Paul Bonnaventure Carbone (1 February 1894 – 16 December 1943) was a Corsican criminal involved in the Marseille underworld from the 1920s until his death in 1943.

[1] Associated with François Spirito, who would become one of the leaders of the French Connection, Carbone inspired the film Borsalino which featured Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Spirito was also a pimp and part of a network that brought women from Paris to work in Egyptian brothels.

[6] (The Bat' d'Af' was a French military unit, based in Algeria, consisting of men with criminal records or serious disciplinary problems.

[7]) Whilst serving on the Western front Carbone met and became friends with Simon Sabiani, the future mayor of Marseille.

With the money made in Paris, they opened brothels all over France and staffed them with women from Europe and South America.

[1] During the interwar period, Carbone and Spirito allied with the mayor of Marseille, Simon Sabiani, and acted as his enforcers.

[16] When Carbone and Spirito were arrested for the murder of the financial consultant Albert Prince in 1934,[17] Sabiani came to their aid.

[19] During World War II, Carbone and Spirito joined the Carlingue which collaborated with the Germans in France; in return, the local civilian authorities in Marseille were expected to ignore their criminal activities.

He is reputed to have sung songs to cheer up the other victims whilst smoking his last cigarette before he died.