The character of Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula was partly inspired by a real historical figure: Vlad III, also known as Vlad the Impaler. Vlad III was a 15th-century prince of Wallachia, a region now part of modern-day Romania. He gained a notorious reputation for his ruthless and brutal methods of warfare, most famously impaling his enemies on long wooden stakes. This extreme cruelty earned him his infamous nickname.
Bram Stoker is believed to have drawn upon Vlad III’s grim legacy when crafting his fictional vampire. While there is no evidence that Stoker intended to create a direct historical parallel, he borrowed the name “Dracula,” which was derived from Vlad’s patronymic, “Drăculea,” meaning “son of the dragon” or “son of the devil” in Romanian. The name and aspects of Vlad’s fearsome reputation served as a foundation for the sinister and supernatural qualities Stoker imbued in Count Dracula.
It is important to note, however, that the vampire lore surrounding Count Dracula—such as blood-drinking, immortality, and aversion to sunlight—comes from a mixture of European folklore and Stoker’s creative imagination, rather than from the actual life of Vlad III. Therefore, while a real person inspired Stoker’s Dracula, the character is a fictionalized amalgamation of Vlad’s violent history and vampire legends circulating in Eastern Europe during Stoker’s time.
