Legendary French soldier involved in coups and mercenary activities across North Africa and the Middle East. He saw himself as a corsair fighting against communism instead of a mercenary or pirate. He and his followers were nicknamed "the Dreadful." Denard saw action in the Congo, Yemen, Iran, Nigeria, Benin, Chad and Angola, and, several times, in Comoros. He left his biggest mark in Comoros, starting in 1975, when he organized a coup d’état against President Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane. He had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for the last several years of his life.