Ravashol

Francois Claudius Ravachol was born on October 14, 1859 in Saint-Chamonix (department of Loire). Marie Ravachol, his mother, worked as a silk cane. His father, a German, Jean-Adam Königstein (nicknamed L'Allemand ), was from Holland and arrived in Foret a year earlier, in 1858 . He worked in a forge.

Until 1862, Ravachol is with the nurse, until Jean-Adam Königstein recognized the child and his wife, Marie Ravachol. The ravashol was kept in the shelter for up to 6-7 years. His father was rude to his wife and regularly interrogated Ravashol to find an excuse against him. According to Ravashol in his first recollections, his father’s attempts were inconclusive. Soon, his father abandoned his family and returned to the Netherlands, where he died of a disease a year later.

Unable to provide for her four children, Marie Ravachol was forced to pray for help in order to arrange her son on a farm. From eight years old, Ravachol worked hard to feed his family. He also tries himself as a shepherd, miner, tail, boiler-maker until he finds a job in San Chamonas as a dyer apprentice.

At the age of 18, Ravachol begins to read the book “Eternal Jew” by Eugene Sue , which contributes to his distance from religious ideas. Soon after the lecture of Paul Mink (December 3, 1881) in Saint-Chamonix, he finally broke with them. At conferences, Ravachol was assisted by Leoni Ruzad and Char-Edmu Chabert, was interested in the socialist press, in particular the “Proletariat” and “Resident of Paris”. After he enters into a circle of social studies, where he meets the anarchists of Toussin Bord and Regi Faure. At that time, Ravachol is a collectivist, he will become an anarchist later.

When Ravachol and his brother returned home, his family was unemployed and lived in poverty, this forced Francois to steal chickens in order to somehow feed his family. In 1888 , to earn money, he played accordion dancing for 5 francs, and also participated in the smuggling of alcohol and the manufacture of counterfeit money. In 1890, he was arrested for theft and imprisoned in Saint-Etienne.

On the night of May 14-15, 1891, Ravachol desecrated the grave of Countess Rochetel to remove jewelry from the corpse, but there were no jewelry on the woman's body.

On June 18, 1891, in Chamble, he kills and robs Jacques Brunel, a 93-year-old hermit who has been practicing alms since he was 50 years old. Needy, but not without a fortune, the old man accumulated donations while he himself lived in extreme poverty. The crime was discovered at noon on June 21. Police quickly mounted the killer and on June 27 set up a trap for Ravashol. The arrest takes place with Commissioner Teixen and five inspectors, but he manages to escape.

Actively wanted by the police, he sets the date of his suicide on July 13, and then travels to Barcelona to Paul Bernard. At that time, the anarchist was sentenced in absentia in November or December 1890 to 2-3 years in prison for "incitement to murder, robbery and arson." In Barcelona, ​​Ravachol, along with his comrades, took up the production of explosives, after which he moved to Paris in 1891 under the name Leon Leger, where he finds refuge with Charles Shomentin.

Ravachol was one of the instigators of two attacks on judges who participated in the Clichy case. May 1, 1891, on the day of the shooting of Formier, thirty Protestants marched from Levallois-Perret to Clichy, carrying a red banner in front of them. About three hours later, the banner was removed and the demonstrators were dispersed, and Commissioner Labusier ordered the capture of the emblem. As a result of this incident, there was a shootout, some police escaped with minor injuries. As a result, three anarchists were arrested, including Louis Leveya, who shot himself. Arriving at the post, they were brutally tortured for their rebellion. At a trial on August 28 of the same year, Bulo's general lawyer demanded the death penalty for one of the defendants. The verdict is strict: Henri Louis Decamp - 5 years in prison, Carl-August Dardari - 3 years, Louis Leveya - 5-6 years.

They became interested in the anarchist newspaper. It emphasizes the exemplary attitude of Henri-Louis Descamps on the process and violence against his comrades. Sebastian Fort published a pamphlet for the trial of this anarchist criminal case. Police brutality addresses the challenge of the anarchists. Ravachol decides to go with several companions.

