Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé (Weltevreden,

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

14 June 1818 –

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

, Belgium 19 July 1851) was a Belgian nobleman and convicted murderer. He poisoned his brother-in-law in order to acquire some urgently needed money. In 1851, the chemist Jean Servais Stas proved that Visart de Bocarmé had used

nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

extracted from tobacco leaves as

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

. This was the first exact proof of

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

s in

forensic medicine Forensic medicine is a broad term used to describe a group of medical specialties which deal with the examination and diagnosis of individuals who have been injured by or who have died because of external or unnatural causes such as poisoning, assa ...

Life

Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé descended from the Belgian noble family Visart de Bocarmé. His father was Julien Visart de Bocarmé (1787–1851) and his mother Ida du Chasteler (1797–1873). His father was a nephew of Johann-Gabriel, Marquess of Chasteler and Courcelles. Visart de Bocarmé was born aboard a ship heading to

, where his father had signed to serve as vice-governor. His birth certificate was issued in 1819 in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

.L'affaire Visart de Bocarmé
at visart.be, retrieved 21 November 2012 He spent his early years in Java, before his family returned to Europe. Afterwards he lived a few years with his father in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. He later returned to Belgium and lived in Château de Bitremont. In 1843, he married Lydia Fougnies, daughter of a retired grocer.Extraordinary trial for murder in Belgium
in ''Leed's Mercury'', 7 June 1851 They had four children: * Rodolphe (1844–1844), * Robert (1845–1907), whose son was Henry de Bury (1872–1958), * Mathilde (1848–1914), and, * Rose-Eugénie (1849-unknown). The couple permanently was short of money. After Fougnies's father died, the count's brother-in-law Gustave Fougnies inherited the property. As Gustave was unmarried and of weak constitution, Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé assumed he would inherit the fortune soon. In November 1850, Fougnies announced he was to marry, which was a blow to Visart de Bocarmés's hopes. On 20 November 1850, he invited his brother-in-law to Château de Bitremont. During the dinner Fougnies died, with only the count and countess present in the room. Both claimed that Fougnies had died of

apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

. The examination showed however that Fougnies was forced to swallow a poisonous and corrosive substance. The well-known Belgian chemist Jean Servais Stas then proved with a toxicologic examination that Visart de Bocarmé had used tobacco extract to poison his brother-in-law. Stas earned lasting fame, and his method of identifying the

poisons is fundamentally the same as that used today. After three weeks of trial, the court pronounced sentence of death upon Hippolyte Visart de Bocarme. His wife was acquitted. Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé was executed by

guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...

on 19 July 1851 at Grand-Place in

The case in popular culture

Visart de Bocarmé murder and the toxicologic examinations by Stas have been described as a case in many specialised books on medical jurisprudence and toxicology. In 1968, an episode of the Belgian TV series ''Beschuldigde sta op'' based on the case was produced. The role of Count Bocarmé was played by actor Bob Van der Veken. In the early 1990s, the Brussels Comédie Claude Volter showed the play ''Nicotine et guillotine'', which was also based on Count Bocarmés case.Nicotine et guillotine
at bellone.be, access date 22 November 2012 The case is referred to in some detail in John Rhode's 1936 detective novel '' Death at Breakfast''.

Literature

* Louis LABARRE, ''Le Drame du château de Bury'', Mons, 1851 * ''Procès du comte et de la comtesse de Bocarmé devant la Cour d'assises du Hainaut (1851)'', Mons, Leroux, 1851. * Frédéric THOMAS, ''Petites causes célèbres du jour''. Tome 12, 1855 * Pierre BOUCHARDON, ''Le crime du château de Bitremont'', Paris, A. Michel, 1925, * Henry SOUMAGNE, ''Le Seigneur de Bury'', Brussels, Larcier, 1946. * Alfred GALLEZ, ''Le sire de Bitremont, affaire de Bocarmé'', Brussels, P. de Méyère, 1959. * Oscar COOMANS DE BRACHÈNE, ''État présent de la noblesse belge'', Annuaire 2000, Brussels, 2000 * Robert WENNIG, ''Back to the roots of modern analytical toxicology: Jean Servais Stas and the Bocarmé murder case'', in: Drug Test Anal, John Wiley & Sons, April 2009. * Douglas DE CONINCK, ''Visart de Bocarmé'', in: De Morgen, 14 januari 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visartdebocarme, Hippolyte 19th-century Belgian criminals 1818 births 1851 deaths Poisoners 19th-century Dutch East Indies people Belgian people convicted of murder Executed Belgian people People executed by Belgium by guillotine Belgian nobility 19th-century murders in Belgium