S'accabadora was a woman who, called by the family of the terminally ill patient, arranged to kill him, putting an end to his suffering .

S'accabadora was a woman who, called by the family of the terminally ill patient, arranged to kill him, putting an end to his suffering .

A merciful act towards the dying person but also a necessary act for the survival of relatives, especially for the less well-off social classes: in small towns many days away from a doctor, it served to avoid long and atrocious suffering for the patient.

A female accabadora always arrived at the house of the dying man at night and, after having sent out the family members who had called her, she entered the room of death: the door opened and the dying man, from his bed of agony, saw her enter dressed in black, with his face covered, and he understood that his suffering was about to end .

The patient was suppressed with a pillow, or the woman delivered the blow of " su Mazzolu " causing death.

She went away on tiptoe, as if she had completed a mission, and the patient's family expressed deep gratitude to her for the service rendered to their relative by offering her products from the land.

The blow was almost always aimed at the forehead .

The term "accabadora" comes from the Spanish "acabar" which means to end.

“Su Mazzolu” was a sort of stick specially constructed from an olive branch, 40 centimeters long and 20 centimeters wide, with a handle that allowed a safe and precise grip.

In Sardinia s'accabbadora practiced until a few decades ago, especially in the central-northern part of the island. The last known episodes of "accabadura" occurred in Luras in 1929 and in Orgosolo in 1952 . In addition to the documented cases, there are many those entrusted to oral transmission and family memories. Many remember a grandfather or great-grandfather who nevertheless had to deal with the lady dressed in black.

Its existence has always been considered a natural fact, just as there was a midwife who helped to be born, there was a s'accabadora who helped to die. It is even said that she was often the same person and that her task was distinguished by the color of her dress (black if she brought death, white or light if she had to give birth to life).

This figure, an expression of a socio-cultural and historical phenomenon, and the practice of euthanasia in the small rural towns of Sardinia is linked to the relationship that the Sardinians had with death, considered as the conclusion of the natural cycle of life.