Leonarda Cianciulli was born in Montella on November 14, 1893. A child born from rape, Leonarda never felt loved by her mother. As a young girl she tried to commit suicide twice. In 1914, she eloped and married a registry clerk whom her parents did not approve of. Her parents had plans to marry Leonarda to another man, and upon hearing of her marriage, Leonarda claims that her parents cursed them. Leonarda and her husband moved away to Lariano. In 1930, the couple's home was destroyed by an earthquake, seemingly evidence of their cursed life. Afterwards, they moved to Correggio where Leonarda opened a small shop selling herbs, baked goods and soaps, and she gained a reputation as a sweet, generous women and kind mother.
Leonarda was very superstitious; she visited fortune tellers and took their advice to heart. On one such occassion, a fortune teller told Leonarda that, "in your right hand I see prison, in the left a criminal asylum". The fortune telling continued by telling Leonarda that she would live to see all of her children die. This frightened Leonarda, and in order to try to predict and redirect the future, she studied the occult. As she learned more, she was often visited for advice and eventually made money from telling fortunes.
Leonarda had seventeen pregnancies, however due to miscarriages or death at a young age, only four of her children survived. She was seen as a devoted mother, and when her oldest son, Giuseppe, decided to go to war, Leonarda panicked. In her learning of the occult, she found the constant rule of 'one life for another' and she came to the conclusion that human sacrifice would protect her son from dying at war.
Leonarda was very superstitious; she visited fortune tellers and took their advice to heart. On one such occassion, a fortune teller told Leonarda that, "in your right hand I see prison, in the left a criminal asylum". The fortune telling continued by telling Leonarda that she would live to see all of her children die. This frightened Leonarda, and in order to try to predict and redirect the future, she studied the occult. As she learned more, she was often visited for advice and eventually made money from telling fortunes.
Leonarda had seventeen pregnancies, however due to miscarriages or death at a young age, only four of her children survived. She was seen as a devoted mother, and when her oldest son, Giuseppe, decided to go to war, Leonarda panicked. In her learning of the occult, she found the constant rule of 'one life for another' and she came to the conclusion that human sacrifice would protect her son from dying at war.