The following case is presented in a great deal of books and is special in the sense that pretty much every author has a different story and opinion to tell. I`ve even come across books and sites that present it as two distinct accounts because of the slight but numerous changes that have occurred with the passing of the time.
The whole case is based on a news from the “Figaro” from back in 1874 [we are given an approximate date as 5 October].
It mentions the death of a Romanian prince called Borolojovac.
Apparently he had been living in Paris because he was forced to take the road of exile due to vampirism that was hereditary within his family. Even he believed that he would turn into the undead after his death to he made his Parisian host swear that upon his passing he would cut out his heart to keep him from returning.
It remains a mystery if the request was followed or not, but he must have died around September of October of 1874.
Based on the name I can tell you this much… he was not Romanian. In fact there are 5 names that circulate attached to this case: Borolojovac, Barolajovac, Boralajova, Borolojovak and Borolajovek. It seams that in fact he was of Serbian origin and he feared that he was a living vampire – destined to return from the grave.
The news clipping was enough to start a spark in the public so the events were published in 1900 by Stefan Hock in his “Die Vampirsagen – und ihre Verwertung in der deutschen Literatur” [Vampire legends and their utilization in German Literature] and in “Les Vampires” by Tony Faivre [1962].
But perhaps the one that claims to have investigated the most is Jean-Paul Bourre and he published his “Le Culte du Vampire aujourd’hui” [The vampire cult today] in 1978. Needless to say there are many interesting things that were claimed… including the fact that the vampire was a Romanian count.
Sounds familiar? That`s right… Dracula!
After further research in the National Library, Bourre supposedly discovered that the Count used to live in a castle just outside Paris – somewhere in the direction of Mainvilliers. Since it was apparently turned into a hotel, the author went ahead and booked a couple of night. He was struck by luck when he found correspondence of the Count which shows that before he came to Paris he has lived in Venice for some time.
Bourre also informs us that the Count Borolojovak is buried on the famous Isola di San Michele, a cemetery island in Venice.
As you can imagine I am reluctant to believe mr. Bourre simply because there are too many things in his book that cry influence by the infamous novel “Dracula”.
So I will file this as a vampire account that spawned a legend around it 🙂
๑۞๑ Related: ๑۞๑
† Superstitions
† Legends
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