Marie
Joséphine Philippine
"The Good Lady of Loudun or The Black Widow"
Besnard
formerly Davaillaud aka Antigny
Born in Loudun, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France
Daughter of Pierre Eugène Davaillaud
and Marie-Louise (Antigny) Davaillaud
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of
Auguste Antigny
— married
1920 in France
Wife of
Léon Besnard
— married
1928 in France
[children unknown]
Died
at age 83
[location unknown]
Profile last modified
| Created 11 Feb 2021
This page has been accessed 257 times.
Biography
Marie (Davaillaud) Besnard is Notable.
- Accused serial poisoner (Acquitted)[1] - under French law her acquittal means she was not guilty
- d/o Pierre Davaillaud & Marie-Louise Antigny[1]
- educated in a convent school
- 1920 m. Auguste Antigny[1] (her 1st cousin - her mother's brother's son[2])
- 1928 m. Léon Besnard[1], whom she was possibly introduced to by her cousin Pescaline[2] (saddle & harness shop) - childless
- 21 July 1941 Charged with multiple murder
- 12 Dec 1961 Acquitted
Possible Relations
- her cousin, Pauline Bodineau
- her cousin, Virginie Lalleron
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Wikipedia: Marie Besnard, accessed 11 Feb 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Frey, Holly and Maria Trimarchi. "Marie Besnard: Good Lady of Loudun or Undertaker's Best Friend?" Criminalia (podcast). 22 Sept 2020. iHeart Radio & Shondaland Audio. Accessed 11 Feb 2021.
Is Marie your ancestor? Please don't go away!
Login to collaborate or comment, or
contact
the profile manager, or
ask our community of genealogists a question.
Login to collaborate or comment, or contact
the profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com
DNA
No known carriers of Marie's ancestors' DNA have taken a DNA test.
No known carriers of Marie's ancestors' DNA have taken a DNA test.
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
D > Davaillaud | B > Besnard > Marie Joséphine Philippine (Davaillaud) Besnard
Categories: Notables
I am personnally quite angry that while scrupulously detailing the amounts of arsenic found in the bodies this biography fails to mention that the soil of the cemetery was saturated with arsenic. Also, the list of victims includes people who died of totally different causes.
edited by Isabelle (Rassinot) Martin
In response to your concerns, I made it a point to state that she was ACCUSED and ACQUITTED in the first place. I have since removed the category "murderers" as you have pointed out that she was acquitted. I also made it a point to include, under the possible victims, where other causes of death were noted. I did not leave any names off of possible victims because I was not editorializing but using the information as I found it.
Mostly, I kept the possible victims section because a lot of family information was included there.
As for the cemetery being saturated with arsenic, I have found no mention of that anywhere. At best it is mentioned that traces of arsenic were found and possible contaminants were mentioned but the levels of arsenic found in the soil do not explain away the concentrations/amounts of arsenic found in the bodies. Under normal circumstances, bodies would not absorb higher concentrations of arsenic than what was found in the local environment. Given the relatively short amount of time before their exhumations, the concentrations once again become suspect.
edited by DK Clews