Émile Buisson

Émile "Mimile" Buisson (19 August 1902 – 28 February 1956) was a French

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

, and French

public enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

No. 1 for 1950. A member of the French ''

Gang des Tractions Avant The Gang des Tractions Avant was a criminal gang in the Quartier Pigalle, Pigalle quarter of Paris, made up of surviving members of the ''Carlingue'' militia, lapsed police officers and criminals from the French Resistance. Most of them had moved fr ...

'', Buisson was responsible for over thirty murders and a hundred robberies. Buisson was pursued and caught by French detective of the Sûreté Nationale

Roger Borniche Roger Borniche (7 June 1919 – 16 June 2020) was a French author and detective of the Sûreté nationale. Borniche was born in Vineuil-Saint-Firmin, Oise. He started as a singer, but his fledgling musical career was interrupted by the German ...

, and was executed in 1956 by the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

. Borniche's memoirs on the pursuit, ''

Flic Story ''Flic Story'' is a French crime thriller released on October 1, 1975, based on the autobiography of the same name written by French police detective Roger Borniche. Both film and book portray Borniche's nine-year pursuit of French gangster and mu ...

'', were later made into a film of the same name in 1975, with Buisson portrayed by

Jean-Louis Trintignant Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-war era. He starred in many classic fi ...

. Buisson was born in

Paray-le-Monial Paray-le-Monial is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Since 2004 is Paray-le-Monial part of the Charolais-Brionnais Country. It is nicknamed the "city of the Sacred Heart ...

, Saône-et-Loire, and was jailed at the age of 16 for

pickpocket Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection. A th ...

ing, swindling and possessing an offensive weapon. He was exiled to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

with his brother for 5 years. Upon returning to France, Buisson was involved in a number of crimes and murders, becoming a member of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

' criminal organizations, and took part in a hold-up of Troyes in 1937. In 1941 Buisson killed a passenger on board a security van during a robbery, and was captured by police during an identity check. Buisson was regarded as criminally insane and was committed to a psychiatric hospital, only to escape in 1947 with the help of Roger Dekker. Becoming French

No. 1 for 1950, Buisson was eventually captured by

and was executed by

in 1956, being buried at

Ivry Cemetery Ivry Cemetery (''cimetière parisien d'Ivry'') is one of the extramural cemeteries of Paris, located in the neighbouring town of Ivry-sur-Seine in Val-de-Marne, less than 500 metres outside Paris's intramural area. As well as a green space, it is ...

. 1902 births 1956 deaths Executed French people Executed gangsters Executed people from Burgundy French bank robbers People executed by France by decapitation People executed by the French Fourth Republic People from Paray-le-Monial Burials at Ivry Cemetery {{crime-bio-stub