[kellyhound]

Portugal, Lisbon’s Faculty of Medicine. This is the head of Diogo Alves, whose claims to fame include being both Portugal’s first serial killer and the last man to be hanged.

Diogo Alves was born in Galicia in 1810 and traveled to Lisbon early in his life, to serve in the houses of the well-to-do of the Portuguese capital.

This southwards migration was common to plenty of Galicians looking for work, but Alves soon realized a life of crime would be more profitable. (History often blames an opportunistic barmaid for this shift in morality, because what’s a story without a temptress?)

From 1836 to 1839, he transferred his workplace to the Aqueduto das Águas Livres (Aqueduct of the Free Waters). Nearly one kilometer (0.62 miles) long, the Aqueduto spanned the Alcântara valley, allowing both water and suburbanites to make their way into the city, 213 feet above the rural landscape.

Many of these commuters were humble farmers traveling to the city to sell their produce, a fact Alves was privy to.

He would await them on their return by nightfall, divest them of their gains by whatever means possible, and unceremoniously push them to their deaths.

He repeated this sequence 70 times in the three years he was active in the Aqueduto, and it’s unclear why he stopped.

Police intervention was hardly a factor, as the deaths were dismissed as a wave of suicides—it’s not like anyone in power would have feared a murderer who targeted only the poor.

Having retired from the Aqueduto, Alves set his sights on flightier targets, formed a gang, and started targeting private residences.

Eventually, after breaking into a physician’s house and murdering the people inside, he was caught by the authorities and sentenced to hang in February 1841.

This is where the facts of Alves’ story often go astray. He was not the last man to be executed—at least six more followed him to the gallows between 1842 and 1845.

Portugal would eventually rule out capital punishment in 1867. And there is yet more to debunk.

Alves was a serial killer, indeed, but not the first. The title falls to Luísa de Jesus, a Coimbra resident who confessed to the murder of 28 newborns taken from the local foundling wheel.

She was hanged in 1772, the last ever woman to be executed in the country. As someone whose criminal career began and ended with a national milestone, Luísa de Jesus is the person Diogo Alves would have been, had his claims to fame held out. So why is his head the one on display?

Alves was executed in 1841, as phrenology was just beginning to rear its ugly head in Portugal. We recognize phrenology, the discipline developed by German physician Franz Joseph Gall in the 1700s, as a pseudoscience today, but back then its premises were simple and its conclusions downright revolutionary: the brain housed all aspects of an individual’s personality in physically distinct areas, and the shape of the skull reflected this internal organization.

Personality traits, criminal propensity included, could be felt, palpated and measured right on the individual’s skull.

It is no surprise, then, that a notoriously wicked corpse would draw the attention of Portugal’s budding band of phrenologists—who requested Alves’ head be severed and preserved for posterity, so the source of his criminal urges could be studied in depth.

There is little evidence that such a study of Alves’ personality ever took place in the University, though similar ones did.

The skull of Francisco Mattos Lobo, a contemporary of his who butchered a family of four and defenestrated their dog, was examined by phrenologists in April 1842 and rests just two doors down the hallway, in a glass case of patinaed skulls, that, it seems, do not get nearly as many visits as Alves himself.

He is the celebrity, after all. Along with the rest of the body, his head has even inspired a comic book, a fictionalized biography and novel, and the 1911 silent film Os Crimes de Diogo Alves (“The Crimes of Diogo Alves”)—a serious contender for yet another national title, that of Portugal’s first fictional film.

[Jere]

looks like they just sunk it.you'd think it would've turned to head cheese by now.....

[murofhsirgo]

Looks like a little fucking twerp to me Nice complexion though, lol.

[danielsan]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

Portugal, Lisbon’s Faculty of Medicine. This is the head of Diogo Alves, whose claims to fame include being both Portugal’s first serial killer and the last man to be hanged.

Diogo Alves was born in Galicia in 1810 and traveled to Lisbon early in his life, to serve in the houses of the well-to-do of the Portuguese capital.

Attachment 752571

This southwards migration was common to plenty of Galicians looking for work, but Alves soon realized a life of crime would be more profitable. (History often blames an opportunistic barmaid for this shift in morality, because what’s a story without a temptress?)

