Adam Worth
Adam Worth, born in Germany to Jewish parents in 1844, emigrated to the United States at a young age, where he began developing a reputation as a con artist in the Boston area. His criminal career escalated after the American Civil War, during which he enlisted multiple times for financial gain. Worth became notorious for his sophisticated criminal operations, including bank robberies and organized thefts in conjunction with Frederika "Marm" Mandelbaum, a well-known fence. In 1869, he relocated to England, adopting the persona of a wealthy gentleman, and expanded his criminal activities across Europe, all while living a life of luxury. His most famous crime was the 1876 theft of the painting "Duchess of Devonshire," which he kept hidden for 25 years before returning it for a substantial reward. Despite evading capture for two decades, he was arrested in Belgium in 1892, convicted of robbery, and sentenced to seven years in prison, of which he served five. Adam Worth's legacy as a criminal mastermind has inspired literary figures, notably influencing Arthur Conan Doyle's creation of Professor Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes series, solidifying his reputation as the "Napoleon of Crime."
Subject Terms
Adam Worth
German American thief and swindler
- Born: 1844
- Birthplace: eastern Germany
- Died: January 8, 1902
- Place of death: London, England
Major offense: Robbery
Active: c. 1869-1892
Locale: Liege, Belgium
Sentence: Seven years of solitary confinement and hard labor; served five years
Early Life
Adam Worth (wurth) was born in Germany to Jewish parents in 1844. When Worth was five, his family, including a brother, John, and a sister, Harriet, emigrated to the United States, settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Worth’s father set up shop as a tailor. Meanwhile, “Little Adam” developed a reputation as a con artist in the Boston area. When the American Civil War (1861-1865) broke out, Worth enlisted numerous times, receiving a Union enlistment bonus or payment each time.
Criminal Career
After the war, Worth settled in were chosen and began his criminal career in earnest. He started as a pickpocket and soon found himself robbing banks in league with the infamous “Queen of Fences,” Frederika “Marm” Mandelbaum. In 1869, he moved to Liverpool, then London, adopting the name and persona of Henry James Raymond, Esq., a wealthy English gentleman. Worth organized and contracted out assignments for robbery, burglary, swindling, mail theft, and forgery throughout England and the Continent, from which he would collect a sizable commission. Worth’s lust for affluent respectability led him to purchase a 110-foot yacht, which he also used for criminal operations in South America.
Worth’s most famous exploit was his 1876 theft of the painting Duchess of Devonshire (painted in 1783 by the famous artist Thomas Gainsborough), which Worth would hide for twenty-five years before returning it in 1901 for twenty-five thousand dollars in cash.
Legal Action and Outcome
Worth’s mystique as a criminal mastermind was enhanced by his ability to escape prosecution for two decades, while directing a web of criminal activities. However, on October 5, 1892, while supervising a robbery in Liège, Belgium, he was arrested. On March 20, 1893, he was convicted of robbery and sentenced to seven years of solitary confinement and hard labor in the infamous Prison de Louvain. He served five years before his release and then died two years later, a broken man.
Impact
An organizer and mastermind of crime spanning several continents and the ocean seas, Adam Worth has acquired a certain literary notoriety. Robert Anderson, a Scotland Yard detective, described the diminutive Worth as the “Napoleon of the Criminal World.” Worth’s greatest impact was to serve as a model of evil genius. Arthur Conan Doyle revealed that he modeled in part the criminal genius and foe of Sherlock Holmes, Professor James Moriarty, after Worth. In the Sherlock Holmes 1893 story “The Final Problem,” Doyle describes Moriarty as the “Napoleon of Crime,” at the center of evil in London, like a spider in the middle of its web. It has been speculated that T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939) drew inspiration from the same source in describing the “mystery cat” Macavity, who organizes the criminal cats and “who all the time/ Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!”
Bibliography
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. Edited by Leslie S. Klinger. New York: W. W. Norton, 2004-2005. A three-volume, 2,900-page collection of the Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories, including the stories featuring Professor James Moriarty, with extensive notes explaining the source and background of characters and incidents.
Horan, James D. The Pinkertons: The Detective Dynasty That Made History. New York: Crown, 1967. Devotes a chapter to Worth based on the Pinkerton archives. For three days in 1899, Worth gave a complete account of his life to his former nemesis, Detective William Pinkerton, in the course of negotiations for return of the Duchess of Devonshire.
Macintyre, Ben. The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997. An engrossing, comprehensive modern biography, sympathetic to Worth and emphasizing the strict code of nonviolence he adopted for himself and enforced on his gang members.