You may know Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes from 7 Khoon Maaf. But her story began long before the film—a few centuries ago, in Bengal.
In 2021, we followed the trail down a narrow lane off GT Road—and stood before the real Susanna’s tomb.
In Vishal Bhardwaj’s 7 Khoon Maaf, Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes (Priyanka Chopra) marries—and kills—all her husbands in a quest for love. Each marriage ends tragically, but the film only scratches the surface of her story.
The plot is dark, tragic, and deeply mysterious, but it is based (?) on a real-life figure whose story stretches back centuries. After years of planning, we had finally reached the tomb of Susanna Anna Maria in a winter afternoon.
The tomb in Chinsurah, bathed in the golden hue of the setting sun, stood as a quiet yet striking testament to that forgotten history. It holds more than just the remains of a woman—it carries the weight of a legacy wrapped in rumor, folklore, and centuries-old whispers.
To understand the story of Susanna, one must first look at the history of the region. The presence of European traders and settlers along the Hooghly River during the 17th and 18th centuries transformed Bengal into a crossroads of cultures.
Chinsurah, now a bustling town in West Bengal, was once the crown jewel of Dutch Bengal. From the early 1600s, the Dutch East India Company, or VOC, developed a thriving settlement here.
Wealthy merchants built homes, lodges, churches, and elaborate gardens—creating a European pocket in Mughal India. The tomb of Susanna is one of the vivid visible remnants of that era.
This is not just a grave. Built in the classic Indo-Dutch style, the structure is whitewashed, octagonal in plan, with graceful Greco-Roman columns and matching entrances on each side. A dome crowns the tomb, and inside, a high chamber holds a single slab.
It is the final resting place of Susanna Anna Maria Yeates, who died on 12 May 1809. Inside the tomb, on a raised platform, lies a black stone slab inscribed in Dutch.
The epitaph reads (translated):
“I lie in the grave without complaint,
In rest until the Judgment Day.
Then shall you, Lord! open my grave
And take me away to eternal joy.”
(Bengal Past & Present, 1909)
So who was this woman? Born on October 5, 1743, in the Dutch town of Tiel, she was christened Susanna Anna Maria Verkerk. At just sixteen, she married Pieter Brueys, a powerful Dutch merchant who later became the Director of the Dutch settlement at Hooghly.
They were married for 24 years until Brueys passed away. Following Brueys’ death, Susanna remarried. This time, to Thomas Yeates, an Englishman. She continued to live in Chinsurah, surrounded by wealth and status.
When she passed away in 1809, she left behind a detailed will that ensured the upkeep of her tomb and those of her two husbands. She also donated 60 bights of land for a Christian cemetery, known locally as Ayesh Bagh.
She was remembered not only for her wealth but for her benevolence. Her will allocated ₹4,000—a significant sum at the time—to create a trust for the maintenance of the tombs and to fund pensions for the poor Christians of Chinsurah.
Yet, despite the clarity of historical records, folklore refuses to leave Susanna’s story untouched. Locals know the tomb not as the resting place of a wealthy widow, but as “Saat Saheber Bibir Kobor”—the grave of the woman who married seven sahibs.
But where did this legend begin? There is no archival evidence suggesting Susanna had more than two husbands. But facts have limits. Memory isn’t built from archives alone. Oral tradition in Bengal often turns history into myth.
Part of the legend may have been seeded by her first husband’s association with an enigmatic building—Concordia, a grand Masonic lodge built between Chinsurah and Chandernagore.
Concordia was a hub of colonial social life. Its halls hosted grand balls, fireworks, and social meetings. Pieter Brueys served as its Grandmaster. His elegant wife likely became a figure of fascination.
Over time, stories of power, secrecy, and mystery began to swirl around Susanna. Rumors have a way of catching fire, and when they revolve around a willful woman, they spread even faster. The intrigue surrounding Susanna Anna Maria was no exception.
C.A. Renny, in a 1928 publication, described her as a wealthy woman of Dutch descent, whose prosperity attracted the attention of many suitors. While many were rejected, Susanna married those she deemed worthy, ultimately tying the knot seven times.
Renny further alluded to the local belief that Susanna’s spirit still haunted her old residence. The sound of laughter and revelry was said to echo through the ruins at night. However, the details surrounding such claims remain unclear, leaving much to the imagination.
This tomb is well-known among Bengali heritage enthusiasts. For more on the tomb and its layered history, check out Subhadip Mukherjee’s detailed essay on Indian Vagabond. The story might’ve remained local lore, until it caught the attention of a man in the hills.
Ruskin Bond, master of the uncanny, saw in Susanna a perfect muse. He imagined her as a woman doomed to love and to kill. His short story, Susanna’s Seven Husbands, was eerie, elegant, and unforgettable.
Then came Bollywood.
Vishal Bhardwaj adapted the story into 7 Khoon Maaf in 2011, casting Priyanka Chopra as Susanna—beautiful, cursed, and lethal. Each husband she marries meets a tragic end. The film was stylized, seductive, soaked in symbolism.
But the real Susanna Anna Maria was not a femme fatale, not a murderess. She was an independent woman who tried to preserve dignity for herself and others in death, as she had done in life. But as with all ghosts, we gave her the story we wanted.
Not the one she lived.
Sources:
Mukherjee, S. (2022, March 30). Tomb of Susanna Anna Maria. Indian Vagabond. indianvagabond.com/2022/01/28/tom
Bengal: Past and Present, Vol-03, Issue no.-January-August : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (2022, March 9). Internet Archive. archive.org/details/dli.ca
Serial No. 22, 1915 : Not available : Free download, borrow, and streaming : Internet Archive. (1915). Internet Archive. archive.org/details/in.ern
Firminger, W. K. (1906). Thacker’s guide to Calcutta.
Renny, Inter-Ocean: A Netherlands East Indian Magazine Devoted to Malaysia and Australasia (Cover Title: Inter-ocean). (1930).
Firminger, W. K. & R. Wor. Grand Master of Bengal. (1906). THE EARLY HISTORY of FREEMASONRY BENGAL AND THE PUNJAB. THACKER, SPINK AND CO. dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/earlyh
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