Tufania

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Tufania (or Tofana or Teofania) was the name of three Italian poisoners and murderers in Palermo , Rome and Naples in the 17th and 18th centuries . In connection with them, the poison they used was called Aqua Tofana . This poison was probably an arsenic solution , possibly in combination with belladonna . It was a clear, colorless and tasteless liquid and therefore enjoyed a certain popularity as a result.

The first Tufania (Palermo)

Little is known about the first Tufania. It is known that she was executed for various poisonings under the government of the viceroy Ferdinando Alfa de Ribera . She had also driven the poison away.

Teofania di Adamo (Naples)

Teofania di Adamo confessed to having been involved in the murder of around 600 people. The motive should have been the hatred of men . She is said to have received the recipe for the Aqua Tofana from the first Tufania.

She was born in 1653. She is said to have committed her first poisoning when she was 16 or 17 years old. It sold the Aqua Tofana - also Aqua Tufania or Aqua Napoli - initially within Naples, later also beyond and finally across Europe. If the poison had to be shipped, it was filled into small, flat glass bottles and shipped under the name "Manna of St. Nicholas of Bari". The bottles also bore the likeness of the saint. This was done to deter customs and other authorities from checking the bottles.

When the poisonous murders got out of hand, the Viceroy of Naples set up his own special department, which Teofania finally tracked down. The then 66-year-old Teofania fled to a monastery , where she felt safe because of the church asylum . The convent of the monastery actually refused to extradite them. In 1719 the viceroy had the monastery stormed and Teofania arrested.

She was tortured and publicly at the age of 70 years - probably with the garrote - executed .

Since she had also disclosed the names of customers, follow-up litigation took place.

Giulia Tofana (Rome)

Giulia Tofana is said to have been the daughter or sister of Teofania di Adamo. Her field of activity was in Rome. There, confessors are said to have found out about Giulia Tofana's activities in 1659, which prompted Pope Alexander VII to investigate. She was executed on the gallows in Campo de 'Fiori .

literature

  • Lewin, Louis: The poisons in world history . Repro. Reprint of the Berlin edition (3rd edition) from 1920, Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1984, ISBN 3806720134