May 20, 1902 - Émile Buisson
A career criminal whose trajectory moved steadily from petty theft toward organized violence, Buisson rose through the Parisian underworld to become France's most wanted man at mid-century. His designation as public enemy No. 1 reflected not a single act but a sustained pattern of crime and murder spanning decades.
From Wikipedia
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 and Alain Delon playing the role of the French detective Roger Borniche.
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.
- Last updated on .