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Burned papers and destroyed work

Loyalty and shame. The law it tested: literary executors and copyright.

109 storiesLoyalty and shameLiterary executors and copyright
AI illustration: Letters, diaries and a manuscript burning in a fireplace
Illustration made with AI for celebrity.estate.

What did these cases decide about literary executors and copyright?

An estate inventory that lists each valuable item gives heirs the proof they need to reclaim it if it is stolen and resold years later. Papers given away in life belong to the person who received them, and an estate that sues to get them back has to prove the gift never happened. Partners who do not marry do not receive the spousal estate-tax exemption, and the tax comes out of the same estate.

Stories
109
Years
2950 BCE to 2023
Main subjects
Literature and art, Music and sport, Science and medicine
Main regions
Europe, North America, East Asia
Updated
30 October 2026

Every case in this gallery, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

Franz Kafka: Franz Kafka, 19231924 · Kierling, Austria; Tel AvivKafka told Max Brod to burn his papers; Brod saved them, and the fight over them ended in a Swiss bank vault in 2019Franz Kafka died of tuberculosis of the larynx in a sanatorium at Kierling, Austria, aged 40. He had already burned much of his work.historynewsnetwork.org and 3 moreJohn Lennon 1969 (cropped): Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : John Lennon en echtgenote Yoko Ono vertrekken van Schiphol naa1980 · The Dakota, New York City, New York, USAJohn Lennon's diaries and watch were stolen from Yoko Ono's home and taken to Berlin; Switzerland's top court ruled the watch hers in 2024Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon outside the Dakota, his New York apartment building, on 8 December 1980. Lennon was 40.bger.ch and 10 moreHarry Belafonte: Harry Belafonte at the Vanity Fair party celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival.2023 · New York, New YorkHarry Belafonte tried to sell Martin Luther King Jr.'s papers, King's children said they were wrongfully taken, and Belafonte sued them and kept the papersHarry Belafonte was a close supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. and joined his strategy meetings in the 1960s.upr.org and 3 morePhilip Seymour Hoffman: Philip Seymour Hoffman at the Paris premiere of "The Ides of March"2014 · New York CityPhilip Seymour Hoffman left an estimated $35 million to Mimi O'Donnell, whom he never married, and refused a trust for his three childrenPhilip Seymour Hoffman died of a drug overdose on 2 February 2014.foxnews.com and 3 moreKurt Cobain: Nirvana around 1992 (cropped)1994 · Seattle, WashingtonKurt Cobain left no will; his widow sued his bandmates for Nirvana, sold a quarter of his songs, and his Unplugged guitar went to his daughter's ex-husbandKurt Cobain shot himself above the garage of his $1.1 million Lake Washington home. Papers filed in King County Superior Court said he apparently left no will.The Seattle Times and 7 moreAyn Rand: Photo portrait of Russian-American writer Ayn Rand used for the first-edition back cover of her novel The Fountainhead (1943).1982 · New YorkAyn Rand's heir kept the first and last pages of The Fountainhead manuscript; the Library of Congress took them from his home in January 2002Ayn Rand died in 1982 and left her papers and estate to Leonard Peikoff, who as executor controls the copyrights to all her works except Anthem.peikoff.com and 2 moreAlbert Einstein Head: Albert Einstein1955 · Princeton, New Jersey, USAAlbert Einstein's publicity rights ended in 2005, a judge ruled, defeating Hebrew University's suit over a GM ad with his face on a muscled bodyAlbert Einstein died in Princeton, New Jersey, on 18 April 1955, domiciled in that state.cacd.uscourts.gov and 5 moreJack Kerouac: Kerouac by Palumbo 2 (cropped)1969 · St. Petersburg, FloridaA Florida judge ruled that the will giving Jack Kerouac's estate to his widow's family was forged, and the ruling changed nothingKerouac left his estate to his mother, Gabrielle. She died in 1973. A will dated 1973 in her name left everything to Stella Sampas Kerouac, Jack's third wife.nbcmiami.com and 3 morePatsy Cline: Patsy Cline promotional photograph, circa 1957.1963 · near Camden, Tennessee (plane crash)Patsy Cline's brother sued her sister over Patsy's stage clothes, and a judge ordered the dresses sold to pay the lawyerPatsy Cline was 30 when her plane went down in Tennessee. Her mother, Hilda Hensley, sewed many of her stage costumes and kept her clothing and papers in Winchester, Virginia. Hilda Hensley died around late 2000.oocities.org and 2 moreMark Twain: Mark Twain by AF Bradley (cropped 2)1910 · Redding, ConnecticutMark Twain fired his secretary Isabel Lyon in 1909 and wrote 429 pages accusing her and her husband, a text kept private until 2015Isabel Lyon became Twain's secretary in 1902. After his wife Olivia died in 1904 she moved into his house, paid allowances to his daughters Clara and Jean, and helped supervise the building of Stormfield.lynncullen.com and 1 moreHarper Lee: Photo portrait of Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird dust jacket, 1960)2016 · Monroeville, AlabamaHarper Lee's second novel was published when she was frail and her lawyer controlled her affairs; her will stayed sealed until The New York Times suedLee published one novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, in 1960. In 2015 HarperCollins published Go Set a Watchman, an earlier manuscript.thebookseller.com and 3 moreFrida Kahlo: Frida Kahlo (gelatin silver print, 15.2 by 10.8 cm)2022 · Miami, Florida, USA; Mexico City, MexicoA Miami businessman burned a drawing he said was Frida Kahlo's to sell 10,000 NFTs, and Mexico investigated because her work is a national monumentMartín Mobarak, a Mexican businessman living in Miami, said he owned Fantasmones Siniestros, a 9-by-6-inch ink and watercolour drawing Frida Kahlo is said to have made in her diary in 1944. He valued it at $10 million.Smithsonian Magazine and 2 moreDylan Thomas: Dylan Thomas icon Blashford 19371953 · St Vincent's Hospital, New YorkDylan Thomas lost the Under Milk Wood manuscript in a Soho pub, his producer found it and sold