Eva Schiroky

Eva Schiroky, nicknamed Eva Chirowska (23 September 1840 – 7 May 1919), was a Czech anarchist and cook. She is best known for having been suspected of being a member of the Ortiz gang, an illegalist group named after her eldest son, Léon Ortiz.

Born in Velká Bíteš, Austrian Empire, she moved to France, where she gave birth to Léon and married Philippe Ortiz, a Mexican valet who adopted her first son. While working as a cook, Schiroky remained close to her son as he turned toward illegalism, notably sending him 1,500 francs, which led authorities to suspect her involvement in his gang's activities. Implicated alongside one of her close friends, Caroline Hermann, her home was raided and she was arrested during the repression of early 1894. She was eventually released and the charges were dropped, allowing her to escape the Trial of the Thirty. Following her son's deportation, Schiroky took in her daughter-in-law, Antoinette Cazal. She died in 1919 in Wilmington, Delaware, where her son was in exile.

Her mugshot is currently part of the collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET).

Biography Eva Schiroky was born on 23 September 1840 in Velká Bíteš, in the Austrian Empire. She later moved to and settled in France.

On 18 November 1868, she gave birth to Léon Ortiz in Paris. She married Philippe Ortiz, a Mexican valet, on 25 November 1880; he adopted Léon six years later. In the meantime, in 1881, she had a second son, Philippe, with her husband. During this period, Schiroky worked as a cook.