COFFIN OF SOUTH AFRICAN SAARTJIE BAARTMAN IS VIEWED BY DIGNITARIES IN PARIS, 2002-04-29 (photo)

Dignitaries (L to R) South African ambassador Thuthukile E. Skweyiya, French research Minister Roger-Gerard Schwartzenberg, National Museum of Natural History chairman Bernard Chevassus-au-Louis and Father E.Lafont stand in front of the coffin containing the skeleton of Saartjie Baartman during a ceremony in Paris April 29, 2002. The remains of Baartman, known as the "Hottentot Venus" will be returned to South Africa in early May for burial. The indigenous woman, born in 1789, was taken to London by a British navy doctor around 1810 where she was shown off in freak shows. After she died in 1816 her cast, skeleton, brain and other organs were preserved and displayed at the Museum of Mankind in Paris. REUTERS/Charles Platiau CP/