate or bury the tramp, but eventually had
to abandon their search.
Mr Lenkiewicz was thought to have taken the secret of his friend's
whereabouts to his grave. However, yesterday, Nigel Meadows, the
Plymouth and south-west Devon coroner, said a "well-preserved" body
had been recovered from Mr Lenkiewicz's studio 10 days after his
death.
Mr Meadows said he was satisfied that the tramp died of natural causes
and he was prepared to release the body. In an attempt to establish
lawful right to possession, he had written to the Lenkiewicz
Foundation, the executors of the artist's estate, and Plymouth city
council.
He said: "After Mr Lenkiewicz's death, I had information from his
estate that they thought they knew the whereabouts of a body. With
their co-operation it was recovered."
He added: "I can only release the body to somebody with lawful right
to possession for lawful disposal. Mr MacKenzie has, as far as I am
aware, no surviving next of kin and died intestate. Therefore he did
not make a gift of his body under the Anatomy Act to medical science."
If no one could establish a right to lawful possession, he would
release the body to the local authority.
It was reported that friends of Mr Lenkiewicz may want to put the body
on public display. However, the Lenkiewicz Foundation declined to
comment.
At the height of the furore in 1984, Mr Lenkiewicz defended his
actions and threatened to fight the council in the courts if
necessary.
He said: "I mean no harm and offence but I am seriously committed to
the personal arrangement between myself and old Diogenes."
At one point, the row degenerated into farce when Mr Lenkiewicz lured
council officials to his studio. They thought they would be shown the
body but the artist jumped out of a makeshift coffin himself.
An environmental health officer said at the time: "This squabbling
shows no reverence to the deceased and this whole thing has become a
dangerous cat and mouse game. It has degenerated into a music hall
farce."
Mr Lenkiewicz retorted: "Diogenes would have smiled at how much more
concern there has been for his death than he received alive."
--
Alasdair Baxter, Nottingham, UK.Tel +44 115 9705100; Fax +44 115 9423263
"It's not what you say that matters but how you say it.
It's not what you do that matters but how you do it"