This is a list of incidents of cannibalism, or anthropophagy, the consumption of human flesh or internal organs by other human beings. Accounts of human cannibalism date back as far as prehistoric times, and some anthropologists suggest that cannibalism was common in human societies as early as the Paleolithic. Historically, various peoples and groups have engaged in cannibalism, although very few are thought to continue the practice to this day.
Occasionally, starving people have resorted to cannibalism for survival. Classical antiquity recorded numerous references to cannibalism during siege-related famines. More recent well-documented examples include the Essex sinking in 1820, the Donner Party in 1846 and 1847, and the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in 1972. Some murderers, such as Boone Helm, Albert Fish, Andrei Chikatilo, and Jeffrey Dahmer, are known to have eaten parts of their victims after killing them. Other individuals, such as journalist William Seabrook and artist Rick Gibson, have legally consumed human flesh out of curiosity or to attract attention to themselves.
Human cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh or internal organs of other human beings. A person who practices cannibalism is called a cannibal. The meaning of "cannibalism" has been extended into zoology to describe animals consuming parts of individuals of the same species as food.
Karl Denke was a German serial killer and cannibal who killed and cannibalized dozens of homeless vagrants and travellers from 1903 to 1924. He has been nicknamed the Cannibal of Münsterberg and the Forgotten Cannibal.
Child cannibalism or fetal cannibalism is the act of eating a child or fetus. Children who are eaten or at risk of being eaten are a recurrent topic in myths, legends, and folktales from many parts of the world. False accusations of the murder and consumption of children were made repeatedly against minorities and groups considered suspicious, especially against Jews as part of blood libel accusations.
José Dorángel Vargas Gómez, also known as "El comegente", is a serial killer and cannibal in Venezuela. He was a homeless man who used to hunt passersbys at a park in the city of San Cristobal, Táchira. Once he was caught, he confessed to killing and eating at least eleven men over a period of two years preceding his arrest in 1999.
Cannibalism, the act of eating human flesh, is a recurring theme in popular culture, especially within the horror genre, and has been featured in a range of media that includes film, television, literature, music and video games. Cannibalism has been featured in various forms of media as far back as Greek mythology. The frequency of this theme has led to cannibal films becoming a notable subgenre of horror films. The subject has been portrayed in various different ways and is occasionally normalized. The act may also be used in media as a means of survival, an accidental misfortune, or an accompaniment to murder. Examples of prominent artists who have worked with the topic of cannibalism include William Shakespeare, Voltaire, Bret Easton Ellis, and Herschell Gordon Lewis.
Cannibalism in the Americas has been practiced in many places throughout much of the history of North America and South America. The origin of the term "cannibal" comes from the Island Caribs, who were encountered by Christopher Columbus in the Bahamas. Numerous cultures in North America were reported by European explorers and colonizers to have engaged in cannibalism, however these claims are not always reliable since the Spanish used them as part of their justifications for conquest.
Armin Meiwes is a German former computer repair technician who received international attention for murdering and eating a voluntary victim in 2001, whom he had found via the Internet.
Issei Sagawa also known as Pang or the Kobe Cannibal, was a Japanese lust murderer, cannibal, and necrophiliac known for the killing of Renée Hartevelt in Paris in 1981.
Acts of cannibalism in Africa have been reported from various parts of the continent, ranging from prehistoric times until the 21st century. The possibly oldest evidence of human cannibalism has been found in Kenya in eastern Africa. There is little evidence of later cannibalism in East Africa, but the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was reputed to practise it, and acts of voluntary and forced cannibalism have been reported from the South Sudanese Civil War. While the oldest known written mention of cannibalism is from the tomb of the Egyptian king Unas, later evidence from Egypt shows it to only re-appear during occasional episodes of severe famine.
Vladimir Nikolayevich Nikolayev is a Russian murderer from Novocheboksarsk.
Cannibalism is the act of one individual of a species consuming all or part of another individual of the same species as food.
Matej Čurko, known as The Slovak Cannibal, was a Slovak murderer, cannibal and suspected serial killer. He was killed by police after attempting to entice a Swiss man to his death. Upon investigation, it was discovered that he had killed and eaten two women who had volunteered themselves to be murdered and cannibalized. Soon afterwards, police from Italy announced that the killer could be responsible for up to 28 other disappearances since 2009.
