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Count Alessandro di Cagliostro (, ; 2 June 1743 – 26 August 1795) was the
alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the ...
of the Italian
occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...
Giuseppe Balsamo (; in French usually referred to as Joseph Balsamo). Cagliostro was an Italian
adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
and self-styled
magician Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...
. He became a glamorous figure associated with the royal courts of Europe where he pursued various occult arts, including
psychic healing Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into a patient and effect positive results. Practitioners use a number of names including various synonyms for m ...
,
alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
and
scrying Scrying, also known by various names such as "seeing" or "peeping", is the practice of looking into a suitable medium in the hope of detecting significant messages or visions. The objective might be personal guidance, prophecy, revelation, or in ...
. His reputation lingered for many decades after his death, but continued to deteriorate, as he came to be regarded as a charlatan and impostor, this view fortified by the savage attack of
Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...
(1795–1881) in 1833, who pronounced him the "Quack of Quacks". Later works—such as that of W.R.H. Trowbridge (1866–1938) in his ''Cagliostro: the Splendour and Misery of a Master of Magic'' (1910), attempted a rehabilitation.


Biography


Origin

The history of Cagliostro is shrouded in rumour, propaganda, and
mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
. Some effort was expended to ascertain his true identity when he was arrested because of possible participation in the
Affair of the Diamond Necklace The Affair of the Diamond Necklace (, "Affair of the Queen's Necklace") was an incident from 1784 to 1785 at the court of King Louis XVI of France that involved his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette. The Queen's reputation, already tarnished by gossi ...
.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
relates in his ''
Italian Journey ''Italian Journey'' (in the German original: ) is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's report on his travels to Italy from 1786 to 1788 that was published in 1816 & 1817. The book is based on Goethe's diaries and is smoothed in style, lacks the sponta ...
'' that the identification of Cagliostro with Giuseppe Balsamo was ascertained by a lawyer from Palermo who, upon official request, had sent a dossier with copies of the pertinent documents to France. Goethe met the lawyer in April 1787 and saw the documents and Balsamo's pedigree: Balsamo's great-grandfather Matteo Martello had two daughters: Maria, who married Giuseppe Bracconeri; and Vincenza, who married Giuseppe Cagliostro. Maria and Giuseppe Bracconeri had three children: Matteo; Antonia; and Felicità, who married Pietro Balsamo (the son of a bookseller, Antonino Balsamo, who had declared bankruptcy before dying at age 44). The son of Felicità and Pietro Balsamo was Giuseppe, who was christened with the name of his great-uncle and eventually adopted his surname, too. Felicità Balsamo was still alive in Palermo at the time of Goethe's travels in Italy, and he visited her and her daughter. Goethe wrote that Cagliostro was of Jewish origin, and it may be that the name "Balsamo" comes from the
hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
Baal Shem A ''Baal Shem'' (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl. ''Baalei Shem'') was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing the names of God, angels, Satan and other spirits, ''Baalei Shem'' are claimed ...
(Cagliostro himself publicly ascertained that he was a disciple of Haĩm Falk, the
Baal Shem of London Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk ( he, חיים שמואל יעקב דפאלק מרדיולה לנידו; 1708 – 17 April 1782), also known as the Baal Shem of London and Doctor Falckon, was a rabbi, '' baal shem'', and alchemist. Biography Falk was b ...
). Cagliostro himself stated during the trial following the Affair of the Diamond Necklace that he had been born of Christians of noble birth but abandoned as an orphan upon the island of
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. He claimed to have travelled as a child to
Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
,
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
, and
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
and upon return to Malta to have been admitted to the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...
, with whom he studied
alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
, the
Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
, and
magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
.


Early life

Giuseppe Balsamo was born to a poor family in Albergheria, which was once the old Jewish Quarter of
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, Sicily. Despite his family's precarious financial situation, his grandfather and uncles made sure the young Giuseppe received a solid education: he was taught by a tutor and later became a novice in the Catholic Order of St. John of God, from which he was eventually expelled. During his period as a novice in the order, Balsamo learned chemistry as well as a series of spiritual rites. In 1764, when he was twenty one, he convinced Vincenzo Marano—a wealthy goldsmith—of the existence of a hidden treasure buried several hundred years previously at Mount Pellegrino. The young man's knowledge of the occult, Marano reasoned, would be valuable in preventing the duo from being attacked by magical creatures guarding the treasure. In preparation for the expedition to Mount Pellegrino, however, Balsamo requested seventy pieces of silver from Marano. When the time came for the two to dig up the supposed treasure, Balsamo attacked Marano, who was left bleeding and wondering what had happened to the boy—in his mind, the beating he had been subjected to had been the work of
djinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
s. The next day, Marano paid a visit to Balsamo's house in via Perciata (since then renamed via Conte di Cagliostro), where he learned the young man had left the city. Balsamo (accompanied by two accomplices) had fled to the city of
Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
. By 1765–66, Balsamo found himself on the island of Malta, where he became an auxiliary (''donato'') for the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and a skilled pharmacist.


