{"id":21607,"date":"2023-01-26T10:26:05","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T09:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=223479"},"modified":"2023-01-26T11:35:09","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T10:35:09","slug":"an-audacious-kidnapping-in-1970s-paris","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/an-audacious-kidnapping-in-1970s-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"An audacious kidnapping in 1970s Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Emily Briffett\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 26 January 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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On 23 January 1978, Baron \u00c9douard-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\u2019s little finger \u2013 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.<\/p>\n\n

Tom Sancton is the author of The Last Baron: The Paris Kidnapping That Brought Down an Empire<\/em> (Dutton, 2022)<\/strong><\/p>\n