Giulia Tofana and her “Aqua Tofana” for women in need.

PS: all the pictures used in this video are from Pinterest!

🌿 Aqua Tofana
• Aqua Tofana (also called Acqua Toffana, Aqua Tufania, or Manna di San Nicola) was a slow-acting poison created in Sicily around 1630.
• It was usually made from arsenic, lead, and possibly belladonna.
• It was colorless, tasteless, and odorless, which made it easy to mix into wine, water, or food.
• Symptoms appeared gradually, imitating natural illness — weakness, stomach issues, and eventually death — so suspicion was minimal.

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👩 Giulia Tofana
• Giulia Tofana (sometimes written Tofania) was the woman most associated with distributing Aqua Tofana.
• She supposedly provided it to women in unhappy or abusive marriages, helping them secretly kill their husbands.
• Some stories say she was the daughter of another poisoner, Thofania d’Adamo, executed in 1633.
• Giulia lived in Rome and organized a network of women who sold the poison disguised in cosmetic bottles or even holy water vials.

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⚰️ Effects and Victims
• Victims often died without suspicion since their symptoms looked like common illnesses.
• Some sources claim over 600 men were killed with Aqua Tofana between the 1630s and 1650s.
• The poison was administered slowly, giving women time to appear as caring wives while preparing their freedom.

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🔎 Discovery and Aftermath
• The network was eventually exposed — possibly when a woman warned her husband not to drink wine she had poisoned.
• Trials and executions followed: in 1659, several women were hanged, and many clients were imprisoned.
• Giulia Tofana herself may have died in 1651, so it’s debated whether she lived to see the final crackdown.

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