Sophie Louise Eugénie Burdet was born in 1882, in the Arpitan town of Vouvray [fr].

[2] In 1899, she met the anarchist Jules Bonnot,[1] who at that time was lodging in her family's farmhouse while he was serving in the French Army.

[3] In August 1902,[1] Burdet gave birth to their daughter Émilie, but she died an infant only a few days later.

[4] As Bonnot still struggled to find stable work, Burdet put him in touch with a trade union secretary in Saint-Étienne named Benoit Antoine Besson.

[8] Following Bonnot's arrest and imprisonment in April 1912, Burdet managed to secure a divorce.