Mariam Soulakiotis: Difference between revisions
corrected 177 to 27. 27 (through murder) + 150 (negligent homicide) = 177 |
Added content Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Infobox criminal |
{{Infobox criminal |
||
|name=Mariam Soulakiotis |
|name=Mariam Soulakiotis |
||
|victims= |
|victims=177<ref name="EncycSerialKillers"/> |
||
|death_place=Averoff Prison, [[Greece]] |
|death_place=Averoff Prison, [[Greece]] |
||
|birth_date={{circa}} {{birth year|1883}} |
|birth_date={{circa}} {{birth year|1883}} |
||
Revision as of 04:19, 15 October 2019
Mariam Soulakiotis | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1883 |
| Died | 23 November 1954[2] Averoff Prison, Greece |
| Details | |
| Victims | 177[1] |
Mother Superior Mariam Soulakiotis (c. 1883–23 November 1954[2])[1][3][4] (Template:Lang-el), also known as Mariam Soulakiotou (Template:Lang-el)[5] and in the press by the moniker The Woman Rasputin (Template:Lang-el),[2] was a Greek Orthodox abbess and convicted serial killer active between 1939 and 1951.[6][7] Greek authorities indicted Soulakiotis in February 1951 on charges including homicide, fraud, forgery of wills, blackmail and torture.[8] Sentenced to life in 1952, Soulakiotis died in Averoff Prison in 1954.[6][3]
Soulakiotis was alleged to have committed her crimes in the Peukovounogiatrissas Monastery (Template:Lang-el) near Keratea, Greece. As of 2008, the monastery remains open and still has members which believe she was innocent and which venerate her as a saint.[9]
Religious life
Soulakiotis was an avid Old Calendarist and a follower of the Matthewite sect, which the mainstream Greek Orthodox Church considers to be in schism.[10] She, together with Archbishop and hieromonk Matthew (Karpathakis) of Besthena, founded the monastery in 1927. After the death of Abp. Matthew, Soulakiotis succeeded him as abbot.[3]
Crime
Soulakiotis' alleged modus operandi was to encourage wealthy women to join the convent, and then torture them until they donated their fortunes to the monastery;[6] once the money was donated, Soulakiotis would embezzle it and in some cases kill the donor.[3] Reuters reported that at the time of her arrest she had amassed three hundred properties across Greece this way along with "gold and jewels worth thousands of pounds."[2]
Soulakiotis also demanded strict adherence to ascetic practices among those in the convent, which police alleged led to the unnecessary deaths of 150 children from tuberculosis.[4] Victims of Soulakiotis' administration of the monastery also variously accuse her of torturing them, starving them, falsely imprisoning them, and beating them.[11][12] Soulakiotis denied all the charges against her until she died, terming them «κατασκευάσματα του σατανά» ("Satanic fictions").[4]
The number of Soulakiotis' victims is a matter of some debate; the most commonly cited figure of 27 murders & 150 negligent homicides by neglect comes from medical testimony during her trial.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b Newton, Michael (2006-02-01). The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Infobase Publishing. p. 412. ISBN 9780816069873.
- ^ a b c d e "Embezzled Nuns' Dowries, Amassed Fortune". Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton Queensland. 1954-11-25. p. 10.
- ^ a b c d Abp. Gregory (2005-05-25). "Matthewite Timeline History". True Orthodox Christianity. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b c "Το κολαστήριο της Μονής Κερατέας και η αιμοσταγής ηγουμένη". Newsbeast.gr (in Greek). 2017-02-05. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
- ^ Κοψιδα, Πηνελοπη (2018-09-10). "Όταν η αιμοσταγής Ηγουμένη Μαριάμ άπλωσε τα δίχτυα της στο μοναστήρι της Νιράς". aromalefkadas - Ενημερωτική ιστοσελίδα της Λευκάδας (in Greek). Retrieved 2019-04-27.
- ^ a b c "Η μοναχή serial killer Μαριάμ της Κερατέας". ΡΕΠΟΡΤΕΡ. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
- ^ "Mariam Soulakiotis the killer nun". Emadion. 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Tucson Daily Citizen Archives, Aug 23, 1952, p. 6". newspaperarchive.com. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
- ^ "Το μοναστήρι των νεκρών". Espresso (in Greek). Retrieved 2019-04-27.
- ^ Yannakopoulos, Joel (2012-06-05). "Old Calendar-New Calendar: the facts". Eastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Nevins, Scott (2014-12-06). "The Monastery of the Dead (Excerpts from the newspaper "Freedom" (Ελευθερία), 1950s)". Scott Nevins Memorial. Archived from the original on 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Karagiannēs, Giōrgos (1997). Εκκλησία και κράτος 1833 - 1997 (in Greek). pp. 106–107.