Giulia Tofana (also spelled Toffana, Tophana) (died in
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 ...
, 1651) was an Italian professional poisoner. She sold a poison called
Aqua Tofana
Aqua Tofana (also known as Acqua Toffana and Aqua Tufania and Manna di San Nicola) was a strong poison created in Sicily around 1630 that was reputedly widely used in Palermo, Naples, Perugia, and Rome, Italy. It has been associated with Giulia ...
(supposedly invented by Thofania di Adamo, who may have been Giulia's mother) to women who wanted to murder their husbands.
[Philip Wexler, Toxicology in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Elsevier Science – 2017, pages 63–64]
Biography
Information about Giulia Tofana's background is sparse. She was thought to have been born in
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 ...
. Speculation by historians that she may have taken the first name of her mother as her last name (a common practice at the time) led them to believe that she was the daughter of another Palermo poisoner,
Thofania d'Adamo. Thofania d'Adamo was accused of poisoning with an
arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...
concoction of her own invention, Aqua Tofana, and executed on 12 July 1633.
[Mike Dash, "Aqua Tofana: Slow-Poisoning and Husband-Killing in 17th Century Italy.]
25 April 2021.
/ref>
According to one version of events, Giulia Tofana fled to 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 ...
and set up a poisoning ring that began to sell this poison to women who wanted to escape abusive or inconvenient spouses. There may have been 6 women in this poisoning ring active in the 1650s, including Girolama Spara, who took over after Giulia's death.
Tofana's involvement in all of this is not confirmed. The only recorded evidence of poisoning activities being the executions of Teofania di Adamo in 1633, and Girolama Spara in 1659 (claimed to be the daughter of Giulia Tofana).
Death
Historians point to Giulia Tofana dying in her sleep in 1651 with no one aware of her poisoning activities.
Confusion of her activities with other poisoners active in the area have led to tales that she died in 1659, or 1709, or 1730 with further elaboration that she took sanctuary in a convent, and continued to manufacture and distribute poison for many years until she was found out, executed, and her body thrown over the wall of the church that had provided her with sanctuary.
See also
* Catherine Deshayes Monvoisin
* Giovanna Bonanno
* List of serial killers by country
This is a list of notable serial killers, by the country where most of the killings occurred.
Convicted serial killers by country Afghanistan
*Abdullah Shah: killed at least 20 travelers on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad while serving under ...
* ''My Last Duchess
"My Last Duchess" is a poem by Robert Browning, frequently anthologised as an example of the dramatic monologue. It first appeared in 1842 in Browning's '' Dramatic Lyrics''. The poem is composed in 28 rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter.
In ...
'', a poem by Robert Browning
References
* Stuart, David C. Dangerous Garden. Frances Lincoln ltd, 2004.
* The most reliable source for the story of Toffana is ''Vita di Alessandro VII'' by Cardinal Pallavicini
Francesco Maria Sforza Pallavicino (or ''Pallavicini'') (28 November 1607, Rome – 4 June 1667, Rome), was an Italian cardinal, philosopher, theologian, literary theorist, and church historian.
A professor of philosophy and theology at the Rom ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tofana, Giulia
1651 deaths
17th-century Italian criminals
17th-century Italian businesswomen
Italian female serial killers
Poisoners
Year of birth unknown
Female organized crime figures
Businesspeople in manufacturing
Weapons trade