
Alain Thenardier (1776-) was a French innkeeper and criminal who owned an inn ("The Sergeant at Waterloo") in Montfermeil until the 1820s and led the Patron-Minette gang in Paris during the 1830s.
Biography[]

Thenardier with his daugher Eponine
Alain Thenardier was born in Montfermeil, Ile-de-France, France in 1776, and he later married Helene Thenardier, who was twelve years his junior. Thenardier was a repulsive con man and drunkard for much of his life, and, in 1815, he travelled to the site of the Battle of Waterloo to loot the bodies, stealing a uniform which he often wore once he opened his own tavern, "The Sergeant at Waterloo". Thenardier was mistakenly believed to have saved the life of Colonel Georges Pontmercy at Waterloo, and, when the unconscious Pontmercy awoke, Thenardier - not wishing to be identified as a looter - claimed to be a sergeant in the French Army, leading to Thenardier becoming widely known as the sergeant who had rescued a "general" from the battlefield at Waterloo. Thenardier and his wife ran a popular inn where they cheated and stole from their customers, charging them exorbitant fees, stealing their belongings, and serving them diluted food and drinks. Alain and Helene had two daughters, Eponine and Azelma. In 1815, they were entrusted with the care of a newborn, Cosette, by the single mother Fantine Thibault, who agreed to pay them weekly in exchange for their taking care of her. The Thenardiers abused her, having her perform menial tasks and neglecting her while they spoiled Eponine and Azelma.

The Thenardiers with Cosette, 1823
In December 1823, Fantine's former employer Jean Valjean came to Montfermeil to retrieve Cosette and raise her in Fantine's stead, as per Fantine's last wishes. While the Thenardiers were initially reluctant to give up their cheap labor, Valjean paid them 1,500 francs to part ways with her. After Valjean left with Cosette, Helene chastised Alain for giving Cosette away for cheap. Not long after, the inn closed, and the Thenardiers moved to Paris under the assumed surname "Jondrette", where they had an unacknowledged son, Gavroche, who ran away from home and became a street urchin due to their abuse. The Jondrettes solicited charity from well-known philanthropists, but they failed in their attempt to extort Valjean, whom they once again encountered in 1832 after he had moved to Paris with Cosette and became a philanthropist. Upon recognizing Valjean, Thenardier and the Patron-Minette gang planned to rob Valjean's residence on the Rue de Plumet, but they were betrayed by Eponine, who had fallen in love with Cosette's lover Marius Pontmercy, and did not wish for any harm to come to Cosette's family, in spite of their clashing affection for Marius. Eponine screamed loudly, attracting the police and forcing Thenardier and his gang members to flee.

Inspector Etienne Javert confronting Thenardier in Paris, 1832
In June 1832, with the outbreak of the June Rebellion, the Thenardiers decided to disguise themselves as revolutionaries, hoping to profit from the ensuing carnage. After the rebellion was put down, Thenardier looted the bodies of the rebels in the sewers, but his attempt to rob the unconscious body of Marius Pontmercy led to another encounter with Valjean, who dunked him under the sewage and forced him to help him find a way out. Thenardier managed to keep Marius' ring, and, days later, he and his wife showed up at Marius' wedding while disguised as a baron and baroness. Marius recognized them and confronted Thenardier, who attempted to blackmail Valjean, accusing him of murdering a boy in the sewers, and showing him the ring of the unconscious revolutionary from the sewers (he did not recognize Marius). Marius recognized the ring as his own, and he forced the Thenardiers to tell him where Valjean was; Thenardier had seen Valjean leave for the convent, and he told Marius of his location before being ejected. Marius warned Thenardier never to return, as he had enough information on him to send him to the galleys for penal servitude, and he gave him 1,500 francs to see him off. Thenardier and his family promptly moved to the United States, where Thenardier became a slave trader.