Travels

In early 1768 Balsamo left for Rome, where he managed to land himself a job as a secretary to Cardinal Orsini. The job proved boring to Balsamo and he soon started leading a double life, selling magical "Egyptian" amulets and engravings pasted on boards and painted over to look like paintings.
Iain McCalman Iain Duncan McCalman AO FRHS FASSA FAHA (born 6 November 1947) is an Australian historian, social scientist, academic and former Research Professor at the University of Sydney, as well as a prominent multidisciplinary environmental researcher. ...
: ''The Seven Ordeals of Count Cagliostro'', 2004: Flamingo (Australia) and Random House (UK); published in the US as ''The Last Alchemist'' by HarperCollins.
Of the many Sicilian expatriates and ex-convicts he met during this period, one introduced him to a seventeen-year-old girl named Lorenza Seraphina Feliciani (ca. 8 April 1751 – 1794), known as ''Serafina'', whom he married 1768. The couple moved in with Lorenza's parents and her brother in the vicolo delle Cripte, adjacent to the strada dei Pellegrini. Balsamo's coarse language and the way he incited Lorenza to display her body contrasted deeply with her parents' deep-rooted religious beliefs. After a heated discussion, the young couple left. At this point Balsamo befriended Agliata, a forger and swindler, who proposed to teach Balsamo how to forge letters, diplomas and myriad other official documents. In return, though, Agliata sought sexual intercourse with Balsamo's young wife, a request to which Balsamo acquiesced. The couple traveled together to London, where Balsamo, now styling himself with one of several pseudonyms and self-conferred titles before settling on "Count Alessandro di Cagliostro", allegedly met the Comte de Saint-Germain. Cagliostro traveled throughout Europe, especially to
Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...
, Russia, Poland, Germany, and later France. His fame grew to the point that he was even recommended as a physician to
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
during a stay in Paris. On 12 April 1777 "Joseph Cagliostro" was admitted as a Freemason of the Espérance Lodge No. 289 in Gerrard Street, Soho, London. In December 1777 Cagliostro and Serafina left London for the mainland, after which they travelled through various German states, visiting lodges of the
Rite of Strict Observance The Rite of Strict Observance was a Rite of Freemasonry, a series of progressive degrees that were conferred by the Order of Strict Observance, a Masonic body of the 18th century. History Baron Karl Gotthelf von Hund (1722–1776) introduced a ...
looking for converts to Cagliostro's "Egyptian Freemasonry". In February 1779 Cagliostro traveled to
Mitau Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also #Name, other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the unit ...
, (nowadays
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
), where he met the poetess
Elisa von der Recke Elisabeth "Elisa" Charlotte Constanzia von der Recke (née von Medem; 20 May 1754 – 13 April 1833) was a Baltic German writer and poet. Family Elisa von der Recke was born in Schönberg, Skaistkalne parish, Courland (present-day Skaist ...
. In September 1780, after failing in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
to win the patronage of Russian
Tsaritsa Tsarina or tsaritsa (also spelled ''csarina'' or ''csaricsa'', ''tzarina'' or ''tzaritza'', or ''czarina'' or ''czaricza''; bg, царица, tsaritsa; sr, / ; russian: царица, tsaritsa) is the title of a female autocratic ruler (mona ...
Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
, the Cagliostros made their way to
Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
, at that time in France. In October 1784, the Cagliostros travelled to
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
. On 24 December 1784 they founded the co-Masonic mother lodge ''La Sagesse Triomphante'' of his rite of Egyptian Freemasonry at Lyon. In January 1785 Cagliostro and his wife went to Paris in response to the entreaties of Cardinal Rohan.


Affair of the diamond necklace

Cagliostro was prosecuted in the
Affair of the Diamond Necklace The Affair of the Diamond Necklace (, "Affair of the Queen's Necklace") was an incident from 1784 to 1785 at the court of King Louis XVI of France that involved his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette. The Queen's reputation, already tarnished by gossi ...
which involved
Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
and
Prince Louis de Rohan Louis René Édouard de Rohan known as Cardinal de Rohan (25 September 1734 – 16 February 1803), ''prince de Rohan-Guéméné'', was a French Bishop of Strasbourg, politician, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and cadet of the Rohan f ...
, and was held in the
Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was sto ...
for nine months but finally acquitted, when no evidence could be found connecting him to the affair. Nonetheless, he was banished from France by order of
Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
, and departed for England. There he was accused by French expatriate Theveneau de Morande of being Giuseppe Balsamo, which he denied in his published ''Open Letter to the English People'', forcing a retraction and apology from Morande.