it for £2,000, and his widow Caitlin lost her suit to get it backDylan Thomas lost his Under Milk Wood manuscript in a Cardiff hotel in March 1953 and got it back. In October 1953 he lost the finished original in a Soho pub.archives.library.wales and 4 moreC. S. Lewis: CS Lewis photo on dust jacket1963 · Oxford, EnglandA Lewis scholar says he saved C. S. Lewis's papers from a bonfire; a critic charged in 1988 that the story and an unfinished novel were a hoaxAfter C. S. Lewis died in 1963, his brother Warren Lewis held his papers.christianitytoday.com and 2 moreSylvia Plath1963 · LondonSylvia Plath died separated but not divorced, so Ted Hughes inherited her work and destroyed her last journalPlath and Hughes separated in October 1962. She died in London in February 1963, aged 30. The inquest found suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.nybooks.com and 3 moreZora Neale Hurston: Hurston-Zora-Neale-LOC1960 · Fort Pierce, FloridaA yardman burned Zora Neale Hurston's belongings after she died in a county welfare home in 1960, and a deputy sheriff put out the fireZora Neale Hurston died of hypertensive heart disease on 28 January 1960, aged 69, at the St. Lucie County Welfare Home in Fort Pierce, where she had gone after a stroke and years of poverty.archive.news.ufl.edu and 3 moreNikola Tesla: A photograph image of Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) at age 34.1943 · Hotel New Yorker, New York City, USAThe US government sealed Nikola Tesla's papers after he died, his nephew took them to Belgrade, and the church and scientists later fought over his ashesNikola Tesla died alone in Room 3327 of the Hotel New Yorker on 7 January 1943, aged 86. The Office of Alien Property took his property, sealed it and moved it to a Manhattan warehouse, though Tesla was a US citizen.Cornell Law School, LII and 4 moreJames Baldwin: James Baldwin 37 Allan Warren (cropped)1987 · Saint-Paul-de-Vence, FranceJames Baldwin's estate sold his papers to the Schomburg Center in 2017, with part of his correspondence reported sealed for 20 yearsJames Baldwin died in 1987 at his house in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. For about 30 years his papers stayed with his estate, which one report said almost never let biographers quote his correspondence.infodocket.com and 3 moreAnne Frank: Anne Frank passport photo, May 1942 (cropped)1945 · Bergen-Belsen; BaselThe Anne Frank Fonds named Otto Frank a co-author of the diary to extend its copyright past 2016Anne Frank died in the Bergen-Belsen camp in 1945. Her father, Otto, the family's only survivor, edited and published her diary. He set up the Anne Frank Fonds in Basel and left it his rights.jta.org and 3 moreDashiell Hammett: Dashiell Hammett 19511961 · New YorkThe US government seized Dashiell Hammett's royalties for back taxes, and after he died Lillian Hellman took control of his copyrightsHammett was jailed in 1951 for refusing to name contributors to a left-wing bail fund. The federal government sued him for back taxes and won a judgment of $140,000. His royalties and all other payments were blocked.London Review of Books and 3 moreAngela Merkel: Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, chairperson of the CDU1956 · Seebüll, GermanyAngela Merkel returned two Emil Nolde paintings to the Berlin museum foundation in April 2019, as a Nationalgalerie show detailed his Nazi loyaltyEmil Nolde was a Nazi Party member and, per his letters, stayed loyal to the regime until the end of the war.smb.museum and 3 moreGeorge Gershwin: George Gershwin, 28 March 19371937 · Los Angeles, California, United StatesGeorge Gershwin died at 38 without a will, and the Gershwin trusts lobbied Congress for 20 more years of copyrightGeorge Gershwin died of a brain tumour at 38. He had no wife, no children and no will. A 1938 report put his net estate at $341,089, all of it to his mother, Rose, with Rhapsody in Blue appraised as the most valuable asset.Library of Congress and 5 moreAlex Haley: Alex Haley1992 · Seattle, WashingtonAlex Haley died owing about $1.5 million, his estate auctioned his Pulitzer for $50,000, and Betty Shabazz sued over the Malcolm X manuscriptHaley died of a heart attack at 70. Reports put his debts at about $1.5 million (Deseret News) or $2 million (Phoenix New Times), with a $950,000 mortgage on his 125-acre farm in Norris, Tennessee.stuff.mit.edu and 3 moreZelda Fitzgerald: Zelda Fitzgerald (1923 Portrait) Retouched1948 · Asheville, North CarolinaZelda Fitzgerald died locked in a fifth-floor room when fire destroyed Highland Hospital in 1948; nine women died and no one was chargedZelda Fitzgerald, 47, was a patient at Highland Hospital, a sanatorium that Duke University's neuropsychiatric department took over in 1939.dncr.nc.gov and 2 moreT. S. Eliot: Thomas Stearns ('T.S.') Eliot with his sister and his cousin, by Lady Ottoline Morrell (died 1938). See source website for additional information.1965 · London, EnglandT. S. Eliot's 1,131 letters to Emily Hale stayed sealed at Princeton for 60 years, and Harvard released his own denial the same dayEmily Hale, Eliot's companion for decades, gave his letters to Princeton under an agreement that they stay closed for 50 years after the later death of either of them.pwb.princeton.edu and 3 moreJohn Kennedy Toole: 1954 Yearbook photo of John Kennedy Toole1969 · Biloxi, MississippiJohn Kennedy Toole's mother got A Confederacy of Dunces published, then fought a bookseller and Toole's relatives over The Neon Bible until 1989Toole died by suicide in 1969, leaving the manuscripts of A Confederacy of Dunces and The Neon Bible with his mother, Thelma.finding-aids.lib.unc.edu and 3 moreFrida Kahlo: Frida Kahlo, by Guillermo Kahlo1954 · Coyoacán, Mexico CityDiego Rivera locked Frida Kahlo's bathroom after she died, and her clothes and papers stayed sealed for 50 yearsFrida Kahlo died at the Casa Azul, her family home in Coyoacán.getty.edu and 3 more770 Eastern Parkway: 770Lubavitch1950 · 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New YorkThe Lubavitcher Rebbe's grandson sold books from the movement's library as his inheritance; a federal court ruled the library was never the Rebbe's to leaveRabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn, sixth leader of Chabad, reached America in March 1940 and lived at 770 Eastern Parkway, bought that year by the movement's corporation, Agudas Chasidei Chabad.Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 3 moreGeorge Bernard Shaw: George Bernard Shaw1950 · Ayot St Lawrence, EnglandGeorge Bernard Shaw's will ordered a new 40-letter alphabet; the High Court found the trust not charitable in 1957, and the National Gallery of Ireland received a third of his royalties until 2020Shaw's will, dated June 1950, left the residue of an estate reported at about 300,000 pounds first to a trust run by the Public Trustee.oxbridgenotes.co.uk and 3 moreEzra Pound: Ezra Pound by Alvin Langdon Coburn, 1913, collotype photograph, from the National Portrait Gallery, which explicitly releases this image under the CC0 license. It was p1972 · Venice, ItalyEzra Pound spent more than 12 years at St. Elizabeths; his wife held legal control, and after he died the Pound archive was sold to Yale and both claimants were paidEzra Pound was arraigned for treason on 27 November 1945 and moved to St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington on 21 December.openlettersmonthlyarchive.com and 2 moreEdgar Allan Poe: Edgar Allan Poe, circa 1849, restored, squared off1849 · Baltimore, MarylandEdgar Allan Poe's self-appointed literary executor was his enemy, who wrote his obituary under a false name and rewrote his lettersPoe and the editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold had feuded for years. Two days after Poe died, Griswold published an obituary under the pen name "Ludwig" in the New York Tribune. It attacked Poe's character.bpl.org and 3 moreScott Joplin: Scott Joplin in 19121917 · Manhattan State Hospital, Ward's Island, New York, UnitScott Joplin died in a state hospital without a will, his papers were lost in a trustee's estate, and his widow's trust won $177,980 in 1977Scott Joplin sold Maple Leaf Rag in 1899 for $50 and a royalty of one cent a copy. He spent his money trying to stage his opera Treemonisha, which failed at a 1915 reading.academic.oup.com and 3 moreErich Maria Remarque: Davos, Erich Maria Remarque1990 · SwitzerlandPaulette Goddard inherited Erich Maria Remarque's money, properties and art in 1970 and left New York University more than $20 million in 1990Erich Maria Remarque married Paulette Goddard in 1958 and died in 1970. She inherited much of his money, several properties across Europe and his art collection, and lived at his villa at Ronco sopra Ascona.findingaids.library.nyu.edu and 2 moreJames Joyce: Revolutionary Joyce Better Contrast1941 · ZurichJames Joyce's grandson destroyed his aunt Lucia's letters and threatened scholars until the copyrights ran out in 2012Stephen James Joyce, born in Paris in 1932, was James Joyce's grandson and his only living descendant. He and Seán Sweeney were the trustees of the Joyce estate.historynewsnetwork.org and 4 moreBéla Bartók: Bartók Béla 19271945 · New York CityBéla Bartók's New York estate was in court for 22 years, and the trustee claimed his manuscriptsBéla Bartók died in New York in 1945. His will named Victor Bator and Julius Baron as executors. Baron was allowed to resign on 15 March 1956, leaving Bator as sole trustee. Bator ran the estate until his death in 1967.CourtListener and 4 moreBram Stoker: Bram Stoker 19061912 · LondonBram Stoker's widow sued over Nosferatu, and a German court ordered every copy of the film destroyedStoker died with modest means, and Dracula's royalties were his widow Florence's main income. In 1922 the German company Prana Film released Nosferatu, an unauthorised adaptation of Dracula. Florence sued.Encyclopaedia Britannica and 3 morePatricia Highsmith: Patricia-Highsmith-19621995 · Locarno, SwitzerlandPatricia Highsmith left her whole estate, over $3 million, to the Yaddo artists' colony, and her papers went to the Swiss Literary ArchivesHighsmith died in a hospital in Locarno in 1995 and left her entire estate to Yaddo, the artists' colony in Saratoga Springs, New York.helveticarchives.ch and 3 moreJules Verne: Photograph of Jules Verne by Félix Nadar1905 · Amiens, FranceJules Verne's son rewrote his posthumous novels, and Verne's lost 1863 novel stayed in a locked safe until his great-grandson forced it open in 1989After Verne died in 1905, his son Michel and publisher Hetzel's house brought out the remaining manuscripts as posthumous novels.depauw.edu and 3 moreErnest Hemingway's home in Havana, Cuba LCCN2010638847: Title: Ernest Hemingway's home in Havana, Cuba Physical description: 1 photograph : digital, TIFF file, color. Notes: Heming1961 · San Francisco de Paula, Havana, CubaErnest Hemingway's widow gave his Cuban house to Castro's government in 1961 and shipped his papers and paintings out on a shrimp boatHemingway rented Finca Vigía outside Havana from 1939 and bought it in December 1940 for 12,500 dollars. He wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea there.Smithsonian Magazine and 3 moreGabriel García Márquez: Gabriel Garcia Marquez2014 · Mexico CityGabriel García Márquez said his last novel must be destroyed; his sons published it on his 97th birthdayGarcía Márquez left an unfinished novel in up to five drafts. After his death it was stored with his personal archive at the University of Texas. His sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo García, say he told them: "This book doesn't work.euronews.com and 3 moreBarnett Newman: Newman Barnett1970 · New York CityBarnett Newman's "Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III" was slashed in Amsterdam in 1986; a $400,000 restoration was judged to have destroyed itIn 1986 a visitor slashed Newman's "Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III" at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The museum describes the man as distressed by abstract art.dutchnews.nl and 3 morePhilip Larkin: Ocean, Humphrey; Philip Larkin; National Portrait Gallery, London, copyright owned by Humphrey Ocean, permission given to publish on Wikipedia1985 · Hull, EnglandPhilip Larkin's secretary shredded his 30 volumes of diaries after he died, on an instruction his will did not spell outLarkin left the bulk of his estate to Monica Jones, his partner of decades. She became his literary executor. His will was ambiguous about his private