Charles Brunier (31 May 1901 – 26 January 2007) was a French convicted murderer and veteran of both the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and
Second World Wars, who claimed in 2005 to have been the inspiration for ''
Papillon''. Circumstantial evidence, including his butterfly
tattoo and him having been on
Devil's Island
The penal colony of Cayenne ( French: ''Bagne de Cayenne''), commonly known as Devil's Island (''Île du Diable''), was a French penal colony that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953 in the Salvation Islands ...
at the time, supported the claim.
[On a retrouvé l'ancien bagnard qui prétend être Papillon (We found the former convict who claims to be Papillon)]
Le Parisien
''Le Parisien'' (; French for "The Parisian") is a French daily newspaper covering both international and national news, and local news of Paris and its suburbs. It is owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, better known as LVMH.
Histor ...
, 17 December 2005 (in French)
Biography
Born in
Paris, Brunier served in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
in 1918 and was wounded in action, also receiving the ''
Croix de Guerre
The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
'' for saving a
lieutenant's life. In 1923, however, he was accused of murder and armed robbery, and later convicted; his military medals were revoked as a result, and he was not on the official list of French
World War I veterans although he did serve.
Brunier was sent to the
penal colony off the coast of
French Guiana. After the outbreak of
World War II he escaped to
Mexico and joined the
Free French Forces as a fighter pilot, serving in the
Battle of the Caribbean for two years before transferring to the infantry under
Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, and also in Africa (where
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
personally decorated him) and Italy; he was imprisoned again after the war, but released in 1948 in recognition of his services.
[
In 1992, Brunier moved into an Nursing home care, old people's home in the suburbs of the French capital, where he lived until his death in 2007 at the age of 105.Charles Brunier emporte avec lui le secret de Papillon (Charles Brunier takes Papillon secret to the grave with him)]
Le Parisien, 29 January 2007 (in French)
See also
*Henri Charrière (the author of ''Papillon'')
References
1901 births
2007 deaths
Military personnel from Paris
French centenarians
Men centenarians
French military personnel of World War I
French military personnel of World War II
20th-century French criminals
French people convicted of murder
People convicted of murder by France
Devil's Island inmates
French escapees
Escapees from French detention
Criminals from Paris
{{crime-bio-stub