Betrayal, imprisonment, and death

Cagliostro left England to visit
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, where he met two people who proved to be spies of the
Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
. Some accounts hold that his wife was the one who initially betrayed him to the Inquisition. On 27 December 1789 he was arrested for attempting to found a
Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...
in Rome and imprisoned in the
Castel Sant'Angelo The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (; English: ''Castle of the Holy Angel''), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausol ...
. He was tried and originally sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment at the
Forte di San Leo The Fortress of San Leo is a castle on the border of the Romagna and Marche; the castle is best known as the site where Count Cagliostro died. It was one of the palaces owned by Federico da Montefeltro and his wife Battista Sforza and was a fo ...
, where he would die on 26 August 1795.


Legacy

Portuguese author
Camilo Castelo Branco Camilo Castelo Branco, 1st Viscount of Correia Botelho (; 16 March 1825 – 1 June 1890), was a prolific Portuguese writer of the 19th century, having produced over 260 books (mainly novels, plays and essays). His writing is considered original i ...
credits to Balsamo the creation of the Egyptian Rite of the Freemasons and intensive work in the diffusion of
Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, by opening lodges all over Europe and by introducing the acceptance of women into the community. The idea of an "Egyptian freemasonry" was maintained in Italy by the Rite of Misraim, founded in 1813 by the three Jewish Bédarride brothers and in France, the Rite of Memphis founded in 1838 by Jacques Etienne Marconis de Nègre; these unified under
Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...
as the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraïm in 1881. Cagliostro was an extraordinary forger.
Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...
, in his autobiography, narrated an encounter in which Cagliostro was able to forge a letter by Casanova, despite being unable to understand it. Occult historian
Lewis Spence James Lewis Thomas Chalmers Spence (25 November 1874 – 3 March 1955) was a Scottish journalist, poet, author, folklorist and occult scholar. Spence was a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and vice- ...
comments in his entry on Cagliostro that the swindler put his finagled wealth to good use by starting and funding a chain of maternity hospitals and orphanages around the continent. He carried an alchemistic manuscript ''
The Most Holy Trinosophia ''La Très Sainte Trinosophie'', ''The Most Holy Trinosophia'', or ''The Most Holy Threefold Wisdom'', is a French esoteric book, allegedly authored by Alessandro Cagliostro or the Count of St. Germain. Due to the dearth of evidence of authorshi ...
'' amongst others with him on his ill-fated journey to Rome, and it is alleged that he wrote it. Occultist
Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pro ...
believed Cagliostro was one of his previous
incarnations Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...
.