papers. Jones relayed his instruction that the diaries be destroyed.prod.archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk and 3 moreEmily Dickinson: Black-white photograph of Emily Dickinson21886 · Amherst, MassachusettsEmily Dickinson's poems were edited by her brother's mistress, and her sister sued the mistress for a strip of landAfter Emily Dickinson died, her sister Lavinia found hundreds of unpublished poems. Mabel Loomis Todd, the lover of Emily's brother Austin, edited the first published volumes in the 1890s.archive.emilydickinson.org and 3 moreWalt Whitman: Walt Whitman - George Collins Cox1892 · Camden, New JerseyWalt Whitman's brain was removed at his autopsy for a brain club and was destroyed within a yearWhitman died at his home on Mickle Street. On 27 March 1892 Dr. Henry Ware Cattell, prosector of the American Anthropometric Society, performed the autopsy under Prof.pubs.lib.uiowa.edu and 2 moreAI illustration: Manuscripts and diaries burning in a fireplace in a Trieste house, 18901890 · Trieste, Austria-HungaryRichard Burton's widow burned his manuscript of The Scented Garden and his diaries after he diedSir Richard Burton translated the Arabian Nights. When he died he was revising a translation of the Arabic erotic text The Perfumed Garden, retitled The Scented Garden, with extensive notes.grolierclub.omeka.net and 2 moreJane Austen: Portrait of Jane Austen in watercolor and pencil1817 · Winchester, EnglandKelly Clarkson bought Jane Austen's ring for 152,450 pounds in 2012, and Britain barred export until a museum raised the same sumJane Austen's gold and turquoise ring is one of only three known pieces of her jewellery. Papers show it passed to her sister Cassandra, then to Eleanor Austen, wife of Henry Thomas Austen, and stayed in the family.museumsassociation.org and 3 moreVincent van Gogh: Self-Portrait title QS:P1476,en:"Self-Portrait "label QS:Len,"Self-Portrait "label QS:Les,"Autorretrato"label QS:Lnds,"S1890 · Auvers-sur-Oise, FranceVan Gogh's brother died six months after him, and Theo's widow built the reputation from the paintings she inheritedVincent van Gogh sold very little in his lifetime. His brother Theo, an art dealer who had supported him, died in January 1891.vangoghmuseum.nl and 3 moreHerman Melville: Herman Melville by Joseph O Eaton1891 · New York CityHerman Melville's widow tied his unpublished papers in bundles in 1891, and Billy Budd stayed in a breadbox until a biographer opened it in 1919Herman Melville died in September 1891, aged 72, after decades of obscurity.harvardfilmarchive.org and 3 moreYukio Mishima: Yukio Mishima, 1955 (cropped 850×950 px)1970 · Ichigaya, TokyoMishima's widow boycotted Paul Schrader's 1985 film, and his children won a copyright suit over his lettersYukio Mishima died by seppuku on 25 November 1970, aged 45, after a failed attempt to rouse the Self-Defense Forces at a Tokyo base. He left his wife Yoko, whom he married on 1 June 1958, and two children, Noriko and Iichiro.avclub.com and 2 moreLewis Carroll: LewisCarrollSelfPhoto1898 · Guildford, EnglandLewis Carroll's diaries lost four volumes and ten pages before reaching the British Library in 1969; his Alice manuscript sold at Sotheby's in 1928Charles Dodgson, who wrote as Lewis Carroll, died in 1898 and left diaries held by his family. By 1932 four volumes had disappeared. One account blames a move and another blames storage in a cellar.contrariwise.info and 3 moreH. P. Lovecraft: Portrait of horror fiction writer, Howard P. Lovecraft.1937 · Providence, Rhode IslandH. P. Lovecraft's literary executor died in 1951, his papers went to August Derleth, and no court has settled who owns his copyrightsH. P. Lovecraft died of cancer in Providence in 1937, aged 46, known mostly to readers of pulp magazines. He had named a young admirer, Robert H. Barlow, his literary executor. Barlow placed Lovecraft papers at Brown University.findingaids.library.tamu.edu and 3 moreRobert Walser: Robert Walser, in Zürich, around 1900.1956 · Herisau, SwitzerlandRobert Walser was found dead in the snow in 1956 after 23 years in an asylum, and his guardian Carl Seelig controlled the microscripts until 1962Robert Walser entered the Herisau asylum in 1933 under a diagnosis of schizophrenia. On 25 December 1956 children found his body in the snow on one of his long walks. He was 78.vqronline.org and 4 moreFriedrich Nietzsche: Nietzsche187a1900 · Weimar, GermanyNietzsche's sister took control of his papers while he was insane, published The Will to Power, and Hitler came to her funeralFriedrich Nietzsche collapsed mentally in 1889. His sister Elisabeth had left for Paraguay in 1887, where she and her husband Bernhard Förster founded a German colony, Nueva Germania; Förster killed himself there on 3 June 1889.Wikipedia (English)Ambrose Bierce: Abierce1914 · Mexico, location unconfirmedAmbrose Bierce vanished in Mexico in 1913 or 1914, and a priest put a plaque in a Sierra Mojada cemetery in 2004 for the grave a witness describedAmbrose Bierce, 71, left Washington in October 1913 to tour his old Civil War battlefields and crossed into Mexico by December. His last known letter is dated 26 December 1913 from Chihuahua.donswaim.com and 1 moreMargaret Fuller: Daguerreotype of Margaret Fuller (1810-1850). Further information from Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life (Volume 1) by Charles Capper: The original daguer1850 · off Fire Island, New YorkMargaret Fuller, her husband and their son drowned 100 yards from Fire Island in 1850, and her manuscript history of the Roman Republic was lostMargaret Fuller reported from Rome on the 1849 Roman Republic and wrote a history of it.Wikipedia (English)Westminster Abbey, where the story took place1904 · LondonStanley was refused burial beside Livingstone in Westminster Abbey, and his papers were sold to Belgium in four partsHenry Morton Stanley was baptised John Rowlands at Denbigh in 1841, the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Parry, then 18.africamuseum.be and 6 moreRoger Casement-Grave in Glasnevin: Roger Casement-Grave in Glasnevin1916 · Pentonville Prison, London; Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, IrelBritain hanged Roger Casement in 1916 and buried him in quicklime, returned him to Dublin in 1965 on condition