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Thofania d'Adamo or Teofania di Adamo, Epifania d'Adamo or La Tofania (died 12 July 1633, Palermo) was an Italian poisoner. [1]
d'Adamo was executed for having poisoned her late spouse Francesco d'Adamo and for having trafficked in illegal lethal poison. She was preceded by Francesca La Sarda, who was executed for having trafficked in illegal lethal poison the year prior. The two women were accused of having sold poison together in Palermo. The case attracted a lot of attention and the investigation was conducted on the orders of Fernando Afán de Ribera.
The case is first mentioned in the Compendio di diversi successi in Palermo dall’anno 1632 by Baldassare Zamparrone (1581–1648). The contemporary diarist Gaetano Alessis described in Notizie piacevoli e curiose ossia aneddoti…, in which he claimed that the poison Aqua Tofana was invented by her and named after her.
Thofania d'Adamo are known in history as the alleged mother of the famous poisoner Giulia Tofana. According to legend, Giulia Tofana fled to Rome after the execution of her mother Thofania d'Adamo, founded a new business selling poison in Rome, and named the poison Aqua Tofana after her mother. [1] However, this appears to have been a myth, inspired by a hypothesis in the 19th century. [1] Giulia Tofana, whose actual name was Giulia Mangiardi, left Palermo for Rome in 1624 and not 1633; and while she does appear to have founded a business selling poison In Rome, which she eventuelly left to her stepdaughter Gironima Spana, [1] there is nothing to indicate that Thofania d'Adamo was the mother of Giulia Mangiardi, although she may have been her disciple. [1]
A potion is a liquid "that contains medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers." It derives from the Latin word potio which refers to a drink or the act of drinking. The term philtre is also used, often specifically for a love potion, a potion that is supposed to create feelings of love or attraction in the one who drinks it. Throughout history there have been several types of potions for a range of purposes. Reasons for taking potions ranged from curing an illness, to securing immortality to trying to induce love. These potions, while often ineffective or poisonous, occasionally had some degree of medicinal success depending on what they sought to fix and the type and amount of ingredients used. Some popular ingredients used in potions across history include Spanish fly, nightshade plants, cannabis, and opium.
Catherine Monvoisin, or Montvoisin, née Deshayes, known as "La Voisin", was a French fortune teller, commissioned poisoner, and professional provider of alleged sorcery. She was the head of a network of fortune tellers in Paris providing poison, aphrodisiacs, abortion, purported magical services and the arranging of black masses, with clients among the aristocracy and became the central figure in the famous affaire des poisons. Her purported organization of commissioned black magic and poison murder was suspected to have killed 1,000 people, but it is believed that upwards of 2,500 people might have been murdered.
Aqua Tofana 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 Tofana, or Tofania, a woman from Palermo, purportedly the leader of a ring of six poisoners in Rome, who sold Aqua Tofana to would-be widows.
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Giulia Farnese was an Italian noblewoman, a mistress to Pope Alexander VI, and the sister of Pope Paul III. Known as Giulia la bella, she was a member of the noble Farnese family, who were prominent leaders in the Italian regions of Parma and Piacenza. After marrying into the noble Orsini family in the Papal States, Farnese soon acquainted herself with, and initiated an affair with, the Spanish Cardinal Rodrigo de Borja. When the cardinal was elected Pope, Farnese continued the increasingly advantageous liaison, which enabled her to have her brother Alessandro made a cardinal, until losing Alexander's favor at the turn of the century.
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Maria Renata Singer or Saenger von Mossau was a Bavarian nun executed for heresy, witchcraft, apostasy and satanism, one of the last people executed for these charges in Germany and Europe.
Giovanna Bonanno was an alleged Italian witch and professional poisoner known as la vecchia dell'aceto, "The Old Vinegar Lady."
Giulia Tofana was an Italian professional poisoner. She sold a poison called Aqua Tofana to women who wanted to murder their husbands.
Sara Serraiocco is an Italian actress, best known for playing Baldwin in the TV series Counterpart.
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Gironima Spana was an Italian poisoner and astrologer. She was the central figure in the infamous Spana Prosecution against a net of poison merchant women in Rome who distributed the poison Aqua Tofana to clients who wished to commit murder, in particular women who wished to become widows. She was executed alongside four women accomplices for having distributed poison to clients with the intent of murder. She has also been called Girolama Spara, Girolama Spala, L’ Astrologa, La Profetessa, and L'Indovina, but Gironima Spana was the spelling she herself used in court documents.
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Maria Spinola was an Italian poisoner. She was one of the central figures of the infamous Spana Prosecution, one of only six to be executed among over forty people to be implicated.
Laura Crispoldi was an Italian poisoner. She was one of the central figures of the infamous Spana Prosecution, one of only six to be executed among over forty people to be implicated.
Graziosa Farina was an Italian poisoner. She was one of the central figures of the infamous Spana Prosecution, one of only six to be executed among over forty people to be implicated.