Henri Bonnefoy competed in two small-bore rifle events at the 1908 Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the team event at 50 and 100 yards. He was the son of a famous artist, Henri Arthur Bonnefoy. Henri the son ran the Henri Bonnefoy School of Shooting in Chalons, France.
Bonnefoy was in the military at the time of the 1908 Olympics, having enlisted in 1906. In 1907 he attended the Special Military School at St. Cyr and was commissioned as an officer in October 1908. He joined the 133e Régiment in July 1909, and in October 1910 was promoted to lieutenant. The regiment was mobilized in August 1914 and he was killed only a few days later, on 9 August 1914, during the Battle of Alsace. He is considered the first Olympian to have died in World War I. Bonnefoy was originally buried in Thann, but his remains were exhumed and transferred to Cernay, Haute-Rhine, France.