Jean-Pierre François (anarchist)

Jean-Pierre François, nicknamed 'Francis', (3 December 1855, in Reims-after 1907) was a carpenter and individualist-illegalist anarchist terrorist. After a youth marked by poverty and repeated criminal convictions, he was sent to a disciplinary battalion in French Algeria, where he was again imprisoned for theft. Upon his return to the métropole, he married the anarchist activist Victorine Delanoy, and together they became involved in Parisian anarchist circles.

Close to figures such as Théodule Meunier and Pierre Martinet—one of the leading theorists of individualist anarchism—François became active in several anarchist movements and groups, including the Pieds plats group. He is best known for his participation during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894). In this context, he took part in the Véry bombing, which targeted its owner, Jean-Marie Véry, an informant for the police and the denouncer of Ravachol. Arrested shortly thereafter, he managed to be freed and fled to London, where he was arrested again. During his detention, Louise Michel or Peter Kropotkin intervened on his behalf for his release. Extradited back to France, he was acquitted in 1893.

After his acquittal, François remained an active participant in the anarchist movement, engaging in actions up until the early twentieth century and being accused of other bombings he may have committed—for instance, a bomb attack against two police officers in 1905. Overall, while he was convicted several times, he systematically escaped any sentence or even conviction in terrorism related cases.