From Poltava to Venice: the Maria Tarnowska case, 1907
Venice, September 1907. Shots fired in Palazzo Maurogonato lead the police to Maria Tarnowska, a woman from the Poltava Governorate. The investigation uncovers a web of fraud and suspicious deaths among her lovers.
The press quickly casts her as a femme fatale. Court records reveal a more complicated story: a calculating organiser of financial schemes who manipulates men in pursuit of insurance payouts.
I examine how the crimes worked, the psychology of the victims and why the trial attracted worldwide attention.
The press quickly casts her as a femme fatale. Court records reveal a more complicated story: a calculating organiser of financial schemes who manipulates men in pursuit of insurance payouts.
I examine how the crimes worked, the psychology of the victims and why the trial attracted worldwide attention.