Jure Grando Alilović is a figure in Slavic folklore who appears to be one of the first recorded vampires in history. He was referred to as a strigon, a creature from Slavic legend resembling a cross between a vampire and a warlock.
Biography[]
Jure Grando was a stonemason living in the village of Kringa in Istria, modern-day Croatia. Town records indicate that he had a wife named Ivana and two daughters, Ana and Nicola, and that he died from natural causes in 1656.
However, local legend tells that, for 16 years after his death, Jure would return from his grave every night to terrorize the villagers. He would walk through the village, stopping every so often to knock on doors. Whenever he knocked on a door, somebody in that house would die within the next few days. His widow also reported that at night her husband would appear at her window and rape her. Locals began to refer to him as a štrigon, or vampire.
On one occasion, the village priest, Father Giorgio, encountered Jure during his night-time rampage. Not knowing what else to do, he brandished a crucifix at Jure and shouted at him to stop tormenting the villagers. Jure reacted with fear and turned and ran back towards the graveyard. A group of villagers led by village prefect Miho Radetić chased after him and attempted to kill him by piercing his heart with a hawthorn stick, but the stick simply bounced off his chest and he was able to escape.
The following night, nine villagers, including Father Giorgio and Miho Radetić, went to the churchyard and opened up Jure's grave, finding him lying awake in perfectly preserved condition with a smile on his face. Father Giorgio cursed him in the name of Jesus and performed an exorcism rite before the villagers once again attempted to pierce his heart with a hawthorn stick, but every time they tried the stick bounced off. Eventually, a member of the party by the name of Stipan Milašić took either a saw or an axe and beheaded Jure. As soon as the blade cut his throat, Jure began screaming and writhing and blood flowed from his wound as if he were alive. He writhed until the coffin was filled with blood, at which point he fell still. Peace returned to the region after Jure's decapitation.