Depictions and posterity


Fiction

*
Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
wrote two skits lampooning Cagliostro in the guise of characters loosely based upon him. *
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatis ...
wrote a comedy based on Cagliostro's life, also in reference to the
Affair of the Diamond Necklace The Affair of the Diamond Necklace (, "Affair of the Queen's Necklace") was an incident from 1784 to 1785 at the court of King Louis XVI of France that involved his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette. The Queen's reputation, already tarnished by gossi ...
, ''The Great Cophta'' (''Der Groß-Coptha'') which was published in 1791. *
Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where ''Suffix (name)#Generational titles, '' is French language, French for 'father', to distinguish him from ...
used Cagliostro in several of his novels (especially in ''Joseph Balsamo'' and in ''Le Collier de la Reine'' where he claims to be over 3,000 years old and to have known
Helen of Troy Helen of Troy, Helen, Helena, (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη ''Helénē'', ) also known as beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believe ...
). *
George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...
includes Cagliostro as a minor character in her historical novel, ''The Countess of Rudolstadt'' (1843). *
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (russian: link= no, Алексей Николаевич Толстой; – 23 February 1945) was a Russian writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels. Despite having ...
wrote the supernatural love story ''Count Cagliostro'' where the Count brings to life a long dead Russian princess, materializing her from her portrait. The story was made into a 1984 Soviet TV movie ''
Formula of Love ''Formula of Love'' (russian: Формула любви, Formula lyubvi) is a 1984 Soviet romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Mark Zakharov, from a screenplay by Grigori Gorin. It is loosely based on the story "Count Cagliostro" by Aleksey ...
''. *Cagliostro is prominently figured in three stories by
Rafael Sabatini Rafael Sabatini (29 April 1875 – 13 February 1950) was an Italian-born British writer of romance and adventure novels. He is best known for his worldwide bestsellers: ''The Sea Hawk'' (1915), ''Scaramouche'' (1921), ''Captain Blood'' (a.k.a ...
: "The Lord of Time", "The Death Mask" and "The Alchemical Egg", all of which are included in Sabatini's collection ''Turbulent Tales''. *He is mentioned in the story ''The Sandman'' by
ETA Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in E ...
where Spalanzani is said to look like a portrait of Cagliostro by Chodowiecki. *He is mentioned in the story ''The Book and the Beast'' by
Robert Arthur, Jr. Robert Arthur Jr. (November 10, 1909 – May 2, 1969) was a writer and editor of crime fiction and speculative fiction known for his work with ''The Mysterious Traveler'' radio series and for writing ''The Three Investigators'', a series of yo ...
A conjuring book attributed to him causes the gruesome death of any man foolish enough to examine it, until a fire destroys the book. *He is mentioned in the novel ''It Happened in Boston?'' by Russell H. Greenan. The narrator is reading the life of Cagliostro when he has his first reverie. * He is mentioned in the novel ''Kun Lun'' by Kilburn Hall (2014) where it is revealed that Alessandro Cagliostro, Joseph and Giuseppe Balsamo are just a few of the names that time traveler Count St. Germain has used throughout history. * He is mentioned in the book ''The Red Lion—The Elixir of Eternal Life'' by
Mária Szepes Mária Szepes (; 14 December 1908 – 3 September 2007) was a Hungarian author. She worked as a journalist and screenwriter, as well as an independent author in the field of hermetic philosophy since 1941. She would sometimes write under the ...
*
Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
wrote an unfinished novel '' Der Geisterseher'' (The Ghost-Seer) between 1786 and 1789 about Cagliostro. *
Harry Stephen Keeler Harry Stephen Keeler (November 3, 1890 – January 22, 1967) was a prolific but little-known American fiction writer, who developed a cult following for his eccentric mysteries. He also wrote science fiction. Biography Born in Chicago in 1 ...
paid tribute to the magician in his novel ''The Spectacles of Mr. Cagliostro''. *Latvian playwright
Mārtiņš Zīverts Mārtiņš Zīverts (27 July 1903 in Mežmuiža, Vilce parish – 4 October 1990) was a Latvian playwright. Biography Zīverts was born in Mežmuiža, Courland Governorate (now Vilce parish, Jelgava municipality, Latvia). He studied philosophy ...
wrote the play ''Kaļostro Vilcē'' (Cagliostro in Vilce) in 1967. *''
The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The charact ...
''
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
featured Cagliostro as a character in the story ''The Cagliostro Mystery'' from 1988, written by Norman Worker and drawn by Carlos Cruz. *The ''
Kid Eternity Kid Eternity is a fictional character, a comic book superhero that premiered in ''Hit Comics'' #25 written by Otto Binder, drawn by Sheldon Moldoff, and published by American company Quality Comics in December 1942. All of Quality's intellectual pr ...
''
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
featured Cagliostro's risen spirit in issue 3 (1946). *In the
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
universe, Cagliostro is described as an
immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...
( JLA Annual 2), a descendant of
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
as well as an ancestor of
Zatara Giovanni "John" Zatara is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He debuted as a superhero, starring in his own stories in '' Action Comics'' during the Golden Age of Comics. He first appeared in the fi ...
and
Zatanna Zatanna Zatara () is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in '' Hawkman'' #4 (November 1964). Zatanna is a stage magician with a ...
(''
Secret Origins ''Secret Origins'' is the title of several comic book series published by DC Comics which featured the origin stories of the publisher's various characters. Publication history ''Secret Origins'' was first published as a one-shot in 1961 and c ...
'' 27). *In
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
' ''
Tomb of Dracula ''The Tomb of Dracula'' is an American horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces. On rare ...
'' and ''
Dracula Lives ''Dracula Lives!'' was an American black-and-white horror comics magazine published by Magazine Management, a corporate sibling of Marvel Comics. The series ran 13 issues and one '' Super Annual'' from 1973 to 1975, and starred the Marvel version o ...
'' comics, Cagliostro is a frequent enemy of Dracula. *Cagliostro is a character in
Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...
's ''
The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles ''The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles'' is a series of three novels by Robert Anton Wilson written after his highly successful ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' and his 1981 '' Masks of the Illuminati''. His co-author from the first trilogy, Robert S ...
