Fascinating Fact Fridays

  This is the story of a German count who came into an astonishing inheritance, or perhaps of Robert V. Miller, a promising lawyer whose career was derailed by the Great War. Or maybe it begins in 1890 Bohemia, with a gifted student fluent in five languages and an eye for opportunity. The truth is, all three were purported to be the same man. Over the years, he would pose as an aristocrat, a diplomat, a scientist, even a government official. He changed names as easily as suits, collecting more than forty aliases along the way. But beneath each disguise lay dazzling intelligence, a mastery of languages, a demeanor as smooth as velveteen, and an unrivaled talent for deception. His name—at least, the one history remembers—is Victor Lustig. He was born in 1890 in Hostinné, Bohemia, a small town tucked into the foothills of what is now the Czech Republic. Little is known about his childhood, though sources say he was bright, well-educated, and fluent in several languages, including Engl...