From 1836 to 1839, he transferred his workplace to the Aqueduto das Águas Livres (Aqueduct of the Free Waters). Nearly one kilometer (0.62 miles) long, the Aqueduto spanned the Alcântara valley, allowing both water and suburbanites to make their way into the city, 213 feet above the rural landscape.

Attachment 752575

Many of these commuters were humble farmers traveling to the city to sell their produce, a fact Alves was privy to.

He would await them on their return by nightfall, divest them of their gains by whatever means possible, and unceremoniously push them to their deaths.

Attachment 752572

He repeated this sequence 70 times in the three years he was active in the Aqueduto, and it’s unclear why he stopped.

Police intervention was hardly a factor, as the deaths were dismissed as a wave of suicides—it’s not like anyone in power would have feared a murderer who targeted only the poor.

Having retired from the Aqueduto, Alves set his sights on flightier targets, formed a gang, and started targeting private residences.

Attachment 752573

Eventually, after breaking into a physician’s house and murdering the people inside, he was caught by the authorities and sentenced to hang in February 1841.

This is where the facts of Alves’ story often go astray. He was not the last man to be executed—at least six more followed him to the gallows between 1842 and 1845.

Portugal would eventually rule out capital punishment in 1867. And there is yet more to debunk.

Attachment 752574

Alves was a serial killer, indeed, but not the first. The title falls to Luísa de Jesus, a Coimbra resident who confessed to the murder of 28 newborns taken from the local foundling wheel.

She was hanged in 1772, the last ever woman to be executed in the country. As someone whose criminal career began and ended with a national milestone, Luísa de Jesus is the person Diogo Alves would have been, had his claims to fame held out. So why is his head the one on display?

Alves was executed in 1841, as phrenology was just beginning to rear its ugly head in Portugal. We recognize phrenology, the discipline developed by German physician Franz Joseph Gall in the 1700s, as a pseudoscience today, but back then its premises were simple and its conclusions downright revolutionary: the brain housed all aspects of an individual’s personality in physically distinct areas, and the shape of the skull reflected this internal organization.

Personality traits, criminal propensity included, could be felt, palpated and measured right on the individual’s skull.

It is no surprise, then, that a notoriously wicked corpse would draw the attention of Portugal’s budding band of phrenologists—who requested Alves’ head be severed and preserved for posterity, so the source of his criminal urges could be studied in depth.

There is little evidence that such a study of Alves’ personality ever took place in the University, though similar ones did.

The skull of Francisco Mattos Lobo, a contemporary of his who butchered a family of four and defenestrated their dog, was examined by phrenologists in April 1842 and rests just two doors down the hallway, in a glass case of patinaed skulls, that, it seems, do not get nearly as many visits as Alves himself.

He is the celebrity, after all. Along with the rest of the body, his head has even inspired a comic book, a fictionalized biography and novel, and the 1911 silent film Os Crimes de Diogo Alves (“The Crimes of Diogo Alves”)—a serious contender for yet another national title, that of Portugal’s first fictional film.

Dammit Kellyh. I was so going to post this too!! Pipped to the post. Lolz

[FunkPumpkin]

That guy does not have eyebrows. Creepy.

[vagabond]

I doubt that head is really that old!
Cool story, though!

[jessica17]

Thus HAS TO BE FAKE!?

[SargeistExisting]

I saw this, on a true crime page I follow on fb, several months back. If true, and I don't see why not, this is AMAZING!!! A 207 y/o head on display, showing the way he looked on the day of death. I want it to be true, and it's just mind boggling!

[SargeistExisting]

Originally Posted by danielsan1971 ↗

Dammit Kellyh. I was so going to post this too!! Pipped to the post. Lolz

Dude, no need to quote all of that text. I read the op, then had to scroll a mile to get past your quote, fifteen word response and two emoji post. C'mon man...

[Kelseecat65]

Originally Posted by SargeistExisting ↗

I saw this, on a true crime page I follow on fb, several months back. If true, and I don't see why not, this is AMAZING!!! A 207 y/o head on display, showing the way he looked on the day of death. I want it to be true, and it's just mind boggling!

That's insane to think it's that old, and looks this good. It is mind boggling!