André Maturette (born 1914) was a prisoner in the

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

prison colony of

Devil's Island The penal colony of Cayenne ( French: ''Bagne de Cayenne''), commonly known as Devil's Island (''Île du Diable''), was a French penal colony that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953 in the Salvation Islands ...

who attempted to escape with

Henri Charrière Henri Charrière (; 16 November 1906 – 29 July 1973) was a French writer, convicted in 1931 as a murderer by the French courts and pardoned in 1970. He wrote the novel '' Papillon'', a memoir of his incarceration in and escape from a pena ...

and Joanes Clousiot.

Biography

Maturette was born in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and was arrested in 1932 when he was seventeen for the murder of a taxi cab driver. He was originally sentenced to death by guillotine, but was later sentenced to life because of his young age. In early 1933, Maturette was sent to the penal colony in

where he met Charrière and Joanes Clousiot, with whom he would eventually escape. In the early morning hours of 28 November 1933 the three escaped from the hospital in

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

prison and went to a

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Af ...

, buying a boat from the lepers led by Toussaint. Eventually, they were all recaptured in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, and were returned to French authorities who sentenced them to two years

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

. Clousiot died shortly after being released from solitary. Charrière survived solitary confinement and successfully escaped from

on a bag of coconuts, while Maturette stayed in Royale working in the hospital. In the 1950s, Maturette was living and married in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. In the

1973 film Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

'' Papillon'', he was portrayed by

Robert Deman Robert Kurt Deman is an American actor most famous for starring in the 1973 film '' Papillon'' as André Maturette. He also appeared in ''The Four Deuces'' (1975) starring Jack Palance and Carol Lynley, the TV movie ''Murder in Peyton Place'' (1 ...

References

1914 births Devil's Island inmates Escapees from French detention French escapees Possibly living people Year of death missing {{France-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References