Meet the...Casanova conman!
- Thread starter Ogata
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2018
- Messages
- 13,911
- Reaction score
- 5,159
If that's your sort of thing, I watched this recently.
- Joined
- May 30, 2013
- Messages
- 18,868
- Reaction score
- 9,802
That's up next. It's weird how some guys are socially clueless and others are utter masters at it to the point that it makes them look like a wizard.
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2019
- Messages
- 2,675
- Reaction score
- 756
You should read up on The Count of St. Germain. This is the stuff of legends. For real, this dude claimed very seriously to be 300 years old, said crazy things like he could melt diamonds, was a great musician, poet, chemist, spoke several languages, and just charmed the absolute shit out of royalty from several different countries. This story is crazy.
There are theories that he actually was an immortal, too. There are quotes from people who saw him after 20 or 30 year intervals, and while they would have gotten old, he still appeared to be in his mid 40's, same as they last saw him. There was even a dude in the 1970's that claimed to be him. Pretty interesting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St._Germain
Lady Jemima Yorke described how she was 'very much entertain'd by him or at him the whole Time – I mean the Oddness of his Manner which it is impossible not to laugh at, otherwise you know he is very sensible & well-bred in conversation'. She continued:
'He is an Odd Creature, and the more I see him the more curious I am to know something about him. He is everything with everybody: he talks Ingeniously with Mr Wray, Philosophy with Lord Willoughby, and is gallant with Miss Yorke, Miss Carpenter, and all the Young Ladies. But the Character and Philosopher is what he seems to pretend to, and to be a good deal conceited of: the Others are put on to comply with Les Manieres du Monde, but that you are to suppose his real characteristic; and I can't but fancy he is a great Pretender in All kinds of Science, as well as that he really has acquired an uncommon Share in some'.
Walpole reports that St Germain:
'spoke Italian and French with the greatest facility, though it was evident that neither was his language; he understood Polish, and soon learnt to understand English and talk it a little [...] But Spanish or Portuguese seemed his natural language'
St. Germain appeared in the French court around 1748. In 1749, he was employed by Louis XV for diplomatic missions.
Giacomo Casanova describes in his memoirs several meetings with the "celebrated and learned impostor". Of his first meeting, in Paris in 1757, he writes:
"The most enjoyable dinner I had was with Madame de Robert Gergi, who came with the famous adventurer, known by the name of the Count de St. Germain. This individual, instead of eating, talked from the beginning of the meal to the end, and I followed his example in one respect as I did not eat, but listened to him with the greatest attention. It may safely be said that as a conversationalist he was unequalled.
St. Germain gave himself out for a marvel and always aimed at exciting amazement, which he often succeeded in doing. He was scholar, linguist, musician, and chemist, good-looking, and a perfect ladies' man. For a while he gave them paints and cosmetics; he flattered them, not that he would make them young again (which he modestly confessed was beyond him) but that their beauty would be preserved by means of a wash which, he said, cost him a lot of money, but which he gave away freely. He had contrived to gain the favour of Madame de Pompadour, who had spoken about him to the king, for whom he had made a laboratory, in which the monarch — a martyr to boredom — tried to find a little pleasure or distraction, at all events, by making dyes. The king had given him a suite of rooms at Chambord, and a hundred thousand francs for the construction of a laboratory, and according to St. Germain the dyes discovered by the king would have a materially beneficial influence on the quality of French fabrics.
This extraordinary man, intended by nature to be the king of impostors and quacks, would say in an easy, assured manner that he was three hundred years old, that he knew the secret of the Universal Medicine, that he possessed a mastery over nature, that he could melt diamonds, professing himself capable of forming, out of ten or twelve small diamonds, one large one of the finest water without any loss of weight. All this, he said, was a mere trifle to him. Notwithstanding his boastings, his bare-faced lies, and his manifold eccentricities, I cannot say I thought him offensive. In spite of my knowledge of what he was and in spite of my own feelings, I thought him an astonishing man as he was always astonishing me."
There are theories that he actually was an immortal, too. There are quotes from people who saw him after 20 or 30 year intervals, and while they would have gotten old, he still appeared to be in his mid 40's, same as they last saw him. There was even a dude in the 1970's that claimed to be him. Pretty interesting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St._Germain
Lady Jemima Yorke described how she was 'very much entertain'd by him or at him the whole Time – I mean the Oddness of his Manner which it is impossible not to laugh at, otherwise you know he is very sensible & well-bred in conversation'. She continued:
'He is an Odd Creature, and the more I see him the more curious I am to know something about him. He is everything with everybody: he talks Ingeniously with Mr Wray, Philosophy with Lord Willoughby, and is gallant with Miss Yorke, Miss Carpenter, and all the Young Ladies. But the Character and Philosopher is what he seems to pretend to, and to be a good deal conceited of: the Others are put on to comply with Les Manieres du Monde, but that you are to suppose his real characteristic; and I can't but fancy he is a great Pretender in All kinds of Science, as well as that he really has acquired an uncommon Share in some'.
Walpole reports that St Germain:
'spoke Italian and French with the greatest facility, though it was evident that neither was his language; he understood Polish, and soon learnt to understand English and talk it a little [...] But Spanish or Portuguese seemed his natural language'
St. Germain appeared in the French court around 1748. In 1749, he was employed by Louis XV for diplomatic missions.
Giacomo Casanova describes in his memoirs several meetings with the "celebrated and learned impostor". Of his first meeting, in Paris in 1757, he writes:
"The most enjoyable dinner I had was with Madame de Robert Gergi, who came with the famous adventurer, known by the name of the Count de St. Germain. This individual, instead of eating, talked from the beginning of the meal to the end, and I followed his example in one respect as I did not eat, but listened to him with the greatest attention. It may safely be said that as a conversationalist he was unequalled.
St. Germain gave himself out for a marvel and always aimed at exciting amazement, which he often succeeded in doing. He was scholar, linguist, musician, and chemist, good-looking, and a perfect ladies' man. For a while he gave them paints and cosmetics; he flattered them, not that he would make them young again (which he modestly confessed was beyond him) but that their beauty would be preserved by means of a wash which, he said, cost him a lot of money, but which he gave away freely. He had contrived to gain the favour of Madame de Pompadour, who had spoken about him to the king, for whom he had made a laboratory, in which the monarch — a martyr to boredom — tried to find a little pleasure or distraction, at all events, by making dyes. The king had given him a suite of rooms at Chambord, and a hundred thousand francs for the construction of a laboratory, and according to St. Germain the dyes discovered by the king would have a materially beneficial influence on the quality of French fabrics.
This extraordinary man, intended by nature to be the king of impostors and quacks, would say in an easy, assured manner that he was three hundred years old, that he knew the secret of the Universal Medicine, that he possessed a mastery over nature, that he could melt diamonds, professing himself capable of forming, out of ten or twelve small diamonds, one large one of the finest water without any loss of weight. All this, he said, was a mere trifle to him. Notwithstanding his boastings, his bare-faced lies, and his manifold eccentricities, I cannot say I thought him offensive. In spite of my knowledge of what he was and in spite of my own feelings, I thought him an astonishing man as he was always astonishing me."
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2016
- Messages
- 11,794
- Reaction score
- 13,328
Sounds like he was a psychopath (antisocial PD).
Contrary to the popular TV stereotypes, most psychopaths are very low functioning. The typical presentation is an impulsive, low-level thug, with a long track record of problems with the law dating from a young age. They have very little insight into their own psychological issues, poor social skills, no patience, poor understanding of others, low quality lies, no planning. The compulsivity dooms them to have run overs with the law over and over again. They also have on average a much lower IQ than the general population.
Seems like this guy was a legitimate intelligent psychopath. That's extremely rare.
Contrary to the popular TV stereotypes, most psychopaths are very low functioning. The typical presentation is an impulsive, low-level thug, with a long track record of problems with the law dating from a young age. They have very little insight into their own psychological issues, poor social skills, no patience, poor understanding of others, low quality lies, no planning. The compulsivity dooms them to have run overs with the law over and over again. They also have on average a much lower IQ than the general population.
Seems like this guy was a legitimate intelligent psychopath. That's extremely rare.
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2016
- Messages
- 11,859
- Reaction score
- 5,524
Dude was a scumbag, but people are stupid/greedy to just give money over
Latest posts
-
-
-
News Jared Cannonier vs Nassourdine is set to headline UFC Louisville on June 8- Latest: SalvadorAllende
-
