How Africa News
A Brazilian man infuriated his friends and family when he pretended to die in order to see who would attend his funeral.
Baltazar Lemos, 60, was an experienced ‘ceremonialist,’ a sort of master of ceremonies for various types of events. He had conducted hundreds of funerals, some attended by as few as two people and others by 500.
He had recently been thinking about how many of his friends and family would come to pay their respects and bid him farewell if he died, and since he couldn’t really know if he died, he decided to fake his death and see how many people showed up to his funeral.
On January 10, someone posted an ominous message on Baltazar Lemos’ social media, announcing, “At the beginning of this sad afternoon, Baltazar Lemos left us. More information coming soon”. A photo of the ceremonialist taken in front of the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo had been posted the day before, implying that he had been admitted there, so everyone assumed the worst.
The announcement stunned Lemos’ family, who had no idea he had been in the hospital. One of his nephews rushed to the Albert Einstein hospital to inquire about him, but no record of a Baltazar Lemos being admitted there in the previous few days could be found.
As Baltazar’s online friends began to share the tragic news of his death, people began to pay their respects in the comments section and inquire about the cause of death. There was no explanation, but the time and location of the wake and funeral ceremony were posted on the ceremonialist’s Facebook page.
On the 18th of January, friends and family of Baltazar Lemos gathered in a small chapel in his native city of Curitiba for what they expected to be a funeral. At one point, Baltazar’s voice started recounting his life, and some of those in attendance started crying thinking it was a recording of the deceased. Then the altar doors opened and he stepped out in front of everyone.
As you can imagine, the best way to describe people’s reaction to seeing Baltazar is ‘confusion’. Some people started crying, and others were left with their mouths open, but as soon as he explained that he had faked his death to see who would attend his funeral, attendees started accusing him of cruelty.
“You got what you wanted Baltazar, to draw attention. In all the groups of event photographers, people are talking about your ‘death’. Everyone was mourning. What a ridiculous joke! I think you should take a picture with everyone who mourned your supposed death. I don’t know you personally and I hope I don’t ever meet you,” one person commented online after learning the truth.
Baltazar Lemos’ story quickly went viral on social media, and news outlets began contacting him to learn more about his motivation. He explained that he never intended to cause people grief, but that this was the only way he could find out who would mourn him after his untimely death.
“I had the idea five months ago. I wanted to make it look like I really died. People interpreted it in their own way. The truth is that I wanted to know who would come to my wake,” Lemos said. “I didn’t tell anyone, because I hoped it would work out. I had no intention of hurting, offending, or causing any harm to anyone. I truly apologize to these people.”
The ceremonialist’s apologies mostly fell on deaf ears, especially after it was revealed that he had a wheelchair-bound mother in her eighties who could have died from a heart attack upon learning of his death. Not to mention the anguish felt by his family, friends, and colleagues.
“I’ve known him since 2001. I thought the story was horrible. I spent one day sad and the other very indignant. For me, he died on the 17th, when I found out everything. It was in very bad taste,” an event planner that used to work with Baltazar Lemos said.
