François Koenigstein was born in Saint-Chamond, Loire as the eldest child of a Dutch father and a French mother. As an adult, he adopted his mother's maiden name as his surname, following years of struggle after his father abandoned the family when François was only eight years old. From that time on he had to support his mother, sister, and brother; he also looked after his nephew. He eventually found work as a dyer's assistant, a job which he later lost. He was very poor throughout his life. For additional income he played accordion at society balls on Sundays at Saint-Étienne.
The bombings
Ravachol became politically active. He joined the anarchists as well as groups organizing to improve working conditions. Labor unrest resulted in fierce reprisals by police. On 1 May 1891, at Fourmies, a workers' demonstration took place for the eight-hour day; confrontations with the police followed. The police opened fire on the crowd, resulting in nine deaths amongst the demonstrators. The same day, at Clichy, serious incidents erupted in a procession in which anarchists were taking part. Three men were arrested and taken to the commissariat of police. There they were interrogated. A trial ensued, in which two of the three anarchists were sentenced to prison terms In addition to these events, authorities kept up repression of the communards, which had continued from the time of the insurrection of the Paris Commune of 1871. Ravachol was aroused to take action in 1892 against members of the judiciary. He placed bombs in the living quarters of the Advocate General, Léon Bulot, and Edmond Benoît, the councillor who had presided over the Assises Court during the Clichy Affair., 1893 An informant told of his actions, and Ravachol was arrested on 30 March 1892 for his bombings at the Restaurant Véry.The day before the trial, anarchists bombed the restaurant where the informant worked. Ravachol was tried at the Assises Court of Seine on 26 April. He was convicted and condemned to prison for life. On 23 June, Ravachol was condemned to death in a second trial at the Assises Court of Loire for three murders. His participation in two of them is disputed. On 11 July 1892, Ravachol was publicly guillotined. On 9 December 1893, Auguste Vaillant threw a bomb into the French Chamber of Deputies to avenge Ravachol.
The myth of Ravachol
Ravachol became a somewhat romanticised symbol of desperate revolt and a number of French songs were composed in his honour, such as la Ravachole, to the tune ofla Carmagnole. Ravachol has also appeared as a minor character in Frank Chadwick's role-playing game' as well as in several of his memoirs. In 2011, the character of the anarchist "Claude Ravache" appeared in the movie '. He was clearly inspired by Ravachol. The 2019 video game developed by ZA/UM, Disco Elysium, takes place in Martinaise, a district of the city of Revachol, a clear reference to Ravachol. Also mentioned in the game is a city known as Koeningsten.
