1. Paul Bonnaventure Carbone was a Corsican criminal involved in the Marseille underworld from the 1920s until his death in 1943.
16 Facts About Paul Carbone
1. 2.
Paul Carbone was born in the southern Corsican village of Propriano in 1894.
3.
Paul Carbone was a descendant of Napoleon's nurse Illeria Carbone.
4.
When Carbone was a small child, his family moved to the impoverished Panier suburb of Marseille.
5.
Paul Carbone attended school there and was a hard-working pupil.
6.
When Paul Carbone was 12 his father died and he left school to support his mother and two younger brothers.
7.
Paul Carbone took any job that he could find to bring money into the family.
8.
When Paul Carbone was about fifteen he moved to Alexandria, Egypt where he started pimping.
9.
In 1913, three pimps kidnapped Paul Carbone and left him buried up to his neck in sand in the desert.
10.
Paul Carbone was rescued three days later by Francois Spirito, who had heard the three pimps boasting about what they had done in a bar.
11.
Once recovered from his ordeal, Paul Carbone wanted to leave Egypt, and persuaded Spirito to go to Shanghai with him.
12.
Paul Carbone was awarded a medal for his bravery during the conflict.
13.
Paul Carbone and Spirito were active in Paris, where the Prefect of Police, Jean Chiappe, was a friend of Paul Carbone.
14.
Paul Carbone died on 16 December 1943 in a train crash caused by the Resistance sabotaging the train, blowing it up.
15.
Paul Carbone had his legs crushed and one severed at the knee.
16.
Paul Carbone is reputed to have sung songs to cheer up the other victims whilst smoking his last cigarette before he died.