Who is the most evil woman in world history ? Most evil woman serial killer

When one thinks of serial killers, usually male characters come to mind first. But history does not know cruel women – just remember the famous Hungarian countess Alžběta Báthoryová, who killed hundreds of young women in the years 1585-1609.

Well, a noblewoman of a similar disposition also lived in Russia in the 18th century. Her name was Daria Saltykova, but people simply called her “Saltychikha”, a nod to her notorious nature, which made her somewhat of a mythical figure in the collective Russian mind.

She was proven to have killed at least 38 of her serfs between 1756-1762, with the number possibly much higher. Witnesses spoke of a total of 138 dead, but her involvement was never confirmed. Among her victims were mainly young women, whom she beat with whips, bats and logs, tore out their hair, burned them with hot irons, starved them, froze them or drowned them.

Even when she was still alive, people spread scary stories and rumors that she bathed in the blood of victims and ate children.

So who was this woman and why had the authorities failed to catch her for so many years? And most importantly, what led to her desire to kill and maim?

A young widow with 800 serfs

Saltyková (1730-1801) was born into a wealthy noble family and in her youth was known as quite a handsome and pious lady. She married young and had two sons. Her husband came from the famous and influential Saltykov family, but he did not live long – he died of an illness, leaving his 26-year-old wife a widow to take care of a large estate with 800 serfs.

It was after the death of her husband that Daria first began to reveal her sadistic tendencies. She punished her employees for every mistake they made (big or small) – first she would beat them herself and then, when she felt tired, she would order her male servants to do it. Her main victims were usually young women, but sometimes men had to suffer as well.

After being tortured or beaten in the house, her victims were whipped to death in the stables, and Saltyková usually watched until the very end.

She allegedly tortured a pregnant teacher on one occasion and induced her to give birth during the torture. When she died, the male servants put her body’s coffin outside into the cold, leaving her newborn baby on top of it to freeze.

Another serf girl was driven into a pond with a stick and held there up to her neck in cold water. She drowned after a few hours.

Accidentally killing or injuring a serf was not punishable at the time, but even then, Saltyk’s practices seemed too much.

At one point, Saltychikha had the audacity to order her servants to kill nobles. After an affair with a young and distant relative Nikolai Tyutchev (the grandfather of the poet Fyodor Tyutchev) and his subsequent decision to marry another, younger woman, she was furious. Wanting revenge, she ordered her servants to plant a bomb in their house.

Unlike murdering a serf, killing a noblewoman was a crime her male servants were too afraid to commit, so they decided to warn them instead. Saltychikha later came up with another plan: to attack Tyutchev and his wife in their carriage. But even that didn’t work – one of the servants warned them again.

Some believed that it was this jealousy that turned the young widow into a monster, but the serfs suffered from her cruelty even before her affair with Tyutchev.

So what led to her bloodlust? There is still no consensus on this. Some believe that she must have felt too much pressure: as a young widow, she had to be a good mother to two sons and a good mistress in a large household who had to be clean and decent. Bound by her noble status and numerous obligations, she simply grew to hate all these daily troubles more and more, with the serfs as victims of this hatred.

Others claim that she was clearly a psychopath with a penchant for unmotivated aggression leading to the most brutal and elaborate murders. Moreover, they argue that her special interest in young women could have been a sign of latent homosexuality.