He studied in Paris where he graduated from Hautes études commerciales (HEC), and in 1912, joined the colonial administration in French Equatorial Africa.

On 9 September 1940, two days after having informed the authorities and officers of the colony of his decision, Louis Bonvin proclaimed the formal adherence of French India to Free France.

On 14 January 1942, the Vichyite Permanent Military Tribunal of Saigon in French Indochina found him guilty of "delivery to a foreign power of territory belonging to France", and sentenced him to death.

This aid was funnelled through the Red Cross committee headed by Bonvin's wife; some of it came from soldiers of the FFL in the form of subscriptions and also remittances.

Louis Bonvin died on 23 February 1946, as a result of an illness contracted in India, three months after his return to Montluçon, his hometown, where he is buried.