On the night of February 14–15, 1892, 360 dynamite blocks, 3 kg of gunpowder, 100 m of wick and 1,400 detonator caps were stolen from the quarry of Suisy-sur-Seine. The investigation immediately showed a direction to the anarchists of Paris. Police began to suspect the robbers of preparing an attack on the Spanish embassy during a May Day demonstration. On February 23, police conducted a mass search of anarchists, including Jean Grave , publisher of Le Révolté magazine, Constant Martin and Emile Pouge. The search was unsuccessful, with the exception of Benoit Cholbry and Bordier, they found several dynamite sabers stolen from Soisy-sur-Seine.

The attack on the boulevard of San Germain

The first target of Ravachol becomes Commissariat Clichy. They plan to undermine it on March 7, 1892 with the help of 50 dynamite checkers. Realizing the complexity of the operation, the group decides to change the target to adviser Edmond Benoit, at that time chairman under Clichy. I found the address of the adviser in the phone book. Charles Simon set off for reconnaissance at Benoit's place of residence. He arrived on the boulevard of Saint-Germain, but did not find the right floor where the adviser lives. The house concierge, Augustine Pino, simply ignored Simon's presence.

On March 11, at about 18:00, the group went by tram to the meeting place with Benoit. Charles Shomentin also went with them, but then he refused to participate, since he had a family to take care of. Near the Bouffes du Nord theater, Ravachol released Charles Simon and Joseph Beale, sending them to Saint-Denis. Having laid a bomb on the ground floor, Ravachol lit a wick. He quickly ran out onto the sidewalk, after which there was an explosion. While in court, Ravachol said: “I thought the house was falling on me!” As a result, one man was injured, but E. Benoit was not injured. At that time, the damage was estimated at 40,000 francs.

Terrorist Attack

On March 13, Ravachol and his comrades are planning another attack , now against Bulo’s lawyer. Ravachol and Simon make a new bomb, this time consisting of 120 dynamite checkers.

On March 15, a bomb was detonated in the Lobau Barracks. In response to this, all police units are mobilized. The press publishes a description of Ravashol, where they indicate his distinguishing feature in the form of a scar on his left hand.

Simon and Shomentin were arrested on March 17, for which an anonymous informant received 800 francs. Ravachol managed to escape from the police and go to Saint-Mandre, where he had a room for shelter. To reduce the risk of being recognized, Ravachol shaves off his beard and decides to continue the attempted assassination attempt on Bulo. At the trial, Shomentin reports that Leon Leger and Ravachol are one and the same person.

Clichy Street Attack

On March 27, at 6:20 a.m., Ravashol takes a bus to Clichy Street and lays a bomb on the second floor of building No. 39. When Ravashol was 50 meters away from the building, the bomb exploded. The explosion injured seven people, and the damage was subsequently estimated at 120,000 francs.

After the explosion, he got on the bus and drove to the Botanical Garden to assess the damage caused. Unexpectedly for Ravashol, the bus changed its route, and as a result, he failed to see the results of his explosion. At about 11 a.m. he went to a restaurant located on Magenta Boulevard to meet the waiter Jules Leroux there. Jules Lero had good knowledge in the field of military service, and Ravachol decided to use it in his interests for planning new goals of the anarchists. In secret, he tells Lero about the explosion that just happened. The waiter was very intrigued, but still decided to leave Ravashol.

March 30, 1892 Ravachol returns to the restaurant. Jules Leroux, alarmed by the events described in the press, reports to the police about the participation of Ravachol in carrying out explosions and attacks. Ravachol was hardly detained by Commissioner Dresh and ten officers.

On April 25, on the eve of the trial of Ravachol, a bomb was blown up in that very restaurant, which killed the owner and client, but Jules Lero was not injured. After the incident, the waiter collects money and leaves France abroad to avoid repression by the anarchists. Returning back, Lero gets a job in the police and gets a job there.