he stay out of the North, and in October 2026 his supporters applied to move himRoger Casement was put ashore at Banna Strand, County Kerry, on 21 April 1916 and arrested with malaria at an old fort nearby. His trial for high treason opened on 26 June 1916 at the Royal Courts of Justice.irishnews.com and 2 moreRudolf Diesel: Rudolf Diesel21913 · aboard the steamer Dresden between Antwerp, Belgium, and HarRudolf Diesel vanished from a Channel steamer in 1913 and left his wife a bag of money with papers showing his debtsRudolf Diesel developed his engine at the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg with backing from Krupp. After its success around 1897 he became famous and rich.Smithsonian Magazine and 3 moreLillian Leitzel: Lillian Leitzel (1931)1931 · Copenhagen, Denmark; Long Beach, CaliforniaLillian Leitzel fell to her death in 1931, and her widower Alfredo Codona shot his third wife and himself in 1937 during a property splitLillian Leitzel, a Ringling Bros. aerialist, fell on 13 February 1931 at the Valencia Music Hall in Copenhagen when the swivel holding her rope broke. She died two days later, aged 39.circusringoffame.org and 3 moreNikolai Gogol: NV Gogol1852 · Moscow, RussiaGogol burned the second part of Dead Souls nine days before he died; in 1931 his coffin was opened, and legend says the skull was missingOn the night of 24 February 1852 Nikolai Gogol burned manuscripts containing most of the second part of Dead Souls. He later called it a mistake and said the Devil had played a joke on him.weekend.rambler.ru and 3 moreVasily Grossman: Grossman V.S1964 · Moscow, RussiaThe KGB seized Vasily Grossman's novel and every draft in 1961, and the FSB gave the papers to a state archive in 2013, not to his heirsVasily Grossman was a Soviet war correspondent and novelist. On 14 February 1961 the KGB seized the manuscripts, first drafts and typed copies of his novel Life and Fate, to avoid another Pasternak affair.daily.jstor.org and 2 moreCounty Mayo - Moore Hall - 20181027163650: County Mayo, Moore Hall.1933 · Moore Hall, Carnacon, County Mayo, IrelandAnti-Treaty IRA men burned Moore Hall in 1923 because a Moore brother backed the Treaty, and the novelist's ashes lie on Castle Island in Lough CarraGeorge Moore made a fortune in the wine and brandy trade at Alicante and came home to Mayo in the 1790s with £200,000. He built Moore Hall from 1792 to 1795.con-telegraph.ie and 3 morePaul Gauguin: Paul Gauguin Wearing a Breton Jacket1903 · Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesas IslandsPaul Gauguin died in the Marquesas with no will, the colony auctioned his paintings for a few francs, and his widow Mette got about 4,000 francsPaul Gauguin died at his house, the Maison du Jouir, in Atuona on 8 May 1903, aged 54.giquelloetassocies.fr and 3 moreEmiliano Zapata: Emiliano Zapata41919 · Anenecuilco, Morelos, MexicoAnenecuilco gave Zapata its colonial land titles in 1909; the man he left them to was killed in a land fight with Zapata's sonIn 1909 the elders of Anenecuilco elected Emiliano Zapata, then 30, president of the village council. The village kept colonial-era papers on its land to use against the sugar haciendas.inehrm.gob.mx and 2 moreJames Cook: Captain James Cook, 1728-79 title QS:P1476,en:"Captain James Cook, 1728-79 "label QS:Len,"Captain James Cook, 1728-79 "1779 · Kealakekua Bay, HawaiiCaptain Cook's body was returned in pieces, and his widow outlived all six children and destroyed his letters before she died in 1835James Cook married Elizabeth Batts on 21 December 1762. In 17 years of marriage they lived together about four years. Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay on 14 February 1779.register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk and 6 moreNina Kandinsky: Portrait de Nina Kandinsky, Hugo Erfurth, 19241980 · Gstaad, SwitzerlandNina Kandinsky was strangled at her Gstaad chalet in 1980, about $2 million of her jewellery was stolen, and no one has been chargedWassily Kandinsky died in 1944. His widow Nina sold works to major museums and consigned a large group to the dealer Karl Nierendorf. In January 1980 she gave the Centre Pompidou all his works then in her possession.scene4.com and 1 moreMarc Chagall: Shagal Choumoff1985 · Saint-Paul-de-Vence, FranceChagall's heirs paid his death duties with 46 paintings and 406 drawings, and his granddaughters' committee seized a £100,000 fake to destroy itMarc Chagall died on 28 March 1985, aged 97. His heirs were his widow Valentina "Vava" Brodsky, his daughter Ida by his first wife Bella, and his son David McNeil by Virginia Haggard.centrepompidou.fr and 5 moreVladimir Nabokov: Vladimir Nabokov 19731977 · Montreux, SwitzerlandNabokov told his wife to burn his last novel; it sat in a Swiss bank vault for 32 years before their son published itWhen Vladimir Nabokov died he was writing The Original of Laura, a novel drafted in pencil on 138 index cards. He asked that the manuscript be destroyed, and told his wife, Véra, to burn it. She did not.mg.co.za and 2 morePortrait of Isaac Newton (1642-1727)label QS:Lde,"Porträt des Isaac Newton (1642-1727)"label QS:Len,"Portrait of Isaac N: Portrait of Isaac Newton (1642-1727)label QS:Lde,"Porträt 1727 · London, EnglandIsaac Newton died without a will, and his heirs held his alchemy and theology papers for 209 years before selling them for £9,000Isaac Newton died on 31 March 1727, aged 84. He left no will and no instructions for his manuscripts, though he burned some papers in his last weeks. His estate was worth about £30,000, mostly stock and annuities.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk and 2 moreAntonio Vivaldi: Vivaldi1741 · ViennaAntonio Vivaldi was buried in Vienna for 19 florins 45 kreuzer, and his manuscripts were sold off, then found at a school in 1926Antonio Vivaldi died in Vienna in July 1741 in poor circumstances, in a house owned by a saddlemaker's widow. The funeral at St.finestresullarte.info and 2 moreRobert Burns: Robert Burns, 1759 - 1796. Poet title QS:P1476,en:"Robert Burns, 1759 - 1796. Poet "label QS:Len,"Robert Burns, 1759 - 11796 · Dumfries, ScotlandRobert Burns's widow died in 1834, and local men opened his tomb at night to cast his skull for a phrenologistBurns was buried in St. Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries, in 1796. In 1815 his body was moved to a mausoleum in the same churchyard.Project Gutenberg and 3 moreMiguel de Cervantes: Portrait of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra commonly said to be that which, according to the prologue to Cervantes' "Exemplary Novels", was painted by Juan de Jáu1616 · Madrid, SpainSpain announced in March 2015 that it had found Cervantes among bones of 15 to 17 people in a Madrid convent, with no DNA to confirm itMiguel de Cervantes died in Madrid on 22 April 1616 and, as his will directed, was buried in the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians, the order that had paid his ransom from captivity in 1580.Internet Archive and 3 moreMarcel Proust: Otto Wegener Proust vers 1895 bis1922 · Paris, FranceProust's sister-in-law burned his papers after her husband died in 1935, and a perfume heir bought his furniture for 1,500 francsMarcel Proust died in Paris in 1922. His younger brother Robert was his literary executor and the only person who knew how Time Regained was meant to end.bnf.fr and 3 moreGustav Mahler: Photo of Gustav Mahler by Moritz Nähr 011911 · ViennaAlma Mahler held Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony for decades and first demanded a veto over Deryck Cooke's completionGustav Mahler died in May 1911 with the Tenth Symphony in draft. No one tried to complete it at once. A mistaken report led Richard Specht to suggest Mahler wanted the manuscript burned.mahlerfoundation.org and 2 moreAI illustration: The palace of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia at Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain2008 · Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, SpainThe Red Duchess of Medina Sidonia married her secretary on the day she died, and her children sued over the palace foundationLuisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia, was jailed in Alcalá de Henares in the 1960s for anti-Franco activity. In 1990 she created the Fundación Casa Medina Sidonia and gave it most of her estate.Boletín Oficial del Estado and 5 moreLuis Barragán House and Studio Street view: Luis Barragán House and Studio Street view1988 · Mexico City, MexicoLuis Barragán's archive was sold in 1995 and kept closed in Switzerland, and an artist made a diamond from his ashes to trade for itBarragán won the Pritzker Prize in 1980 and died in Mexico City on 22 November 1988. His house and studio became a museum co-owned by the State of Jalisco and a private foundation, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.barragan-foundation.org and 4 moreHôtel du Grand Orient [de France], rue Cadet [9e arrondissement] : [photographie de presse] / [Agence Rol]: Sujet : Hôtels particuliers -- Paris (France) Paris (France) -- Arrondis1940 · Paris, France; Berlin, Germany; Česká Lípa, Czech Republic; German units emptied the French Masonic headquarters in June 1940, the Red Army took the archives to Moscow, and France got them back in 2001On 13 June 1940 German special units raided the Paris headquarters of the Grand Orient de France and the Grande Loge de France and shipped tons of archives and rare books to Berlin.gadlu.info and 3 moreTemplo masónico histórico, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, España, 2012-12-15, DD 01: Historic masonic temple, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain1936 · Calle San Lucas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, SpaFranco's forces seized the Masonic temple of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on 19 July 1936, used it for interrogations, and Spain moved to declare it a memorial in 2025The Añaza lodge was founded in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on 8 August 1895. Between 1899 and 1902 it built a temple on Calle San Lucas; the Spanish state's 2025 notice calls it the first Masonic building made expressly to be a temple.Boletín Oficial del Estado and 2 moreВременный деревянный мавзолей: Временный деревянный Мавзолей Ленина, 19241924 · Red Square, Moscow, RussiaLenin's widow opposed embalming him and gave the party his letter asking it to remove Stalin; the party put the body on display and kept the letter from the congress floorBetween 23 December 1922 and 4 January 1923 Vladimir Lenin, disabled by strokes, dictated letters to the next party congress that became known as his testament.marxists.org and 5 moreIpatjew-Haus2: Das Ipatjew-Haus in Swerdlowsk, in dem die Zarenfamilie erschossen wurde. Abgescannt von einer sowjetischen Postkarte von 1928.1918 · Yekaterinburg, Russia; Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint PeterRussia buried the last tsar's family 80 years after the shooting, the Church has not accepted the bones, and two of the children's remains have been in archive boxes since 2007On the night of 16 to 17 July 1918 Bolshevik agents shot Nicholas II, his wife, their five children and four servants in the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. The bodies were reburied at a second site.meduza.io and 3 moreSamuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers in Egyptian getup: Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, in Egyptian getup, performs a ritual in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Picture from be1900 · 36 Blythe Road, Hammersmith, London, EnglandThe Golden Dawn expelled its founder in 1900, his envoy Aleister Crowley tried to seize the London vault in a mask, and Yeats and the landlord threw him outWilliam Westcott, William Woodman and Samuel MacGregor Mathers founded the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888. Mathers wrote the rituals of its inner order and became its chief. He lived in Paris.holythornpress.com and 2 moreCharles Dickens: Dickens Gurney head1870 · Gad's Hill Place, KentDickens left £1,000 to the actress he hid for 12 years, and burned 20 years of letters in his gardenCharles and Catherine Dickens separated in May 1858 after 22 years of marriage. A story of the time says Catherine opened a jeweller's packet holding a gold bracelet meant for Ellen Ternan, an actress then 18.gresham.ac.uk and 3 moreLord Byron: Portrait of Lord Byron, British poet (1788–1824)label QS:Len,"Portrait of Lord Byron, British poet (1788–1824)"1824 · Missolonghi, GreeceByron's