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An audacious kidnapping in 1970s Paris

Tom Sancton tracks the infamous kidnapping case of Baron Édouard-Jean Empain – from chopped-off fingers and police shootouts to the collapse of an industrial empire

Published: January 26, 2023 at 9:26 AM

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On 23 January 1978, Baron Édouard-Jean Empain was snatched from the streets of Paris, in an audacious kidnapping attempt. Before long, a ransom of 80 million francs was demanded. And to show they meant business, the kidnappers chopped off the baron’s little finger – with the disturbing warning that more body parts would follow. In conversation with Emily Briffett, Tom Sancton charts the two tangled months of the kidnapping case, which led to a bloody shootout and ultimately triggered the fall of an industrial giant, the Empain dynasty.

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Tom Sancton is the author of The Last Baron: The Paris Kidnapping That Brought Down an Empire (Dutton, 2022)

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Authors

Emily BriffettSenior content producer (podcasts)

Emily Briffett is senior content producer (podcasts) at HistoryExtra

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