Pierre François Lacenaire
Encyclopedia
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
– 9 January 1836, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) was a famous French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and murderer.
Biography
Upon finishing his education with excellent results, Lacenaire joined the army, eventually deserting in 1829 at the time of the expedition to the MoreaMorea
The Morea was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. It also referred to a Byzantine province in the region, known as the Despotate of Morea.-Origins of the name:...
. He became a crook and was in and out of prison, which was, as he called it, his "criminal university". Whilst in prison, Lacenaire recruited two henchmen, Victor Avril and François Martin, and wrote a song, "Petition of a Thief to a King his Neighbor", as well as "The Prisons and the Penal Regime" for a journal.
In the months between the beginning of his trial for a double murder and his execution, he wrote Memoirs, Revelations and Poems, and during the trial he fiercely defended his crime as a valid protest against social injustices, turning the judicial proceedings into a theatrical event and his cell into a salon
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
. He made a lasting impression on the age and on several writers such as Balzac and Dostoevsky (see below)
Lacenaire also appears in the classic French film Children of Paradise
Children of Paradise
Les Enfants du Paradis, released as Children of Paradise in North America, is a 1945 French film by French director Marcel Carné, made during the German occupation of France during World War II...
(1945), where his stance as a loner and a rebel is stressed. In the film, he refers to himself as a bold criminal and a social rebel, but his actual criminal activities mostly stay outside the story.
In literature and film
- Baudelaire called Lacenaire "one of the heroes of modern life". [Actually that is not true. A volume known as Curiosités esthétiques, a posthumous compilation of previously unpublished writings on the arts, contains a chapter titled De l'héroïsme de la vie moderne (On the Heroism of Modern Life) in which Baudelaire alludes to Lacenaire only obliquely, accusing him of "mournful boastings" but seemingly impressed that his "ferocious gallantry did not bow its head before the supreme machine," which is to say, the guillotine.]
- His hand, severed after death, was the subject of a poem by Théophile GautierThéophile GautierPierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic....
.
- Dostoevsky read about Lacenaire's case and it inspired him to write Crime and PunishmentCrime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
, in which Raskolnikov's crime was a copy of Lacenaire's almost down to the last detail.
- Philosopher Michel FoucaultMichel FoucaultMichel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
believed Lacenaire's notoriety among Parisians marked the birth of a new kind of lionized outlawOutlawIn historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
(as opposed to the older folk hero), the bourgeois romantic criminal, and eventually to the detective and true crimeTrue crimeTrue crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.The crimes most commonly include murder, but true crime works have also touched on other legal cases. Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to...
genres of literature.
- Lacenaire is portrayed in the epic movie Les Enfants du Paradis (1945) — Children of Paradise in English — directed by Marcel CarnéMarcel Carné-Biography:Born in Paris, France, the son of a cabinet maker whose wife died when their son was five, Carné began his career as a film critic, becoming editor of the weekly publication, Hebdo-Films, and working for Cinémagazine and Cinémonde between 1929 and 1933. In the same period he worked in...
. His role is played by Marcel HerrandMarcel HerrandMarcel Herrand was a French stage and film actor best remembered for his roles in swashbuckling or historical films.He appeared in over 25 films between 1932 and 1952....
.
- There is a French film called Lacenaire (1990) starring Daniel AuteuilDaniel AuteuilDaniel Auteuil is a French film, television and theatre actor.-Early life and education:He was born in Algiers, French Algeria.-Career:...
.