French bank robbers

François Marcantoni (28 May 1920 in Alzi, Corsica – 17 August 2010 in Paris) was a Corsican gangster and member of French resistance. He died on 17 August 2010, aged 90 in Paris.

Émile "Mimile" Buisson (19 August 1902 – 28 February 1956) was a French gangster, and French public enemy No. 1 for 1950. A member of the French Gang des Tractions Avant, 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, and was executed in 1956 by the guillotine. Borniche's memoirs on the pursuit, Flic Story, were later made into a film of the same name in 1975, with Buisson portrayed by Jean-Louis Trintignant.
Buisson was born in Paray-le-Monial, Saône-et-Loire, and was jailed at the age of 16 for pickpocketing, swindling and possessing an offensive weapon. He was exiled to Shanghai 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' 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 public enemy No. 1 for 1950, Buisson was eventually captured by Roger Borniche and was executed by guillotine in 1956, being buried at Ivry Cemetery.

Jacques Mesrine (French pronunciation: [ʒak mɛʁin, mɛsʁin]; 28 December 1936 – 2 November 1979) was a French criminal responsible for numerous murders, bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France, the US, and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made international headlines during a final period as a fugitive when his exploits included trying to kidnap the judge who had previously sentenced him. An aptitude for disguise earned him the moniker "The Man of a Thousand Faces" and enabled him to remain at large while receiving massive publicity as a wanted man. Mesrine was widely seen as an anti-establishment Robin Hood figure. In keeping with his charismatic image, he was rarely without a glamorous female companion. A two-part film, Mesrine, which came out in 2008, was based on Mesrine's life.

Albert Spaggiari (14 December 1932 – 8 June 1989), nicknamed Bert, was a French criminal chiefly known as the organizer of a break-in into a Société Générale bank in Nice, France, in July 1976.

Jules Joseph Bonnot (14 October 1876 – 28 April 1912) was a French bank robber famous for his involvement in a criminal anarchist organization dubbed "The Bonnot Gang" by the French press. He viewed himself as a professional and avoided bloodshed, preferring to outwit his targets.