French citizen unjustly accused of a homicide, he is remembered as the subject of the Seznec Affair, a controversial French court case of 1923–1924.
On 25 May 1923, Seznec and Pierre Quéméner left for Paris to sell a Cadillac. When Quéméner’s family did not hear from him by 13 June 1923, they reported that he was missing. Guillaume Seznec was arrested on 1 July 1923 and accused of the murder of Pierre Quéméner. On 4 November 1924, he was sentenced to hard labour for life and was sent to Guyana, the French penal colony on 7 April 1927.
On 18 February 1934, the case was reopened when six of the jurors who had condemned Guillaume said they regretted their verdict and asked for a review of the trial. On 7 December 1944 Inspector Pierre Bonny, who had been involved in the investigation that led to the arrest of Seznec, concluded that he had sent an innocent man to jail. On 2 February 1946 Général De Gaulle issued a presidential pardon and Seznec returned to France on 1 July 1947.
Ironically, on 14 November 1953, Seznec was run over by a truck and suffered from his injuries for three months before he died on 13 February 1954.
Several works have been published on the affair, and Yves Boisset directed the film L’Affaire Seznec in 1992, with Christophe Malavoy in the lead role and also starring Nathalie Roussel, Jean Yanne and Bernard Bloch.
Link to Wikipedia biography