Senate Jury Trial

The trial of Ravachol is not delayed, and on April 26 he and his companions appear in the Sena jury. The trial is held under the strictest control in order to avoid an anarchist attack: in order to take part in the process, a pass must be shown. At 11:00 the accused appeared in court. The prosecutor is the Attorney General of Quesnay de Beauper. The protector is the master of Lagass. The process is calm. Ravachol attempts to rehabilitate his comrades and take full responsibility for the attacks. He explains his actions by the desire to avenge the convicts in connection with the first of May 1891 and the victims of police ill-treatment. The ravashol shows himself to be a man who is kind and fair to the oppressed and ruthless with people who make others suffer. The verdict is unexpected for everyone: Charles Simon and Ravachol were sentenced to hard labor for life, and the other three defendants were acquitted.

Charles Shomentin is cruelly condemned by the anarchists, consider him a traitor, a scammer, a worthless person.

Results: Ravachol was sentenced to life in hard labor; Charles Simon died in prison during the uprising of convicts. In September 1894, François Briens was mortally wounded by Taskmaster Moskart. Before his death, he says: "I perish because of anarchy, anarchists, avenge me." October 21, Moskart and his two colleagues run away. The rebellion is quickly spread, but also quickly stifled. In punishment for this, 11 convicts were killed, of which such anarchists as Jules Leoziere, Eduard Marreux, Benoit Chevene, etc.

October 23 Charles Simon mortally wounded.

Court trial by jury Loire

The second trial takes place on June 21 in Montbrison. Ravachol is accused of committing several crimes before the attacks. He confesses to breaking the burial and killing the hermit, but categorically does not admit guilt for the murder of Varisel and Saint-Etienne. His participation in the double murder in Saint-Etienne is based on the testimony of Charles Shomentin on March 27.

Ravachol defends himself by saying that he killed only to ensure life for himself and his family. But the case of Ravashol was recognized as hopeless.

The execution of Ravachol was appointed on July 11, 1892 in Montbrison, the executioner was Louis Dable. Ravachol abandoned the chaplain. Walking to the guillotine, he sang. His last words were: “Vive la ré ...”, after which the guillotine knife fell. Most likely, he wanted to say: "Long live the revolution."

• Cesare Lombroso used Ravachol to illustrate the type of natural born criminal in his work Anarchists ^[1] . Here is how Lombroso illustrates the type of Ravachol:

A more complete type of natural born criminals we have in the person of Ravachol and Pini. Their crime is expressed not only in person, but in their habit of crime, in love of evil, in the complete absence of moral feelings, in their flaunting of hatred for the family, in their indifference to human life. In the face of Ravashol, we are first of all struck by the atrocity, the ferocity. Ravashol's physiognomy is highly asymmetric, the superciliary arches are overdeveloped, the nose is strongly bent to the right side, the ears are degenerate, placed at different heights, the lower jaw is huge, square and protrudes forward - all these are characteristic signs of a born criminal. Add another lack of pronunciation, common among degenerates. His psychology is in harmony with his appearance. He left elementary school almost illiterate and, due to his inability, had to abandon all craft. Then, mired in vices, he begins to steal and fabricate counterfeit coins, digs up a corpse to use the rings, and kills the old hermit for his savings. They say (however, this is not proved) that at the same time he wants to kill his mother and rape his sister.

There is also a painful heredity: his grandfather and great-grandfather died on the scaffold as robbers and arsonists.

- Cesare Lombroso, The Anarchists

• In 1970, half of Ravachol’s head, preserved at the School of Medicine of Paris, was stolen.

• Holicher A. Ravachol and Parisian Anarchists // Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin. Personality and creativity (to the 190th birthday). - Issue III. - M.: Institute of Economics, RAS, 2005.

• Song of Sebastien Faure , dedicated to Ravachol
• March of the Anarchists