François "Pierre" Picaud () was a 19th-century shoemaker in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

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who may have been the basis for the character of

Edmond Dantès Edmond Dantès () is a title character, Byronic hero and the protagonist of Alexandre Dumas's 1844 adventure novel ''The Count of Monte Cristo''. Within the story's narrative, Dantès is an intelligent, honest and loving man who turns bitter and ...

Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

's 1844 novel ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...

''.

Biography

In 1807, Picaud was engaged to marry a rich woman, but three jealous friends — Loupian, Solari, and Chaubart — falsely accused him of being a

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for

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(a fourth friend, Allut, knew of their conspiracy, but did not report it). He was imprisoned in the

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fortress for seven years, not even learning why until his second year there. During his imprisonment he ground a small passageway into a neighboring cell and befriended a wealthy

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priest named Father Torri who was also held in the fortress. A year later, a dying Torri bequeathed to Picaud a treasure he had hidden in

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. When Picaud was released after the fall of the French Imperial government in 1814, he took possession of the treasure, returned under another name to

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and spent 10 years plotting revenge against his former friends. Picaud first murdered Chaubart or had him murdered. Picaud's former fiancée had, two years after his disappearance, married his former friend Loupian, who became the subject of his most brutal revenge. Picaud tricked Loupian's daughter into marrying a criminal, whom he then had arrested. Loupian's daughter promptly died of shock. Picaud then burned down Loupian's restaurant, or arranged to have it burned down, leaving Loupian impoverished. Next, he fatally poisoned Solari and either manipulated Loupian's son into stealing some gold jewelry or framed him for committing the crime. The boy was sent to jail, and Picaud stabbed Loupian to death. He was himself then abducted by a vengeful Allut, who seriously injured Picaud while holding him captive. Picaud was eventually found by the French police, and they recorded his confession before he died of his injuries. Allut's deathbed confession forms the bulk of the French police records of the case. The detailed description of Picaud's experiences in prison, which could not have been known to Allut, were supposedly dictated to him by the ghost of Father Torri.H. Ashton-Wolfe p. 33

Notes

References

* H. Ashton-Wolfe,''True Stories of Immortal Crimes'' (1931) E. P. Dutton & Co.

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading