Sywald Skeid (born Ciprian Skeid, and also known by various other names, including Philip Staufen, Georges Lecuit, Keith Ryan, Mike Jones, and Mr. Nobody) (born 1971) is a Romanian-born man who wandered into a hospital emergency department in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 28, 1999, seemingly the victim of an attack, and apparently suffering from amnesia. The name Philip Staufen, which he used during most of his time in Canada, is actually that of a medieval German king (see Philip of Swabia), and was given to Skeid by hospital staff because it was among the first words spoken by him during his hospitalization.
Before disappearing in 2004, Skeid undertook a campaign to gain Canadian citizenship that was ultimately denied by authorities. He suggested the birthdate June 7, 1975 for identification purposes. His real birthdate remains unknown, but in the June 2007 article in GQ Magazine in which his true identity and details of his early life were first revealed his age is given as 36.
There is no evidence he ever suffered from amnesia.
Background and early life
Born in Timișoara, Romania, where he lived until the age of nineteen, Skeid, who studied the violin, was named for famous composer Ciprian Porumbescu. His mother (died 2000) worked in a bread factory and his father (died 2002), an alcoholic who Skeid alleges physically abused his wife and son, worked at a meat processing plant. Skeid has one sibling, an older sister named Daniela.
At the age of eighteen, Skeid was conscripted into the army, which he has described as "a year of hell". At nineteen, he went to live with a friend in Germany, where he worked as a cook in an Italian restaurant. At 22, following a brief return to Romania, Skeid moved to Paris, where a friend states Skeid had an affair with another man. Following periods in Hungary and Italy, he moved to London, which he eventually left with a plan of going to America.
Arrival at a Toronto hospital
On November 28, 1999, Skeid appeared at a Toronto hospital. Then probably in his mid-twenties, he appeared to have been the victim of a mugging. His nose was broken, and he was unable to walk. In addition, his wallet was missing, the tags had been removed from his clothing, and he carried no identification.
Skeid claimed to have no idea who he was, and was diagnosed with post-concussive global amnesia. He mentioned Australia, but linguistic experts said that he had a slight Yorkshire accent. He also spoke fluent French and Italian, and could read Latin. The media picked up on the story and began referring to him as "Mr. Nobody."
After release
Skeid was released from hospital and stayed in a shelter for three weeks, then accepted an offer of lodging from an Ontario couple, and was able to collect welfare money. Soon his photograph and fingerprints were being circulated internationally and he was the subject of television shows in Canada, Britain, and Australia, yet no clues as to his true identity were discovered. Meanwhile, Skeid refused offers of free expert treatment for his amnesia. He moved into a Toronto lodging house, then briefly to Montreal.
In November 2000, Skeid moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he met lawyer Manuel Azevedo and began lobbying to be granted Canadian citizenship and a Canadian birth certificate, ostensibly so that he could travel in order to discover his true identity. On May 28, 2001 a British Columbia court denied Skeid's petition for a birth certificate, but on June 5, Minister Elinor Caplan offered him a "Minister's Permit" to stay and work in Canada for eighteen months. Skeid refused.
Pornography claims
On June 15, 2001, Skeid signed a second affidavit and issued a press release announcing a hunger strike. About the same time, gay porn model Sean Spence claimed that Skeid was actually a pornographic model named Georges Lecuit, who had last worked in Britain. In July, Spence provided photographs of Georges Lecuit to Detective Stephen Bone of Toronto Police, who had been working on the case. The photographs show a man bearing a striking similarity to Staufen, though with a different hairstyle (images of "Lecuit" and "Staufen" are available). Skeid refuses to confirm or deny these claims.
Name changes and legal troubles
In mid-July, Skeid married his lawyer's daughter Nathalie Herve, who had dual Canadian and Portuguese citizenship, in Vancouver, and accepted the Minister's Permit (backdated to July 5). Manuel Azevedo subsequently resigned as Skeid's lawyer.
On August 29, 2001, Skeid's appeal for a Canadian birth certificate was rejected. Immigration officials noted that Skeid appeared to have surgically altered his nose.