About Victor Lustig
Victor Lustig (German pronunciation: [ˈvɪktoːɐ̯ ˈlʊstɪç]; 4 January 1890 – 11 March 1947) was a con artist from Austria-Hungary, who undertook a criminal career that involved conducting scams across Europe and the United States during the early 20th century. Lustig is widely regarded as one of the most notorious con artists of his time, and is infamous for being "the man who sold the Eiffel Tower twice" and for conducting the "Rumanian Box" scam. == Early life == Lustig was born in Hostinné, at the time more widely known by its German name Arnau (an der Elbe), part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, as the second of three children, to Ludwig and Amelia "Fanny" Lustig. Raised in a German-speaking middle-class Catholic family, Lustig grew up in a four-room house at Tyrsovy street, near the central market square. Lustig's father was a tobacco goods salesman and at one point a mayor of Hostinné, who was reportedly physically abusive towards his children and wife, who was fifteen years his junior. At age eight, Lustig was forced to sign a written oath to abstain from alcohol and always attend church. Lustig also had to attend violin lessons, which he hated, and during an argument over this, his father beat Lustig over the head with the instrument. His parents divorced around 1898, although they still lived together during the 1900 census. As a child, Lustig frequently travelled across Europe with his father on business trips to Prague and Zurich, recalling that seeing Paris for the first time at age seven, the inner city appeared "exquisite" while the outer areas were a "sad, soiled place that slitered around in a sea of immorality". On his first day of infant school, Lustig was immediately expelled for obscenity, after telling a female teacher "Leck mich am Arsch" ("Kiss my ass").
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.