''. *Cagliostro is frequently alluded to in
Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...
's novel ''
Foucault's Pendulum ''Foucault's Pendulum'' (original title: ''Il pendolo di Foucault'' ) is a novel by Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco. It was first published in 1988, and an English translation by William Weaver appeared a year later. ''Foucault's P ...
''. *
Mikhail Kuzmin Mikhail Alekseevich Kuzmin (russian: Михаи́л Алексе́евич Кузми́н) ( – March 1, 1936) was a Russian poet, musician and novelist, a prominent contributor to the Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Biography Born into a noble fam ...
wrote a novella called ''The Marvelous Life of Giuseppe Balsamo, Count Cagliostro'' (1916). *Cagliostro is a character in '' Psychoshop'', a novel by
Alfred Bester Alfred Bester (December 18, 1913 – September 30, 1987) was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books. He is best remembered for his science fiction, inclu ...
and
Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...
. *Cagliostro is mentioned in the story "
The Last Defender of Camelot ''The Last Defender of Camelot'' is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy short stories by American writer Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science ...
," by
Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...
. *
Josephine Balsamo Josephine Balsamo (a.k.a. Countess Cagliostro) is a fictional character who is the best known antagonist of Arsène Lupin, the notorious gentleman burglar created by Maurice Leblanc. History Josephine Balsamo claims to be Joséphine Pellegrini ...
, a descendant of Joseph Balsamo who calls herself Countess Cagliostro, appears in
Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French c ...
's '' Arsene Lupin'' novels. *Cagliostro makes several cameo appearances as a vampire in
Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...
's ''
Anno Dracula ''Anno Dracula'' is a 1992 novel by British writer Kim Newman, the first in the ''Anno Dracula'' series. It is an alternate history using 19th-century English historical settings and personalities, along with characters from popular fiction. ...
'' novels. *The manga
Rozen Maiden is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Peach-Pit. It was serialized in '' Monthly Comic Birz'' between the September 2002 and July 2007 issues. The individual chapters were collected and released into eight ''tankōbon'' ...
reveals Count Cagliostro to be merely one of many different aliases adopted by the legendary dollmaker Rozen. He was shown to be in prison whittling wood. *There are numerous references to Cagliostro in the detective novel ''
He Who Whispers ''He Who Whispers'' is a mystery novel (1946) by John Dickson Carr. Like many of the works by Carr, the book features a so-called "impossible crime". For the most part, such crimes fall into the category of locked room mysteries. In this case ...
'' by
John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and is ...
(aka Carter Dickson), one of his Dr.
Gideon Fell Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiez ...
mysteries, published by
Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''James'' the English form – which was ...
(UK) & Harper (USA) in 1946. In this book, a French professor, Georges Antoine Rigaud, has written a history: ''Life of Cagliostro''. Also an attempted murder committed in ''He Who Whispers'' is similar in technique to part of an initiation ceremony undergone by Cagliostro into the lodge of a secret society. Cagliostro Street appears as a location in Carr's 1935 novel '' The Hollow Man'' (published in the US as ''The Three Coffins''). *There is a passing and utterly inconsequential reference to Cagliostro in
Hilary Mantel Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, ''Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was releas ...
's 1992 novel ''
A Place of Greater Safety ''A Place of Greater Safety'' is a 1992 novel by Hilary Mantel. It concerns the events of the French Revolution, focusing on the lives of Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Maximilien Robespierre from their childhood through the execution ...
''. *Cagliostro is a character in the 1997 novel, 'Superstition' by David Ambrose; Cagliostro is an acquaintance of the fictional character, Adam Wyatt. *Cagliostro is a Playable character in the Japanese Mobile game ''
Granblue Fantasy (Japanese:グランブルーファンタジー, Hepburn: ''Guranburū Fantajī)'' is a Japanese social-network game and role-playing video game developed by Cygames for Android, iOS and web browsers, which first released in Japan in March 2014 ...
''. *
Cogliostro Cogliostro (; also Cog) is a fictional character in Todd McFarlane's ''Spawn'' comic series, set in the Image Universe. Cogliostro was created in 1993 by author Neil Gaiman and artist Todd McFarlane and introduced in ''Spawn'' issue #9. Origina ...
is a character in Todd McFarlanes's
comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
saga ''Spawn'', introduced to the series by
Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
to give greater depth to the curse of spawn. Cogliostro was once a spawn of Hell bound to his duty to the daemon
Malebolgia Malebolgia (also referred to at times as the Malebolgia ) is a supervillain appearing as the original main antagonist in comic books featuring the superhero Spawn (comics), Spawn and reprised the role in the later issues. Created by writer/arti ...
, and manages to free himself of the curse through alchemy and sorcery, teaching Spawn to do the same throughout the series. *He is often mentioned in the book ''Napoleon's Pyramids'' by William Dietrich in connection with Freemasons and ancient Egyptian artifacts. *In
Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
's ''
Glory Road ''Glory Road'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (July – September 1963) and published in hardcover the same year. It was nominated for t ...
'', Star uses "Balsamo" as an alias, and refers to Giuseppe as her uncle. *Cagliostro is a whimsical villainous alchemist character in the TV anime ''Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ'' *
William Bolitho Ryall William Bolitho Ryall (1891–1930) was a South African journalist, writer and biographer who was a valued friend of prominent writers such as Ernest Hemingway, Noël Coward, Walter Lippmann and Walter Duranty. He wrote under the name ‘William ...
's ''Twelve Against The Gods'' has a section on Cagliostro. *
Payday 2 ''Payday 2'' is a cooperative first-person shooter video game developed by Overkill Software and published by 505 Games. The game is a sequel to 2011's '' Payday: The Heist''. It was released in August 2013 for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ...
by Overkill and Starbreeze studios features Cagliostro’s manuscript as a key story item and opens a deep mystery within the game involving secret societies, immortality and nephilims. * Cagliostro is a villain in the
Spiders Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species dive ...
video game '' Steelrising''. His penchant for magic and alternative medicine is referenced; for example, in one scene, he is shown practicing
hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...
with a pendulum.


