Baumettes prison (also known as the Centre pénitentiaire de Marseille) is a prison in the 9th arrondissement of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Location

The prison is named after the district of Les Baumettes. It is located at 239, chemin de Morgiou, in the 9th arrondissement of

.French Ministry of Justice: Marseille: Etablissement pénitentiaire - centre pénitentiaire
/ref> This area was outside the city but has been absorbed as the city expanded.

History

It was built from 1933 to 1939. It contains sculptures designed by

Antoine Sartorio Antoine Sartorio (27 January 1885, Menton – 19 February 1988, Jouques) was a French sculptor. Brief biography Antoine Sartorio was born in Menton on 27 January 1885 and died in Jouques on 19 February 1988. He studied at the École des Beaux-A ...

. It opened in 1936, as three inner city jails were closed down. The prison covers some 30,000 m². It contains 1,380 cells housing approximately 1,700 prisoners, mostly men, around a quarter of whom are not French. The site includes a unit for juvenile offenders, another for female prisoners, and a prison hospital. A 10-year renovation project started in 2006. The project will cost approximately

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

133 million to improve standards of hygiene, safety and security. The first phase, from 2006 to 2010, involved renovations to the main entrances, watchtowers, visiting rooms, and the construction of a new mess hall and workshops. The prisoners' accommodation was renovated from 2009. Three of the last four executions in France took place in Baumettes: Ali Benyanès in 1973,

Christian Ranucci Christian Ranucci (6 April 1954 – 28 July 1976) was a French man convicted for the abduction and killing of an eight-year-old girl on Whit Monday 1974. Sentenced to death by beheading on 10 March, 1976, Ranucci was the third-to-last perso ...

on 28 July 1976 and the last,

Hamida Djandoubi Hamida Djandoubi ( ar, حميدة جندوبي, Ḥamīda Jandūbī; 22 September 1949 – 10 September 1977) was a Tunisian convicted murderer sentenced to death in France. He moved to Marseille in 1968, and six years later he kidnapped, torture ...

, on 10 September 1977. In January 2015, ''

La Provence ''La Provence'' is a French language daily newspaper published in Marseille, France. History and profile In 1997 ''La Provence'' was created in Marseille from the merger of two daily newspapers, '' Le Provençal'' of former Interior Minister Ga ...

'' revealed that pictures of inmates with "cash, dope and mobile phones" were uploaded to a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page.Henry Samuel
French prison guards warn Marseille jail has become a 'holiday camp'
''The Daily Telegraph'', January 6, 2015 After the page was closed down by the authorities, another page was created, with similar pictures, but hooded inmates. Prison wardens admitted they were understaffed. Politician Eric Ciotti called for a "

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

" for French prisons.

Notable inmates

Anne Beaumanoir Anne Beaumanoir (30 October 1923 – 4 March 2022) was a French neurophysiologist. For her aid to Jews in Brittany during the Second World War, she as well as her parents were recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. A militant ...

(1923-2022), neuropsychologist; sentenced for supporting the FLN *

Robert Bonnaud Robert Bonnaud (13 November 1929 – 22 January 2013) was a French anti-colonialist historian and professor of history at the Paris Diderot University. In 1957, following the advice of his friend Pierre Vidal-Naquet, he published in '' Esprit'' an ...

(1929-2013), historian; jailed for supporting Algerian nationalists; served two months *

Charles Debbasch Charles Debbasch (22 October 1937 – 8 January 2022), was a French jurist and academic. Biography Academic He graduated with a degree in law at 24 and then taught administrative law and political institutions at Paul Cézanne University f ...

(1937-2022), jurist; sentenced to two years for several charges *

(1949-1977), murderer; executed at the prison *

Louisette Ighilahriz Louisette Ighilahriz (born 22 August 1936) is an Algerian writer, former '' Conseil de la Nation'' member, and a former member of the ''Front de Libération Nationale'' (FLN) who came to widespread attention in 2000 with her story of captivity by t ...

(born 1936), writer; captured and sent to several prisons *

Georges Journois Georges Henri Journois (13 November 1896 – 26 September 1944) was a French resistance fighter and Brigadier General who died in a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Early life Journois was born on 13 Nov ...

(1896-1944), French resistance fighter; was evacuated to Belfort * Albert Millet (1929-2007), serial killer; served some of his sentence at the prison * Jacques Trolley de Prévaux (1888-1944), navy officer; was arrested by the Gestapo and briefly held at the prison *

(1954-1976), murderer; executed at the prison *

Charles Skepper Charles Milne Skepper (26 February 1905 – on or after 4 April 1944) was an economist and socialist intellectual who joined the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) to operate in occupied France during the Second World War carrying out s ...

(1905-c.1944), SOE operative; was tortured at the prison * Arthur Steele (1921-1944), SOE operative; was tortured at the prison *

Irene Wosikowski Judith Auer Irene Wosikowski (9 February 1910 – 27 October 1944) was a German political activist (KPD). After 1933 she continued with her (now illegal) political activity in Germany till 1935. The next two years were spent in Moscow after which, ...

(1910-1944), activist; released in 1941

References

{{Coord, 43, 14, 0, N, 5, 24, 50, E, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title 9th arrondissement of Marseille Prisons in France Buildings and structures in Marseille 1936 establishments in France Buildings and structures completed in 1939