Historedia
EuropeEvent

Émile Henry bombs the Café Terminus in Paris

When
1894
Where
Café Terminus; Paris
Episodes
2

On 12 February 1894, French anarchist Émile Henry bombed the Café Terminus in Paris, killing one person and injuring about twenty. Having failed to approach the Élysée Palace to assassinate President Sadi Carnot, he struck the crowded café instead. The attack occurred amid the repression following the lois scélérates. Henry was tried and executed in May 1894.

Episodes

  1. 12 February 1894 · Café TerminusBombing of the Café Terminus

    Henry bombed the Café Terminus in Paris, killing one and injuring about twenty, after failing to reach the Élysée Palace.

  2. 27 April – 21 May 1894 · ParisTrial and Execution

    Henry's trial began on 27 April 1894; he was sentenced to death, refused to appeal, and was executed in Paris on 21 May 1894.

Background and detail

Background. Following the execution of Auguste Vaillant on 5 February 1894, Henry sought to assassinate President Sadi Carnot. Unable to approach the Élysée Palace, he targeted the Café Terminus instead. The attack occurred amidst the 'lois scélérates' repression, which had intensified since January 1894. After the executions of Ravachol and Vaillant without pardon from Carnot, the president became a symbolic enemy of the entire anarchist movement.

The Bombing. Henry threw a bomb into the crowd at the Café Terminus, killing one person and injuring about twenty. This act surprised both anarchists and French society. It is considered one of the first acts of modern mass terrorism, characterized by indiscriminate violence against bourgeois society.

Trial and Execution. Henry's trial began on 27 April 1894. He was sentenced to death and refused to appeal, rejecting 'bourgeois justice'. He was executed on 21 May 1894 in Paris. His statement at his trial is considered a foundational element of this form of terrorism.

People involved

  • Sadi Carnot · Intended target of Henry's earlier assassination plan; contextual figure, not a target of the Café Terminus attack

Sources

  1. Émile Henry (anarchist) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-23
  2. Café Terminus attack Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-08

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.