The Guangxi Massacre, or the Guangxi Cultural Revolution Massacre, was a series of events involving lynching and direct massacre in Guangxi during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). The official record shows an estimated death toll of 100,000 to 150,000. Methods of slaughter included beheading, beating, live burial, stoning, drowning, boiling, and disemboweling.
Eduard Valerievich Seleznev, known as The Arkhangelsk Cannibal, is a Russian serial killer who murdered three drinking companions in Arkhangelsk, whose bodies he later dismembered and liquified for consumption. Previously convicted of a double murder in 2002, he was found guilty of these new killings and sentenced to life imprisonment in a special regime colony.
Abboud and Khajawa were Iraqi serial killers and cannibals. They were convicted of murdering and eating the remains of an elderly neighbour and dozens of children in Mosul in 1917, luring most of their victims with the help of their young son.
Acts of cannibalism in Europe seem to have been relatively prevalent in prehistory, but also occurred repeatedly in later times, often motivated by hunger, hatred, or medical concerns. Both anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals practised cannibalism to some extent in the Pleistocene, and Neanderthals may have been eaten by modern humans as the latter spread into Europe. Amongst humans in prehistoric Europe, archaeologists have uncovered many clear and indisputable sites of cannibalism, as well as numerous other finds of which cannibalism is a plausible interpretation.
Acts of cannibalism in Asia have been reported from various parts of the continent, ranging from ancient times to the 21st century. Human cannibalism is particularly well documented for China and for islands that today belong to Indonesia.
Cannibalism in Oceania is well documented for many parts of this region, with reports ranging from the early modern period to, in a few cases, the 21st century. Some archaeological evidence has also been found. Human cannibalism in Melanesia and Polynesia was primarily associated with war, with victors eating the vanquished, while in Australia it was often a contingency for hardship to avoid starvation.
