Charles Simon (anarchist)

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Charles Simon, nicknamed Biscuit (Cookie) and later Ravachol II, was a French anarchist militant and illegalist who helped inaugurate the Era of Attacks (1892–1894). He was born on May 11, 1873, in Saint-Jean-le-Blanc and worked as a glassmaker. He spent two months in prison for stealing a sheet of zinc.

In Paris around 1890–1891 he met Ravachol, introduced by the Chaumartin couple. The two were inspired by the Fourmies shooting and the Clichy affair, and decided to act. Simon and Ravachol, joined by Rosalie Soubère and Joseph Jas-Béala, prepared bombs as a protest against the authorities. Their first bomb, about 50 sticks of dynamite, was made in Saint-Denis and exploded on March 7, 1892. On March 11 they carried out a bombing at Judge Benoît’s house, which injured a bystander.

They then planned a more deadly attack on Prosecutor Bulot, using a bomb of about 120 sticks of dynamite. They were arrested after being denounced by a police informer.

At the trial, Simon admitted his role and became known as Ravachol II. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Seine Court of Assizes and sent to the Cayenne penal colony in French Guiana, where Ravachol was later sentenced to death.

Simon was killed by the authorities on October 21 or 22, 1894, during the Revolt of Saint-Joseph at Cayenne, aged 21.