Music

*He appears as a principal character in the 1794 opera '' Le congrès des rois'', a collaborative work of 12 composers. *The French composer Victor Dourlen (1780–1864) composed the first act to ''Cagliostro, ou Les illuminés'' which premiered on 27 November 1810. The second and third act were composed by
Anton Reicha Anton (Antonín, Antoine) Joseph Reicha (Rejcha) (26 February 1770 – 28 May 1836) was a Czech-born, Bavarian-educated, later naturalized French composer and music theorist. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven, he is now best reme ...
(1770–1836). *The Irish composer
William Michael Rooke William Michael Rooke (29 September 1794 – 14 October 1847) was an Irish violinist and composer. Biography Born William Michael O'Rourke in South Great George's Street, Dublin, he was the son of a local tradesman. He studied counterpoint with P ...
(1794–1847) wrote an unperformed work ''Cagliostro''. *
Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and '' Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le pos ...
wrote the
opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...
''Cagliostro'' which premiered on 10 February 1844. *
Albert Lortzing Gustav Albert Lortzing (23 October 1801 – 21 January 1851) was a German composer, librettist, actor and singer. He is considered to be the main representative of the German ''Spieloper'', a form similar to the French '' opéra comique'', whic ...
wrote in 1850 the libretto for a comic opera in three acts, ''Cagliostro'', but did not compose any music for it. * Johann Strauß (Sohn) wrote the
operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
''
Cagliostro in Wien ' (''Cagliostro in Vienna'') is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II to a libretto by F. Zell and Richard Genée. It premiered on 27 February 1875 at the Theater an der Wien, featuring Marie Geistinger and Alexander Girardi. Reception T ...
'' (Cagliostro in Vienna) in 1875. *The French composer Claude Terrasse (1867–1923) wrote ''Le Cagliostro'' which premiered in 1904. *The Polish composer
Jan Maklakiewicz Jan Adam Maklakiewicz (24 November 1899, Chojnata, Congress Poland – 8 February 1954, Warsaw) was a Polish composer, conductor, critic, and music educator. His most known compositions belong to the choral music. Selected filmography * ''Pan ...
(1899–1954) wrote the ballet in three scenes ''Cagliostro w Warszawie'' which premiered in 1938. *The Romanian composer
Iancu Dumitrescu Iancu Dumitrescu (born 15 July 1944) is a Romanian avant-garde composer. Life and works Dumitrescu was born in Sibiu, Romania. He received a master's degree in composition in Bucharest, where his teachers included Alfred Mendelsohn. Later, ...
(1944–) wrote the 1975 work ''Le miroir de Cagliostro'' for choir, flute and percussion. *The American composer
John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...
(1953–) composed ''Cagliostro'' for solo viola in 2015. The performer uses two bows in the right hand to play on all four strings at once throughout the work. *The opera ''Cagliostro'' by the Italian composer
Ildebrando Pizzetti Ildebrando Pizzetti (20 September 1880 – 13 February 1968) was an Italian composer of classical music, Musicology, musicologist, and Music criticism, music critic. Biography Pizzetti was born in Parma in 1880. He was part of the "Generation ...
(1880–1968) was performed on Italian radio in 1952 and at
La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...
on 24 January 1953. *The comic opera '' Graf Cagliostro'' was written by
Mikael Tariverdiev Mikael Leonovich Tariverdiev (russian: Микаэл Леонович Таривердиев, hy, Միքայել Թարիվերդիև; 15 August 1931 – 25 July 1996) was a prominent Soviet composer of Armenian descent. He headed the Composers' G ...
in 1983.


