Gustave Bouvet

Who is Gustave Bouvet?

Gustave Charles Bouvet was a French anarchist who unsuccessfully tried to assassinate Alexandre Millerand, the President of France.

Bouvet was raised by priests in Antwerp, and returned at 14 years of age to Paris to live with his parents. He served as the secretary for the Fédération Anarchiste and was founder of the Journal des Jeunesses Communistes, of which he became secretary and director. In 1921, he was sentenced to a year in prison for publishing anarchist propaganda. In April 1922, Bouvet was released from prison and took up residence on the Rue des Panoyaux.

On 14 July 1922, Bouvet made an attempt to assassinate President Alexandre Millerand. Millerand and other dignitaries were traveling in a procession of three carriages along the Champs-Élysées after returning from a Bastille Day military review. When the procession reached the corner of the Avenue Marigny at about 11:05, Bouvet drew a revolver from his pocket and fired two shots at the second car, which he mistakenly believed the President was riding in. Both shots went wide, apparently due to a bystander who grabbed Bouvet's arm before he was able to aim. Bouvet dropped the revolver in the ensuing struggle and attempted to run. A police cyclist who was accompanying the procession hurled his bicycle at Bouvet which caused him to fall. The crowd immediately attacked Bouvet and threatened to lynch him. The police, however, were able to pull Bouvet from the crowd and place him under arrest.