François Marcantoni

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François Marcantoni (born May 28, 1920 in Alzi , Corsica ; † August 17, 2010 in Paris ) was a French resistance fighter of the Resistance , a prominent criminal and author.

Life

François Marcantoni was the son of Pierre-Louis Marcantoni and Marie-Anne Bernardi. The father died when François was eight years old. His mother moved with him to Toulon . Marcantoni was working there in the arsenal of the military port when the German invasion hit France. In 1943 he joined the Resistance and went underground. He organized weapons, explosives and vehicles, blew up a train and was seriously injured in a strike against a fortification. In 1944 he was arrested by the Gestapo , but they were unable to extract any information from him. For his services in the resistance he was awarded the Croix de guerre and the Médaille de la Résistance .

After the end of the war, he decided to live on a large scale. In his own words, he preferred "champagne to lemonade and caviar to lentils". He smuggled cigarettes, pretended to be a police officer, stole paintings and jewels, and acted as a pimp and extortionist . He became the driver of the legendary gang of bank robbers, Gang des tractions avant , which, with its bank robberies and escapes in the Traction Avant, became the romanticized role model of numerous crime films. His activities earned him multiple convictions and prison terms.

He became one of the gangster lords of that era, along with Paul Carbone and François Spirito , Mémé Guérini , Jo Attia , Gaëtan Zampa , Pierre Loutrel , known as Pierrot-le-Fou , and Francis Vanverberghe, known as Francis le Belge , with whom he was well known. Vanverberghe had dinner with Marcantoni on the day of his murder, September 27, 2000.

Marcantoni tried to convey the image of a gentleman criminal to the outside world and boasted that he had not shed a drop of blood since the liberation from the German occupation. He was involved in a posh bar near the Champs-Elysées , which was run by Toto Rossi, the brother of the singer Tino Rossi , and sought and found contact with stars and celebrities outside the gangster world. Brigitte Bardot , Alain Delon , Michel Simon , Jean Marais , Charles Aznavour , Jean-Paul Belmondo , Robert Hossein , Ava Gardner , Fernandel and Erich von Stroheim were among his friends.

In 1968, however, he came under suspicion of murder. Alain Delon's bodyguard, Stevan Marković, 31, was found shot dead. The dead man had left a letter incriminating Delon, Delon's wife Nathalie Delon and Marcantoni. If he, Marković, were murdered, it was the fault of Delon, his wife, and Marcantoni, it said. The matter turned into a state affair after Marković was in possession of fake photos that linked President Georges Pompidou's wife to the underworld. Marcantoni was held in custody for 11 months before the case against him was finally dropped.

The murder of Marković has not yet been solved; nor the exact background of the intrigue against Georges Pompidou. Marcantoni wrote books with lurid titles, but without contributing to the explanation of the matter. He wrote that Marković tried to betray accomplices in a drug deal, but failed to provide convincing evidence.

Marcantoni was last accused in a protection money affair at the age of 85 ; the matter was inconsequential.

Marcantoni was a devout Catholic who prayed daily. In 2006 he wrote that Jesus had finally forgiven Barabbas ' sins. He was buried in Toulon.

Book publications

  • With Christian Chatillon: Strass et voyous. Les Portes du Soleil éditions, Gémenos 2009, ISBN 978-2-35808-013-2 .
  • With Serge Garde: Monsieur François. Le milieu et moi, de A à Z. Le Cherche midi, Paris 2006, ISBN 2-7491-0591-9 .
  • Un homme d'honneur. De la Resistance au milieu. Balland, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-7158-1379-1 .
  • Mais qui a tué Markovic? PM Favre, Lausanne 1985, ISBN 2-8289-0190-4 .
  • La Conjuration. L'affaire qui a fait trembler la Ve République. O. Orban, Paris 1976.

literature

  • Franck Johannès: François Marcantoni . Le Monde , August 24, 2010, p. 21.

References and comments

  1. ^ "(J'ai) préféré le champagne à la lemonade et le caviar aux lentilles". Quoted from: Franck Johannès: François Marcantoni . Le Monde, August 24, 2010, p. 21.
  2. ^ "Si je suis assassiné, ce sera 100% la faute d'Alain Delon et de son parrain François Marcantoni", France Info , accessed on September 18, 2010.
  3. ^ «Jésus n'avait-il pas pardonné à Barabbas? »Quoted from: Franck Johannès: François Marcantoni . Le Monde, August 24, 2010, p. 21.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Marcantoni, François
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Monsieur François
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French resistance fighter of the Resistance, criminal and book author
DATE OF BIRTH May 28, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Alzi , Corsica
DATE OF DEATH 17th August 2010
Place of death Paris