Film

*Cagliostro has been played in film by: **Fryderyk Jarossy ('' Kaliostro'', 1918) **
Reinhold Schünzel Reinhold Schünzel (7 November 1888 – 11 November 1954) was a German actor and director, active in both Germany and the United States. The son of a German father and a Jewish mother, he was born in St. Pauli, the poorest part of Hamburg. Despite ...
(''
The Count of Cagliostro ''Der Graf von Cagliostro'' is a 1920 silent film directed and co-written by Reinhold Schünzel and starring Schünzel, Anita Berber and Conrad Veidt. It depicts the life of the eighteenth century Italian mesmerist and occultist Alessandro Cagl ...
'', 1920) **
Hans Stüwe Hans Stüwe (14 May 1901 – 13 May 1976) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * ''Prinz Louis Ferdinand'' (1927) * ''Potsdam (film), Potsdam'' (1927) * ''The Transformation of Dr. Bessel'' (1927) * ''The Bordello in Rio'' (1927) * ''Ass ...
(''
Cagliostro Count Alessandro di Cagliostro (, ; 2 June 1743 – 26 August 1795) was the alias of the Italian occultist Giuseppe Balsamo (; in French usually referred to as Joseph Balsamo). Cagliostro was an Italian adventurer and self-styled magician. ...
'', 1929) **
Ferdinand Marian Ferdinand Heinrich Johann Haschkowetz (14 August 1902 – 7 August 1946), known by the stage name Ferdinand Marian, was an Austrian actor. Though a prolific stage actor in Berlin and a popular matinée idol throughout the 1930s and early '40s, he ...
('' Münchhausen'', 1943) **
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
( ''Black Magic'', 1949) **
Howard Vernon Howard Vernon (15 July 1908 – 25 July 1996) was a Swiss actor. In 1961, he became a favorite actor of Spanish film director Jesús Franco and began starring in many low-budget horror and erotic films produced in Spain and France. After po ...
(''Erotic Rites of Frankenstein'', 1972) **
Jean Marais Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais (11 December 1913 – 8 November 1998), known professionally as Jean Marais (), was a French actor, film director, theatre director, painter, sculptor, visual artist, writer and photographer. He performed in over 100 f ...
(', 1973, TV miniseries) **
Bekim Fehmiu Bekim Fehmiu (; ; 1 June 1936 – 15 June 2010) was a Yugoslavian theater and film actor of Albanian ethnicity. He was the first Eastern European actor to star in Hollywood during the Cold War. Biography Early life Fehmiu was born in Sa ...
(''
Cagliostro Count Alessandro di Cagliostro (, ; 2 June 1743 – 26 August 1795) was the alias of the Italian occultist Giuseppe Balsamo (; in French usually referred to as Joseph Balsamo). Cagliostro was an Italian adventurer and self-styled magician. ...
'', 1975) **
Nodar Mgaloblishvili Nodar Mgaloblishvili (russian: Нодар Мгалоблишвили, ka, ნოდარ მგალობლიშვილი, July 15, 1931 in Tiflis, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union – March 26, 2019 in Tbilisi) was a Soviet and Georgian theat ...
(
Formula of Love ''Formula of Love'' (russian: Формула любви, Formula lyubvi) is a 1984 Soviet romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Mark Zakharov, from a screenplay by Grigori Gorin. It is loosely based on the story "Count Cagliostro" by Aleksey ...
, 1984, TV film) **
Nicol Williamson Thomas Nicol Williamson (14 September 1936 – 16 December 2011) was a Scottish actor, once described by playwright John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando". He was also described by Samuel Beckett as "touched by genius" and view ...
(''
Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...
'', 1997) **
Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awar ...
(''
The Affair of the Necklace ''The Affair of the Necklace'' is a 2001 American historical drama film directed by Charles Shyer. The screenplay by John Sweet is based on what became known as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, an incident that helped fuel the French populace ...
'', 2001) **
Robert Englund Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing the supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise), Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. Class ...
(''
The Return of Cagliostro ''The Return of Cagliostro'' ( it, Il ritorno di Cagliostro) is a List of Italian films of 2003, 2003 Cinema of Italy, Italian mockumentary-comedy film directed by Daniele Ciprì and Franco Maresco. For his performance in this film and in ''Break ...
'', 2003) *In the 1943 German epic '' Münchhausen'', Cagliostro appears as a powerful, morally ambiguous magician portrayed by
Ferdinand Marian Ferdinand Heinrich Johann Haschkowetz (14 August 1902 – 7 August 1946), known by the stage name Ferdinand Marian, was an Austrian actor. Though a prolific stage actor in Berlin and a popular matinée idol throughout the 1930s and early '40s, he ...
. *The French film director
Georges Méliès Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (; ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French illusionist, actor, and film director. He led many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. Méliès was well known for the use of ...
(1861–1938) directed the 1899 film ''Le Miroir de Cagliostro''. *The Japanese animated movie ''
The Castle of Cagliostro is a 1979 Japanese animated action-adventure comedy film co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, with animation produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS). It is the second feature film featuring Monkey Punch's master thief Arsène Lupin III, f ...
'' draws on
Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French c ...
's ''
Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin (French pronunciation: ʁsɛn lypɛ̃ is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazi ...
'' novels and has the gentleman thief's half-Japanese grandson as the protagonist. Lazare d'Cagliostro appears as the main antagonist of the film, a ruler of a fictional country who influences the world's economy through counterfeiting (inspired by the 1977 fanfiction ''The Justice of Arsène Lupin''). *''
The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places *Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States *Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in Par ...
'' (1932), starring
Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...
, was adapted from an original story treatment by
Nina Wilcox Putnam Nina Wilcox Putnam (November 28, 1888March 8, 1962) was an American novelist, screenwriter and playwright. She wrote more than 500 short stories, around 1000 magazine articles, and several books in addition to regular newspaper columns, serials ...
titled "Cagliostro". Based on Cagliostro and set in San Francisco, the story was about a 3000-year-old magician who survives by injecting nitrates. *Cagliostro and his wife, Lorenza, appear as antagonists in the 2006 anime ''
Le Chevalier d'Eon is a Japanese anime television series produced by Production I.G based on an original story by Tow Ubukata. The anime originally aired in Japan on WOWOW from August 19, 2006, to February 2, 2007. The story has also been adapted into a manga ...
''. While Cagliostro is mostly portrayed as a bumbling money-grubber, Lorenza is shown to have arcane magic powers. *In the
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
, Cagliostro is a sorcerer, and is mentioned frequently in the film ''
Doctor Strange Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorce ...
'' (2016). The ''Book of Cagliostro: Study of Time'' is an ancient artifact containing several dark spells of magic. *In
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
's web-series
Disney+
''What If?'', Cagliostro is mentioned frequently, as the one who can break an absolute point in time.
Doctor Strange Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorce ...
read the lost books of Cagliostro and reversed an absolute point in time just as Cagliostro did, according to legends.


