30 Facts About Jacques Mesrine

Jacques Mesrine was widely seen as an anti-establishment Robin Hood figure.

Jacques Rene Mesrine was born in Clichy, near Paris on 28 December 1936 to a couple of blue-collar origin who had moved up in social class.

Jacques Mesrine's parents had great aspirations for their son and sent him to the prestigious Catholic College de Juilly where his friends included the likes of musician and composer Jean-Jacques Debout.

Jacques Mesrine was an extremely unruly pupil and he was expelled from Juilly for attacking the principal.

Jacques Mesrine's father was later to claim that the time in Algeria had brought about a noticeable deterioration in Mesrine's behaviour.

In 1961, Jacques Mesrine became involved with the Organisation armee secrete.

Jacques Mesrine married Maria de la Soledad; they had three children but later separated in 1965.

In 1962, Jacques Mesrine was sentenced to 18 months in prison for robbery.

Jacques Mesrine's family bought him the tenancy of a country restaurant, a role in which he was quite successful, but this arrangement ended after the owner paid a visit one evening to find Mesrine carousing with acquaintances from his past.

In December 1965, Jacques Mesrine was arrested in the villa of the military governor in Palma de Mallorca.

Jacques Mesrine was sentenced to six months in jail and later claimed that Spanish authorities believed he was working for French intelligence.

In 1966, Jacques Mesrine opened a restaurant in the Canary Islands.

Jacques Mesrine was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the bungled kidnapping; he escaped a few weeks later, but was rearrested the next day.

Mercier, a wanted murderer, and Jacques Mesrine then robbed a series of banks in Montreal, sometimes two in the same day.

Jacques Mesrine continued robbing banks in Montreal, and even covertly gained access into the US again for a brief stay at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, before moving to Caracas, Venezuela.

On 5 March 1973, during an argument with a cashier in a coffee bar, Jacques Mesrine brandished a revolver and seriously injured a police officer who tried to intervene.

Jacques Mesrine was returned to La Sante where he covertly wrote and smuggled out an autobiography, titled L'Instinct de Mort, in which he claimed to have committed upwards of forty murders, a number thought by some to be a considerable exaggeration.

The appearance of Jacques Mesrine's book resulted in France passing a "Son of Sam law", designed to stop criminals profiting from the publication of their crimes.

On 8 May 1978, he produced a gun, stole keys and, with Francois Besse, and another man, Jacques Mesrine got out of a cellblock and into a fenced-off yard walkway.

Around 50 shots were exchanged and Jacques Mesrine was wounded, but the duo made a getaway.

The police agencies hunting Jacques Mesrine were pressured for results from the highest echelons of government.

The usual informants were of little use as Jacques Mesrine generally avoided contact with the criminal underworld.

Jacques Mesrine travelled to Sicily, Algeria, London, and Brussels, and back to Paris in November 1978, where he again robbed a bank.

On 21 June 1979, Jacques Mesrine kidnapped millionaire real estate mogul Henri Lelievre and received a ransom of six million francs.

Jacques Mesrine made good copy for the press, clowning for the camera and asserting that his criminal activity was politically motivated.

The incensed Jacques Mesrine had other plans: he shot Tillier in the face, leg and arm.

The special gendarme unit tasked with finding and capturing Jacques Mesrine found it impossible to track him down directly.

Undercover patrols combed the area and a man fitting Jacques Mesrine's description was spotted walking with a woman believed to be Jeanjacquot on 31 October 1979.

Reportedly, in the instant before the gendarmerie opened fire, Jacques Mesrine's eyes were described as being so shocked they seemed to be bursting from his head, as he realised he was trapped.

Twenty rounds were fired at point-blank range and Jacques Mesrine was shot 15 times.