In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the French Riviera was a popular retreat for the wealthy elite -as it is today. W. Somerset Maugham called it “a sunny place for shady people.” And so that's where Amélie Condemine went to relieve the rich of their cash and jewels. She passed herself off as the Comtesse de Monteil, which gave her access to the finest hotels and resorts, and kept suspicions from her victims at bay. In fact, she operated for twenty years before she was finally arrested in 1908.
After her arrest, the comtesse became something of a folk hero in the media. Newspapers emphasized her pluck and daring, such as when she robbed the same Swiss banker three times. The third time, he awoke and raised the alarm, but she sprinted back to her room, where she pretended to be asleep and was never suspected. On another occasion, in Alexandria, the hotel accused her and an accomplice of theft; the pair fought the accusation in court and won a defamation suit against the hotel. While she was a criminal conning the wealthy, she was also portrayed as a woman of the people. Le Petit Parisien noted that her maid liked and respected her, and that she was a generous tipper.
Read the story of the Queen of Thieves at Atlas Obscura.
