Victor Lusting: The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower… Twice!

A R T L▼R K

On the 11th of March 1947, Victor Lusting, a Czech con artist, best known as ‘The man who sold the Eiffel Tower’, died in Springfield, Missouri. At the time of his death, he was still serving his sentence of twenty years in Alcatraz Island for major money forgery. A glib and witty man, he spoke several languages and gained fame for his audacity and fearlessness, but, most of all, for his knowledge of human psychology. He could judge a man in an instant, discovering their weak points and using them for his own benefit. “Lusting knew that most men build up defences against crooks and other troublemakers. The con artist’s job is to bring those defences down. One sure way to do this is through an act of apparent sincerity and honesty. Who will distrust a person literally caught in the act of being honest?” (Robert Greene, The…

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