friends tore up and burned his memoirs in his publisher's fireplace four weeks after he diedByron wrote his memoirs and gave the manuscript to his friend the poet Thomas Moore, to be published after his death. Moore sold it to the publisher John Murray II.amdigital.co.uk and 3 moreJohn Keats: John Keats1821 · Rome, Papal StatesKeats's letters to Fanny Brawne were published in 1878 over objections and sold at Sotheby's in 1885 for £543 17sKeats died in Rome aged 25 and was buried on 26 February 1821 in the Protestant Cemetery.library.harvard.edu and 3 moreMarquis de Sade: Portrait of Marquis de Sade (1740-1814)1814 · Charenton asylum, FranceThe manuscript of Sade's 120 Days of Sodom was smuggled into Switzerland in 1982, sold for 7 million euros in 2014, and bought by France for 4.55 million euros in 2021Sade wrote The 120 Days of Sodom in 37 days in his Bastille cell, on a parchment scroll about 39 feet long. He was moved to Charenton on 4 July 1789 and left it behind.thelocal.ch and 3 moreMyra Clark Gaines: Myra Clak Gaines1813 · New Orleans, Louisiana, USAMyra Clark Gaines sued for 51 years over her father's lost will and the New Orleans land sold from his estate, and her heirs collected after she diedDaniel Clark, a New Orleans merchant, was the first congressman from the Territory of Orleans. He had a daughter, Myra, with Zulime Carrière, who was married to another man when their affair began.hnoc.org and 3 moreTrotsky Memorial in Garden - Leon Trotsky Museum - Coyoacan - Mexico City - Mexico (15333660737): Trotsky Memorial in Garden - Leon Trotsky Museum - Coyoacan - Mexico City - Mexico1940 · Coyoacán, Mexico City, MexicoStalin's agents killed Trotsky and members of his family; he sealed his exile papers at Harvard until 1980, and the grandson who survived kept his house as a museumLeon Trotsky lived in exile from 1929 and was granted asylum in Mexico in 1937. Stalin's purge reached his family. His son Sergei Sedov, an engineer, was arrested in 1935 and is believed to have been shot on 29 October 1937.guides.library.harvard.edu and 5 moreVirgil: Virgil mosaic in the Bardo National Museum (Tunis) (12241228546)19 BCE · Brundisium (Brindisi)Virgil asked for the Aeneid to be burned, and Augustus ordered it publishedVirgil met Augustus in Athens in 19 BC, fell ill with a fever near Megara, sailed back to Italy and died at Brundisium. The ancient Life of Virgil by Donatus gives the date and the money.livingpoets.awh.durham.ac.uk and 1 moreChaim Kanievsky: הגר"ח קנייבסקי בשמחת פורים2022 · Bnei Brak, IsraelRabbi Chaim Kanievsky's youngest son agreed to sell his manuscripts for $7 million; his brothers said Torah law split the estate among three sons and none of the five daughtersRabbi Chaim Kanievsky was the de facto head of Israel's Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community. He died in March 2022. Police put his funeral crowd at about 500,000.he.wikisource.org and 3 moreMontecristo-80: isola di Montecristo - Autore: Ambrogio VolpiFiction · 1844 · Château d'If, Marseille, France, and the island of MontIn The Count of Monte Cristo, a cardinal poisoned for his money left his heir only a breviary, and the will hidden in it passed to a prisonerThe Count of Monte Cristo is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, written with Auguste Maquet and serialised in the Journal des Débats from 1844 to 1846.Project Gutenberg and 3 moreStamp of Abu Dhabi - 1964 - Colnect 197383 - Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan: Perforation varieties · Perf 13 x 13½ (Mi 3C, Sn 3a, Sg 3a): See variants · Overprints · "20 Fils1989 · Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesThree Abu Dhabi rulers were killed in family feuds in six years; the survivors swore to their mother never to do it again, and in 1966 one brother removed another without bloodshedIn 1922 Sultan bin Zayed murdered his brother Hamdan, the ruler, and found the treasury almost empty. In 1926 another brother, Saqr, shot Sultan after a family dinner. In 1928 Saqr was hunted down and killed.christopherdavidson.net and 4 moreDunrobin Castle, where the story took place1892 · Dunrobin Castle, SutherlandThe 3rd Duke of Sutherland left his fortune to his second wife, and she went to Holloway prison for contemptGeorge Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland, owned Dunrobin, Trentham and Stafford House. His first wife Anne died on 25 November 1888.UK Parliament, Hansard and 4 moreAlexander III of Russia: Tsar Alexander III c. 18851825 · Taganrog, Russia; crisis in Saint Petersburg, RussiaAlexander I sealed his brother's renunciation of the throne in envelopes, Russia swore allegiance to the wrong heir, and the guards revoltedUnder Paul I's succession law, the heir after Alexander I was his next brother, Grand Duke Constantine, who commanded the army in Poland.ru.wikisource.org and 4 moreJohann Adam Weishaupt: Portrait of Adam Weishaupt (1748-1830)1804 · Munich, Germany; Gotha, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Berlin, Bavaria banned the Illuminati in 1785 and published their seized papers, and a duke's will sent the rest to Sweden to keep them secretAdam Weishaupt founded the Order of the Illuminati at Ingolstadt on 1 May 1776.bitterwinter.org and 4 moreMap of Mexico, marked on the globe1596 · Mexico City, MexicoThe Inquisition burned the heir to Nuevo León's governorship with his mother and three sisters in 1596, and his stolen memoir went back to Mexico in 2017Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva, born to converso parents in Portugal, obtained a royal patent on 31 May 1579 to govern and colonise the New Kingdom of León at his own expense.tshaonline.org and 3 moreJean-Marie Leclair: JMLeclair1764 · Rue Carême-Prenant, Le Marais, ParisJean-Marie Leclair was found stabbed three times at his Paris door in October 1764, and his ex-wife sold his belongings and unpublished musicJean-Marie Leclair, 66, was found dead early on 23 October 1764 in the vestibule of his house on the Rue Carême-Prenant. He had three stab wounds. Wikipedia gives 22 October as the date of death.interlude.hk and 2 morePortrait of Monsieur de Lavoisier and his Wife, chemist Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze: Portrait of Monsieur de Lavoisier and his