Maya Trémolet, edited by Alexandre Dalifard / Photo credit: DENIS BALIBOUSE / POOL / AFP 06:14, June 10, 2023

On Thursday, during the dramatic knife attack of a 31-year-old man in Annecy, Henri, now called "the hero with the backpack", bravely pushed the assailant away in order to protect "the weakest". This young man of 24 years, present in Haute-Savoie, makes a pilgrimage in France to discover the cathedrals. Portrait.

He is now called "the hero with the backpack". At 24, Henri is the young man who bravely repelled the assailant in Annecy Square, who stabbed six people, including four young children. This young man, who made a tour of France cathedrals, was stopping in this city of Haute-Savoie. But who exactly is he?

A pilgrim to discover the cathedrals of France

After a preparatory class, an alternation in journalism, a degree in philosophy and management in his pocket, Henri began a nine-month pilgrimage to make known the cathedrals of France. The young man with a classic background grew up in the Yvelines, in a large and united family. He attended the private school Saint Dominique in Neuilly-sur-Seine and the scouts of Port-Marly. But Henry quickly put faith at the center of his life. At the age of 20, he became president of a Catholic association that organized youth camps abroad.

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He, who says he is part of a youth that does not lower his head, testifies to his faith on all stages, his quest for the great and the beautiful, and refuses to condemn his aggressor, as he explains at the microphone of Europe 1. "I want to say that I have already forgiven him because what he did is beyond him. What he did is completely beyond him and what I did is beyond me and us," he said. During his meeting with Emmanuel Macron on Friday, he asked to attend the upcoming inauguration of Notre-Dame de Paris. A request immediately accepted by the head of state to thank the national hero. But Henry doesn't want this title. According to him, he simply acted as any Frenchman should act to protect the weakest.