According to legend, the fabulous jewel now known as the Hope diamond once decorated the forehead of an Indian idol, from whence it
was stolen by a Hindu priest. The poor priest, so the story goes, was captured and tortured for his troubles.
The remarkable gem, said to carry a deadly curse, first surfaced in Europe in 1642, in the possession of the French trader and smuggler
Jean Babtiste Tefernier. He reaped a sizeable profit from its sale, but allowed his wastrel son to squander much of the money.
Travelling to Indian to recoup his fortune, Tefernier was attacked by a pack of rabid dogs and torn to pieces. (Ouch.)
The gem passed next to France's King Louis XIV, who reduced its staggering size from 112.5 carats to 67.5. This reduction,
however, did not affect the curse. After Nicholas Fouquet, a government official who was known for his
poker faced expression and wayward personality, borrowed the diamond for a state ball,
he was convicted of embezzlement and sentence to life in prison, where he died. Princess de Lambelle, who wore the diamond regularly, was
beaten to death by a Parisian mob. The king himself died broke and scorned, his empire in ruins. Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette
died beneath the blade of the guillotine.
In 1830, the now historic treasure was purchased by London banker Henry Thomas Hope for $150,000. It proved a mixed blessing. Family
fortunes declined rapidly, and one grandson died penniless before another heir finally sold the tainted stone. Over the next 16 years,
the Hope diamond went from owner to owner, including Frenchman Jacques Colet, who committed suicide, and Russian Prince Ivan
Kannitovitsky, a murder victim. In 1908, Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid paid $400,000 for the diamond and promptly bestowed in on his
favorite concubine, Surbaya. But within a year Hamid had stabbed Subaya to death and had been dethroned himself. Simon Montharides
had it next until one evening his carriage overturned, killing him, along with his wife and infant daughter.
Diamond and accompanying curse next made their way to American financial tycoon Ned McLean, who paid the bargain price of $154,000.
Vincent, his son, soon succumbed in a car crash, and a daughter died from a drug overdoes. McLean's wife became addicted to morphine,
and Mclean himself died in an insane asylum. Mrs. McLean passed away in 1947, leaving the hazardous heritage to six grandchildren.
Two years later, the McLean family sold the diamond to Harry Winston, a dealer in precious stones. Winston, in turn, deeded it to the
Smithsonian Institution, where it now remains. Perhaps the curse can't work its misery on institutions the way it did on individuals;
or perhaps the terrible disenchantment finally died with Evalyn McLean, one of the six McLean grandchildren, found dead of unapparent
cause in her Dallas apartment on December 13, 1967, at the age of twenty-five.
The remarkable gem, said to carry a deadly curse, first surfaced in Europe in 1642, in the possession of the French trader and smuggler
Jean Babtiste Tefernier. He reaped a sizeable profit from its sale, but allowed his wastrel son to squander much of the money.
Travelling to Indian to recoup his fortune, Tefernier was attacked by a pack of rabid dogs and torn to pieces. (Ouch.)