Count Alessandro di Cagliostro (1743-1795),
infamous Italian
charlatan of the 1700s. Cagliostro excelled as a swindler and at various
times posed as a
hypnotist, miraculous healer, fortune
teller and
religious leader. Assuming the status of "
Count" (a nobleman in certain European countries), he traveled throughout Europe
selling his
services and wares, including
love potions and a concoction said to give eternal youth. He became well known in
French high society but in 1785 he was
charged with
fraud and spent nine months in a
French prison before being banished. Upon his
return to
Rome, his wife denounced him as a
heretic and he was
arrested, imprisoned and died five years later.