Television

*Cagliostro appears as a villainous magician in an episode of the 1960s series ''Thriller'', entitled "The Prisoner in the Mirror"; he is played by
Henry Daniell Charles Henry Pywell Daniell (5 March 1894 – 31 October 1963) was an English actor who had a long career in the United States on stage and in cinema. He came to prominence for his portrayal of villainous roles in films such as '' Camille'' (1 ...
and
Lloyd Bochner Lloyd Wolfe Bochner (July 29, 1924 – October 29, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He appeared in many Canadian and Hollywood productions between the 1950s and 1990s, including the films ''Point Blank'' (1967), '' The Detective'' (1968), '' The ...
. *In a 1978 episode of the
Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
TV series, a descendant of the Count, still attempting alchemy (and succeeding to the extent of turning lead into gold for a time, after which it turns back into its original form) is the villain, and Wonder Woman, in her Diana Prince identity, indicates that she faced his ancestor, the original Count Cagliostro, in the past. *Cagliostro is mentioned in the Twilight Zone (new) series, in an episode called "The Pharaoh's Curse" when a magician performing the trick says that this act was passed down from a lineage of famous magicians. *Cagliostro is a character in Todd McFarlane's Spawn. An animated television series which aired on HBO from 1997 through 1999. The Character Cagliostro had lived as many identities in his over 800 year life. He was a Hell-Spawn who managed to free himself of the curse though the practice of Alchemy and Sorcery. He accompanies Spawn and teaches him to do the same throughout the series. * In
Samurai Jack ''Samurai Jack'' is an American animated action-adventure television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. Tartakovsky conceived ''Samurai Jack'' after finishing his work ...
episode 7 of season 3, Samurai Jack follows a quest for the crystal of Cagliostro. * The 2016 ''
Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It follows the endeavors of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène ...
'' yearly special featured a hunt for the treasure of Cagliostro. Prior to this, the name was also used for the 1979 Lupin III theatrical release ''
The Castle of Cagliostro is a 1979 Japanese animated action-adventure comedy film co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, with animation produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS). It is the second feature film featuring Monkey Punch's master thief Arsène Lupin III, f ...
'', though with little relation to the historical Cagliostro.


References


Further reading

* Giovanni Barberi
''The Life of Joseph Balsamo Commonly called Count Cagliostro''
London, 1791. *
Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

''Count Cagliostro''
Fraser's Magazine (July, Aug. 1833). * Carlyle, Thomas. "The French Revolution" * Camilo Castelo Branco
''Compêndio da Vida e Feitos de José Bálsamo Chamado Conde de Cagliostro ou O Judeu Errante''
E. Chardron, 1874. * Giacomo Casanova, ''Soliloque d’un penseur'' (1786). A pamphlet contra Cagliostro, published anonymously. * Le Couteulx de Canteleu, ''Les sectes et sociétés secrètes, politiques et religieuses'' (1863); Ch. XIII “Saint-Germain, Cagliostro, et l’affaire du collier”. * Philippa Faulks and Robert L. D. Cooper. ''The Masonic Magician; The Life and Death of Count Cagliostro and his Egyptian Rite,'' London, Watkins, 2008. *
Alexander Lernet-Holenia Alexander Lernet-Holenia (21 October 1897, in Vienna — 3 July 1976) was an Austrian poet, novelist, dramaturgist and writer of screenplays and historical studies who produced a heterogeneous literary opus that included poetry, psychological ...
. ''Das Halsband der Königin'' (
Paul Zsolnay Verlag Paul Zsolnay Verlag is an Austrian publishing company. Overview The company was created in 1923 by Paul Zsolnay.Hall, Murray G.: “Publishers and Institutions in Austria, 1918–45”, pp. 79–80. ''A History of Austrian Literature 1918–2000'' ...
, Hamburg/Vienna, 1962, historical study on the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, including a description of Cagliostro's background). * W. R. H Trowbridge
''Cagliostro: The Splendour and Misery of a Master of Magic''
(Chapman & Hall, London 1910).


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identifying him with Giuseppe Balsamo.

an account that just denies this hypothesis without giving a reason.
The Great Cagliostro: Master Illusionist and King of Liars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cagliostro, Alessandro Italian alchemists Italian occultists People from Palermo 1743 births 1795 deaths Italian Freemasons 18th-century alchemists 18th-century occultists History of Palermo Prisoners of the Bastille Freemasonry-related controversies