In some places, marriage to the first cousin is illegal - in others it is advised! Through history there have been many famous people who, for reasons known only to them, have married within the family. This is a list of 10 of the most famous people who have done this.
Jesse James married his first cousin Zerelda “Zee” Mimms, who was named after Jesse’s own mother. They had two children and remained married until Jesse’s death in 1882 at the age of 34.
Although they had met as children, they became reacquainted after a dinner at the White House in 1902 held by Eleanor’s uncle and Franklin’s fifth cousin, President Teddy Roosevelt. FDR was 20 at the time and was attending Harvard. They were married on St. Patrick’s Day, 1905, and had six children.
In 1707 Johann Sebastian Bach married his second cousin on his father’s side, Maria Barbara Bach. She died in 1720. Not much is known about their marriage, but he remarried less than two years after her death.
H.G. Wells first cousin Isabel Mary Wells, who he left after only three years. Wells was an English writer most famous today for the science fiction novels he published between 1895 and 1901: The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, When the Sleeper Wakes, and The First Men in the Moon.
Thomas Jefferson married his third cousin Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson in 1772. They had six children together. Martha died on September 6, 1782 and Jefferson never remarried.
Albert married his second cousin Elsa in 1919, not too long after his divorce from his first wife Mileva. Elsa died in 1936 due to various health problems, and though Albert never married again he had several girlfriends until his death in 1955.
All natural selection jokes aside, the man who popularized the theory of evolution married his first cousin Emma Wedgwood. They had a total of ten children. Darwin died in 1882.
At the age of 20 poet Edgar Allen Poe moved in with his aunt, uncle, and cousin after his father left and his mother had died. It was there in Baltimore that he met his seven year old cousin Virginia, who he fell in love with and married when she was only thirteen. She died eighteen years later in 1847, and Poe died only two years after Virginia’s death.
In 1957 famous rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis married his cousin Myra, who was only 13 at the time. He lost an incredible amount of respect and credibility. The marriage almost ended his career and caused him to move from rock to a more country style. They had two children together, and ended up divorced in 1970. [Image: Jerry Lee Lewis and his Wife Myra]
Governor Rudy Giuliani married a woman who he thought to be his third cousin, Regina Peruggi, in 1968. It wasn’t until many years later that they realized that they were actually second cousins. Regina and Rudy divorced in 1982, and Rudy married his second wife Donna Hanover in 1984.
Contributor: DanielleR
译文:
十大名人之乱伦轶事
近亲结婚是否合法因地而异。纵观历史，许许多多的名人和他们的家人结婚，然其个中缘由也只有逝者自己冷暖自知了。以下是史上不伦之恋名人排行榜中的前十名：
杰西·詹姆斯娶了他的表妹佐瑞妲·阿佐·蜜蜜斯（按他母亲命名）。他们共育有2个子女，鹣鲽情深，直到杰西殁于1882年，终年34岁。
尽管富兰克林夫妇在孩童时就已相识，但直到1902年，特迪·罗斯福总统（即埃莉诺的叔叔，富兰克林的远房堂叔）在白宫举办晚宴后他们才彼此相知。富兰克林当时20岁，正就读于哈佛大学。1905年，他们在圣帕特里克节那天成婚，并育有六个子女。
1707年,约翰·塞巴斯蒂安·巴赫在他父亲的身畔，与她堂妹玛丽亚·芭芭拉·巴赫携手走进婚姻教堂。玛丽亚死于1720年。可是人们对他们的婚姻所知不多，而且巴赫在她死后不到两年的时间内另娶新人。
H.G.威尔斯与他表妹伊莎贝尔·玛丽·威尔斯仅仅维持了三年的婚姻就把她始乱终弃。威尔斯是英国著名作家。他在1895年至1901年发表的《时间机器》、《莫洛博士岛》、《隐形人》、《世界大战》、《当沉睡者苏醒》、《最先登上月球的人》堪称当代科幻小说的里程碑。
1772年，托马斯杰弗逊和他远方堂妹玛莎·斯格尔顿·杰弗逊成婚，生下六名子女。玛莎逝于1782年9月6日，杰弗逊再未续弦。
1919年，阿尔伯特在与他第一任妻子米列娃离婚不久后就和其表妹埃尔萨结婚。埃尔萨在1936年死于疾病。尽管阿尔伯特没有再娶，但直到1955年他死时一直系有好几个情人。
这个以进化论而闻名的男人竟然娶了他的嫡表妹埃玛·伟奇伍德，这足以让他所创的自然选择论笑掉大牙了。他们共有10个孩子。达尔文死于1882年。
在母亲逝世后，被父亲遗弃的20岁的诗人埃德加 艾伦 波搬去和他的叔叔、阿姨、表亲同住。在巴尔的摩他遇到了年仅7岁的表妹维吉尼亚。于是他陷入爱河不可自拔，在她只有13岁的时候便娶为妻。1847年，即他们成婚的第十八个年头，维吉尼亚逝世，2年后波也追随而去。
1957年著名的摇摆舞音乐家杰里·李·刘易斯与他年仅13岁的表妹玛拉结婚。为此他身败名裂。这段婚姻也差点终止了他的演艺生涯，并直接导致他的风格由摇滚风向乡村风转变。他们共有2个孩子，于1970年离婚。（上图为杰里·李·刘易斯和他的妻子玛拉）
鲁迪朱利安尼市长在1968年和瑞吉娜·佩鲁吉（朱利自以为是其第三代表亲）结婚。直到许多年后才意识到他们其实有第二代表兄妹的血缘关系。于是朱利和瑞吉娜在1982年离婚，并于1984年娶了他的第二任妻子唐娜·汉诺威。