class General(Exception): pass class Specific1(General): pass class Specific2(General): pass def raiser0(): raise General() def raiser1(): raise Specific1() def raiser2(): raise Specific2() for func in (raiser0, raiser1, raiser2): try: func() except General as X: # X is the raised instance print('caught:', type(X)) # Same as sys.exc_info()[0], X.__class__