Stefan Böhm (other last name versions: Beym, Bem) (December 25, 1741 – February 26, 1813) was a
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
executioner
An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who executes a sentence of capital punishment on a legally condemned person.
Scope and job
The executioner was usually presented with a warrant authorising or order ...
.
After leaving medical studies on
University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...
he became an official in
Karol Stanisław "Panie Kochanku" Radziwiłł Karol may refer to:
Places
* Karol, Gujarat, a village on Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat, west India
* Karol State, a former Rajput petty princely state with seat in the above town
Film/TV
*'' Karol: A Man Who Became Pope'', a 2005 miniseries
*' ...
lands. Then he joined the
Bar Confederation
The Bar Confederation ( pl, Konfederacja barska; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles (szlachta) formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia (now part of Ukraine) in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish ...
and was seriously injured in the head during a battle with
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n forces in
Tyniec
Tyniec is a historic village in Poland on the Vistula river, since 1973 a part of the city of Kraków (currently in the district of Dębniki). Tyniec is notable for its Benedictine abbey founded by King Casimir the Restorer in 1044.
Etymology
...
. He was saved and fled to
Lidzbark Warmiński
Lidzbark Warmiński (; german: Heilsberg, ), often shortened to Lidzbark, is a historical town located within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the capital of Lidzbark County.
Lidzbark Warmiński was once the capital of ...
, where he lived with the local executioner, named Mueller, who taught him this profession.
In 1793, after working as a supervisor over one of the bridges over the
Bug River
uk, Західний Буг be, Захо́дні Буг
, name_etymology =
, image = Wyszkow_Bug.jpg
, image_size = 250
, image_caption = Bug River in the vicinity of Wyszków, Poland
, map = Vi ...
, Böhm was pressured by
President of Warsaw
The city mayor of Warsaw, or more literally the ''city president of Warsaw'' (the official title in Polish is ''"prezydent miasta stołecznego Warszawy"'', literal translation ''"president of the capital city of Warsaw"'') is the head of the exec ...
Ignacy Wyssogota Zakrzewski
Ignacy Wyssogota Zakrzewski (1745–1802) was a notable Polish nobleman, politician, art collector, Freemason, and the Mayor of Warsaw during the last years of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1792 and 1794.
Biography
Ignacy Wyssogota Za ...
to take a job as the Warsaw executioner, which post vacated after Jan Mueller, brother of Lidzbark executioner.
Böhm was very popular among the Warsaw citizens. There was even a saying: ''you'll go and eat your breakfast at Stefanek's'', i.e. "you'll hang".
Böhm carried out most of executions on
Targowica Confederation
The Targowica Confederation ( pl, konfederacja targowicka, , lt, Targovicos konfederacija) was a Confederation (Poland), confederation established by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Pe ...
leaders during
Kościuszko Uprising
The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794 and the Second Polish War, was an uprising against the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Pr ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohm, Stefan
Polish executioners
People from Warsaw
1741 births
1813 deaths