sarah baartman (born around 1789, died 29th december 1815) was a khoikoi woman from south africa, who came to great fame in europe. her name is also spelled bartman or bartmann. she showed signs of steatopygia; which means she had a lot of fat in her buttocks. around 1810, she was brought to europe. she was one of at least two khoikoi women, who were shown at freak shows. in english she became known as hottentot venus. at the time, people believed there were different races of humans. hottentot was the term used to refer to the khoikoi people, as a race. today, many consider it to be racist.