Photo: Buckingham Constabulary / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Ronnie Biggs

ロナルド・ビッグズ　/　ろなるど・びっぐず

Carpenter from United Kingdom

August 8, 1929 – December 18, 2013　・　Lambeth, United Kingdom

carpenter
autobiographer
robber

My Take

Ronnie Biggs is one of those figures where I feel genuinely conflicted, and I think that tension is the point. He helped plan the 1963 Great Train Robbery, then turned a brazen 1965 prison break into a 36-year life on the run, mostly in Brazil, complete with publicity stunts and a flirtation with music. There's no glamorizing the crime, yet his story became British folklore in spite of itself. What stays with me is the ending: returning to the United Kingdom in 2001, choosing prison and rapid decline over freedom abroad before his death in 2013. To me he's a study in how notoriety and consequence eventually collide.

Overview

Ronald Arthur Biggs (8 August 1929 – 18 December 2013) was a British criminal who helped plan and carry out the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He subsequently became notorious for his escape from prison in 1965, living as a fugitive for 36 years, and for his various publicity stunts while in exile. In 2001, Biggs returned to the United Kingdom and spent several years in prison, where his health rapidly declined.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1. Profile

Name (English): Ronnie Biggs
Name (Japanese): ロナルド・ビッグズ
Reading: ろなるど・びっぐず
Born: August 8, 1929 – December 18, 2013
Zodiac / Chinese zodiac: Leo / Snake
Origin: Lambeth, United Kingdom
Blood type: Private
Height: Private
Agency: Private
Occupation: carpenter / autobiographer / robber / singer / screenwriter

2. Background

Elementary school: Private
Junior high: Private
High school: Private
University: Private

3. Relationships

Spouse: Private
Children: Private
Parents: Private
Siblings: Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private

6. Links

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