Wife, chemist Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze1794 · Paris, FranceThe Revolution guillotined Lavoisier and seized his notebooks, and his widow fought until she got back the property and nearly all his papersAntoine Lavoisier was a chemist and a tax farmer. He was jailed from 28 November 1793. On 8 May 1794 he and his father-in-law, Jacques Paulze, were tried, convicted and guillotined.news.cornell.edu and 2 moreArqua panorama: Panorama della zona alta dell'abitato di Arquà Petrarca da Monte Castello1374 · Arquà Petrarca, Padua, ItalyVenice gave Petrarch a house for his library, the library went to his enemies' heirs and then to France, and the skull in his tomb is a woman'sIn 1362 Petrarch offered his books to Venice. The Republic gave him a house on the Riva degli Schiavoni on condition that his works stay in Venice after his death. He left Venice and never sent the books.bnf.fr and 4 moreHuaTuo: Portrait of the physician Hua Tuo from a Qing Dynasty edition of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.208 · Xu (Xuchang), Henan, ChinaCao Cao had his physician Hua Tuo put to death, and Hua Tuo burned his book of methods in prison when the jailer would not take itThe Sanguozhi (Records of the Three Kingdoms), written by Chen Shou in the third century, says Hua Tuo came from Qiao in the state of Pei.zh.wikisource.org and 2 moreNagarakretagama of Indonesian 14th century Majapahit manuscript: Nagarakretagama of Indonesian 14th century Majapahit manuscript1895 · Cakranegara, Lombok, IndonesiaDutch troops took a quarter tonne of gold from the Lombok palace in 1894, and with it the only manuscript of Majapahit's royal chronicleA Balinese dynasty from Karangasem ruled Lombok from the palace at Cakranegara and grew rich on the rents of the island's Sasak people. In 1894 the Netherlands East Indies sent an army.amsterdam.wereldmuseum.nl and 4 moreLi Qingzhao: 李清照塑像1129 · Jiankang (Nanjing) and Hangzhou, ChinaLi Qingzhao lost her late husband's collection to war and thieves, then reported her second husband to the courts and went to jail for itThe poet Li Qingzhao and her husband Zhao Mingcheng built a collection of bronzes, books, paintings and inscriptions. When the Jurchen took the north, they fled south with 15 carts of books.zh.wikisource.org and 3 moreGoeidō - Higashi Honganji: Goeidō - Higashi Honganji1592 · Kyoto, JapanTheir mother produced a letter naming the younger son, Hideyoshi removed the elder as head of the Honganji, and Ieyasu gave the elder land for a rival temple in KyotoThe headship of the Honganji, the main temple of the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist school, passed from father to son. From 1570 Kennyo led the Honganji in a ten-year war against Oda Nobunaga.mlit.go.jp and 3 moreOda Nobunaga: Portrait of Oda Nobunaga (detail). Important Cultural Property.1598 · Fushimi Castle, Kyoto and Osaka Castle, Osaka, JapanHideyoshi took over Nobunaga's house by backing a two-year-old heir, and after he died Tokugawa Ieyasu did the same to his own five-year-old sonOda Nobunaga and his heir Nobutada died in the Honnōji incident in 1582. At a meeting of Oda generals at Kiyosu that summer, Nobunaga's sons Nobukatsu and Nobutaka each claimed the house.kotobank.jp and 5 moreMerneith stele: Detail of one of the two stelae erected in front of the tomb of Queen Mer-Neith at Abydos, Umm el Qaab, tomb Y (Tomb of Queen Mer-Neith). Now in the Egyptian Museum2950 BCE · Umm el-Qa'ab, Abydos, EgyptMerneith ruled for her young son Den, was buried at Abydos in a king's tomb ringed by servants' graves, and later king lists left her outMerneith held the titles King's Mother and Foremost of Women. Her probable husband was King Djet. When Djet died, their son Den was probably too young to rule, and she most likely governed for him.penn.museum and 3 moreFujiwara no Tameie: 藤原為家の肖像画。菊池容斎筆『前賢故実』巻第八（国文学研究資料館所蔵）より。1275 · Kyoto and Kamakura, Japan; Hosokawa estate, Miki, HyōgoA widowed nun rode from Kyoto to Kamakura in 1279 to sue her stepson for her son's estate, and her son's family still owns the archive she fought forFujiwara no Tameie headed the Mikohidari house of court poets, heir to his father Fujiwara no Teika. Around 1252 he took as his late partner a lady-in-waiting known later as the nun Abutsu.kotobank.jp and 5 moreAlamut Castle, Qazvin - 1: Alamut Castle, Qazvin Province1256 · Alamut and Maymun-Diz, Qazvin province, Iran; MongoliaThe last lord of Alamut surrendered to the Mongols in 1256, the Persian historian Juvayni burned the castle's library, and the imam was killed on his way home from the KhanRukn al-Din Khurshah succeeded his murdered father as Nizari imam in 1255. In 1256 Hulegu's army reached his castles. Khurshah began taking down towers to show submission.iis.ac.uk and 3 moreIshinpo Nakarai: Ishinpō, Nakarai edition995 · Kyoto and Tokyo, JapanAn emperor gave Japan's oldest medical book to one physician family, and the author's descendants spent centuries trying to get it backThe court physician Tamba Yasuyori completed the Ishinpō, 30 volumes of medicine, in 984. Most of it quotes Chinese medical books of the Six Dynasties, Sui and Tang periods, many of which are now lost in China.online.bunka.go.jp and 2 moreIrukaansatsuzu: Depiction of the assassination of Soga no Iruka from the Tōnomine Engi Scroll, painted during the Edo period (17-19th century).645 · Asuka Itabuki Palace, Asuka, Nara, JapanPrince Naka no Ōe cut down Soga no Iruka at court in 645, Iruka's father burned the court histories as he died, and a 646 edict abolished private estatesThe main line of the Soga clan dominated the Yamato court for generations.kotobank.jp and 3 more2010-06-21 06-37-33 Israel Herodium JH (52775611124): Herodium - an ancient Jewish fortress and town author: Jan Helebrant location: West Bank, Israel <a href="http://www.juhele4 BCE · Jericho; buried at Herodium, West BankHerod the Great executed three sons, changed his will in his last days, and died five days after the last execution; Augustus split his kingdom among the survivorsJosephus says Herod had his sons Alexander and Aristobulus taken to Sebaste and strangled, and their bodies carried at night to the family tomb at Alexandrium. His son Antipater was later held in chains for plotting against him.perseus.tufts.edu and 6 more