Denis Vladimirovich Gorin is a Russian serial killer and cannibal who, with the aid of his brother, committed at least four murders in the town of Aniva, Sakhalin Oblast, from 2002 to 2012. Despite the gravity of his crimes, Gorin was given a lenient sentence of 22 years imprisonment after he was convicted in 2018.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)黑水營之圍,孤軍陷萬里外,凡三月得全師以出,誠千古未有之奇事也。將軍兆惠既深入葉爾羌,賊眾我寡,且馬力疲不能衝殺,乃佔一村寨,掘濠築壘自守,即所謂黑水營也。所掘濠既淺,壘亦甚低,賊可步屧入,遂日夜來攻,而我兵處危地,皆死中求生,故殺賊甚力。賊懼我兵致死,欲以不戰收全功,别築一壘於濠外,爲長圍守之,如梁唐所謂夾城者,意我兵食盡,當自斃也。而營中掘得窖粟數百石,稍賴以濟。賊又決水灌營,我兵泄之於下流,其水轉資我汲飲。已而,隨處掘井皆得水。又所占地林木甚多,薪以供爨常不乏。賊以鳥槍擊我,其鉛子著枝葉間,每砍一樹輒得數升,反用以擊賊。惟拒守既久,粮日乏,僅瘦駝羸馬亦將盡。各兵每乘間出掠回人充食。或有夫婦同掠至者。殺其夫,即令妻煮之,夜則薦枕席。明日夫肉盡,又殺此婦以食。被殺者皆默然無聲,聽烹割而已。某公性最嗇,會除夕,明公瑞、常公鈞等皆至其帳聚語,屈指軍粮,過十日皆鬼籙矣。某公慨然謂:『吾出肅州時有送酒肴者,所餘餖飣,今尚貯皮袋中。』呼奴取出,供一啖。時絕粮久,皆大喜過望。既飽而去,則私相渭曰:『某公亦不留此,事可知矣。』不覺泣下,蓋自十月初旬被圍,至此已將百日,無復生還望也。而上已預調兵在途,富將軍、舒參贊率以進援,果毅阿公又以駝馬至,遂轉戰而入。兆將軍亦破壘而出,兩軍相遇,乃振旅歸。是役也,地在萬里之遙,圍及百日之久,不傷一人,全師而返,國家如天之福,於此可見。然向非預調索倫兵在途,將緩不及事,於此益見睿算之遠到云。其年遂盡平回地。
兆文毅至軍,庫車已降於雅將軍,阿克蘇亦遣人迎降。八月二十四日,兆文毅遇雅將軍偕入,傳旨斬順德訥,即前守卡縱霍集占遁去者也。逮雅將軍送京,擇城中伯克鄂對隨軍,而留哈密回目玉素富及總兵閻師相率駐兵守。時舒文襄方為兵,效力軍前,亦令留阿克蘇讚畫諸務。兆文毅即起程,有烏什城伯克霍集斯者,即前縛送達瓦齊者,遣其子呼岱巴爾氐來迎。九月朔,兆文毅至烏什,以霍集斯熟回部事,與同進葉爾羌,分遣侍衛齊淩紮布偕鄂對往撫和闐六城。十月,兆文毅至葉爾羌。其城周十餘里,霍集占已堅壁清野,凡村莊人戶悉移入。初六日,我軍分七隊進,賊兩門各出四五百騎來迎,我兵擊敗之。賊又從北門出數百騎,索倫兵然遁,賴健銳營兵數百岸然不動,我兵得以濟,又敗賊眾,賊入城不復出。兆文毅以兵少不能圍城,欲伺便取勝,乃擇有水草處結營,即所謂黑水營也。聞納、三二將軍將至,遣愛隆阿以兵八百迎之。又偵知賊蓄在城南棋盤山,欲先取之以充軍實。十三日,由城南奪橋過河,甫過四百餘兵,橋忽斷,賊出四五千騎來截,步賊萬餘在後。我兵陣而前,騎賊退,步賊以鳥槍進,我兵方擊步賊,而騎賊又從後夾攻,兼有自兩翼衝入者。兆文毅馬中槍斃,再易馬又斃,我兵為賊所截,散落成數處,人皆自為戰,無不以死自誓,殺賊無算。而我兵陣亡者亦數百人,受傷者無算,總兵高天喜、副都統三保、護軍統領鄂實、監察御史何泰、侍衛特通額俱戰歿。日暮收兵歸,護大營過河者,亦泅水歸,馬力疲乏,不能衝殺,遂掘壕結寨守。所掘壕既淺,壘亦甚低,賊可步屟入,遂日夜來攻。我兵處危地,皆死中求生,故殺賊甚力。賊懼我兵致死,欲以不戰收全功,別築一壘於壕外,為長圍守之,如梁、宋所謂夾城者。意我兵食盡當自斃也,而營中掘得窖粟數百石,稍賴以濟。賊又決水灌營,我兵泄之於下遊,其水轉資我汲飲,已而隨處掘井皆得水。又所占地林木甚多,薪以供爨,常不乏。賊以鳥槍擊我,其鉛子著樹枝葉間,每砍一樹,輒得數升,反用以擊賊,惟拒守日久,糧日乏,僅瘦駝羸馬亦將盡,各兵每乘間出掠回人充食。或有夫婦同擄至者,殺其夫,即令其妻煮之,夜則薦枕席。明日夫肉盡,又殺此婦以食,被殺者皆默然無聲,聽烹割而已。某公性最嗇,會除夕,明忠烈公瑞、常中丞鈞皆至其帳聚語,屈指軍糧,過十日皆鬼籙矣。某公慨然謂:「吾出肅州時,有送酒餚者,所餘餖飣今尚貯皮袋中,呼奴取出供一啖。」時絕糧久,皆大喜過望,既飽而去,則私謂曰:「某公亦不留此,事可知矣!」不覺泣下。蓋自十月中旬被圍,已將百日,無復生還望也。納義烈公木劄爾、三公泰亦以十三日至愛隆阿軍,聞兆文毅等戰,率二百騎衝入,為賊所殺。
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Московская полиция задержала двух сатанистов, которые сознались в нескольких убийствах и каннибализме, сообщила «Фонтанка» и Telegram-канал Mash со ссылкой на источники. [Moscow police detained two Satanists who confessed to several murders and cannibalism, Fontanka and the Mash Telegram channel reported, citing sources.]