Eugène Dieudonné

Eugène Dieudonné (1884–1944) was a French anarchist and illegalist. He was a frequent visitor of the headquarters of L'Anarchie and accused of being a member of the Bonnot Gang. Despite Jules Bonnot and Octave Garnier exonerating him, he was accused and convicted of participating in the robbery of a Société Générale branch in Paris in 1912. Initially sentenced to death, his sentence was commuted to forced labor for life and he was sent to French Guiana, whence he was able to flee to Brazil in 1926. Journalists Albert Londres and secured his pardon and he returned to France where he spent the rest of his life as a furniture manufacturer.

Life Eugène Dieudonné was born 1 May 1884 in Nancy, to a widow with three other young children, and was raised in the Stanislas orphanage. From the age of 16 he worked as a joiner. He was active in the local anarchist scene.

In 1907, he married Louise Kaiser, and in 1909 the couple moved to Paris with their son, Pierre. There, he was a frequent visitor of the headquarters of L'Anarchie.

He also narrated a 1931 documentary film on the experience of life in a penal colony, Autour d'une évasion.