The lives of thieves have always captivated the minds of the public, be it through books, movies, or newspaper headlines. They lead dangerous and fascinating lives full of surprises, risks, and uncertainty. We are all familiar with the most famous thieves, such as romanticized couple Bonnie and Clyde, trickster Frank Abagnale, and bank robber John Dillinger. Below, however, we have put together a list of lesser-known thieves with utterly fascinating stories that are worth sharing.

10 Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Remy

Battlefield America: T... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $10.95 Buy New $18.80 (as of 10:15 UTC - Details) Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Remy, also known as Comtesse de la Motte, was a French thief who became famous through the “Affair of the Diamond Necklace.” When her husband was unable to provide the extravagant lifestyle she wished for, she quickly decided to take matters into her own hands. At the time, any citizen dressed appropriately was free to enter Versailles, and Jeanne, of course, took the opportunity. There, she took a man named Retaux de Villette as her lover, and she later met Cardinal Prince Louis de Rohan. She soon found out that the cardinal was trying to receive the queen’s approval, but to no avail. At around the same time, the jeweler Charles Auguste Boehmer was trying to sell an incredible necklace at an incredible price. The sum of money was so huge that only the king could afford it, but Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, had no desire to own such an item.

So Jeanne, with the help of her husband and her lover, concocted a plan. Retaux de Villette forged letters from the queen to the comtesse in which he expressed the queen’s desire to buy the necklace despite the king’s reluctance to spend such an extravagant amount. The letters were sure to mention that the queen hoped that the cardinal would step up and lend her the money. Snakes in Suits: When ... Babiak, Paul Best Price: $2.05 Buy New $11.47 (as of 05:20 UTC - Details)

Soon enough, the letters were shown to the cardinal, and a late night meeting was arranged with a prostitute who resembled the queen. The cardinal was approved by the “queen,” and the jeweler was contacted. Jeanne received the necklace with orders to pass it on to the queen. Of course, the necklace never reached the queen: Jeanne’s husband took the necklace apart and sold the diamonds in London. The whole affair only came to light when the cardinal was arrested. Jeanne was arrested, too, but she escaped from prison disguised as a boy. She made her way to London, where she eventually published her memoirs.

9 Son’ka The Golden Hand

Sofia Blyuvshtein, who is best known as Son’ka the Golden Hand, was a Russian thief from the 19th century who mainly stole jewels. Not much is known about her life except for a few famous cases that seem both improbable and A Government of Wolves... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $1.16 Buy New $2.99 (as of 10:15 UTC - Details) fascinating.

According to one case, Son’ka visited a jewelry store where she picked some jewels for a large sum of money. She then asked the jeweler to deliver the order to her house, where her husband, who was a doctor, would pay for them. The jeweler did as he was asked. Once he arrived at the house, the young lady received him, took the jewels, and told him to wait in her husband’s office until he arrived with the money. But Son’ka’s trickery went deeper than that. She’d visited the doctor earlier and had told him that she was the wife of a man named Von Mel, who had an unhealthy obsession with buying and selling diamonds. She told the doctor that her husband would arrive shortly and paid for his treatment up front. When her “husband” the doctor came to see her “husband” the jeweler, the jeweler requested the money and the doctor had him put in a mental hospital. By the time the charade was sorted out, Son’ka was long gone.

Against the State: An ... Rockwell Jr., Llewelly... Best Price: $5.02 Buy New $5.52 (as of 11:35 UTC - Details) Of course, lying and pretense were not the only tools Sonya employed in her trade. Some of her special methods included long fingernails where she hid precious stones, a dress bag to hide jewels, and a small monkey who swallowed precious gems while she negotiated at the jewelry store.

8 Vincenzo Pipino

Vincenzo Pipino, an Italian thief born in Venice, is a classic modern example of the gentleman thief. Like Robin Hood, he only stole from the rich—in fact, he wouldn’t even steal broken watches or other items that were in need of repair, since doing so would affect the livelihoods of the repairmen.

Swords Into Plowshares... Paul, Ron Best Price: $4.00 Buy New $15.99 (as of 11:36 UTC - Details) A true lover of his city, Pipino always made sure that the art pieces he stole would never leave Venice. He did that by returning them to their rightful owners for a ransom. For a thief, he was surprisingly moral and clean—he never used violence or blackmail, and he tried to make as little of a mess as possible while he was robbing someone. It is said that he would even empty sugar bowls out onto a kitchen towel instead of just dumping the sugar straight onto the table or the floor.

Most importantly, Pipino is the only person to successfully steal from the Doge’s Palace. His method of doing so was surprisingly easy and involved little more than patience. On October 9, 1991, Pipino entered the palace with a group of tourists. He lagged behind the group, and while they were busy admiring art, he slipped into a cell in the palace’s connected prison to wait for nightfall. Since Pipino knew the exact time the guards would make their rounds, he waited for them to pass and then slipped back into the palace, where he simply took the painting Madonna col bambino off the wall. He then left the palace through a side door.

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