Marie-Josephte Corriveau

Marie-Josephte Corriveau
La Corriveau's skeleton terrorising a traveller one stormy night. Illustration by Charles Walter Simpson for the Légendes du Saint-Laurent, 1926.
BornJanuary or February 1733
Saint-Vallier, New France
Died(1763-04-18)April 18, 1763 (aged 30)
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Resting placeSaint-Joseph-de-la-Pointe-De Lévy, Lévis
Other namesLa Corriveau
Known forMurder

Marie-Josephte Corriveau (1733 – (1763-04-18)April 18, 1763), better known as "la Corriveau", is a well-known figure in Québécois folklore. She lived in New France, and was sentenced to death in 1763 by a British court martial for the murder of her second husband. She was hanged, and her body was placed in a gibbet on public display in Lévis. Her story has become a legend in Quebec, and she is the subject of many books and plays.