Jacques Mesrine
French criminal known for escapes and the moniker 'The Man of a Thousand Faces'.
Last updated
By 2 November 1979, following his 20-year career of bank robberies, murders and kidnappings in six countries and three continents, the French state had had quite enough of him.[1] On 28 December 1936, in Clichy, a suburb near Paris, Jacques René Mesrine was born to parents who had risen from working-class origins.[2]
Key facts and history
His parents sent him to the prestigious Catholic Collège de Juilly, but he was expelled for attacking the principal.[2] On 26 June 1969, Mesrine and Schneider fled to the US.[3] During his childhood, he saw German soldiers kill a group of villagers.[2] After being conscripted, he chose to serve as a parachutist and commando in the Algerian War.[2]
General Charles de Gaulle awarded him the Cross for Military Valour, and he departed the army in 1959.[2] For a robbery in 1962, Mesrine received an 18-month prison term, marking his first incarceration.[4] Upon his release, he tried to go straight, taking a job at an architectural firm where he built models and demonstrated strong skill.[4] He lost that job in 1964 when the company reduced its workforce.[4]
On 21 August 1972, together with Jean-Paul Mercier, Mesrine used wire cutters to escape from Saint-Vincent-de-Paul prison, along with five other inmates.[3]
What the cited sources add
The Independent article notes that Mesrine tried to present himself in print as "a kamikaze of crime".[1] The same source states that Mesrine was known as the "man of a thousand faces".[1] A Dazed article reports that Mesrine gave some of his ill-gotten gains to the homeless and was affectionately known as "The Robin Hood of the Paris Streets".[5] An ICI article notes that in Mesrine's car, at his feet, were two grenades and handguns ready for use.[6]
References
- "Jacques Mesrine: Le grand gangster", The Independent, 3 August 2009. facts only, no text reused. independent.co.uk
- Wikipedia, "Jacques Mesrine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Jacques Mesrine: Le grand gangster", The Independent, 3 August 2009; Mesrine, Penguin Books, 1980.(English); Butts, "Line of fire : heroism, tragedy, and Canada's police", Toronto, 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jacques Mesrine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Butts, "Line of fire : heroism, tragedy, and Canada's police", Toronto, 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jacques Mesrine" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mesrine, Penguin Books, 1980.(English); Butts, "Line of fire : heroism, tragedy, and Canada's police", Toronto, 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Dazed, "The man who fought the law", Dazed, 2014-11-01. facts only, no text reused. dazeddigital.com
- "Il y a 40 ans : la mort de Jacques Mesrine, l'ennemi public n°1 - ICI", ICI, le média de la vie locale, 2019-11-01. facts only, no text reused. francebleu.fr
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Jacques Mesrine (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Criminals & Outlaws
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Jacques Mesrine (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced