Carandiru Penitentiary, officially São Paulo House of Detention (
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
: ''Casa de Detenção de São Paulo'') was a
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
located in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. The prison was designed and built by Samuel das Neves in 1920, when it was considered a model-prison to meet the new demands of the 1890 criminal code. It was operational from 1956 to 2002 and, at its peak, was
South America's largest penitentiary, housing over 8,000 inmates. In 1992 it was the site of the
Carandiru massacre. It was demolished in 2002.
Drauzio Varella
Antônio Drauzio Varella (Brazilian Portuguese: ; born May 3, 1943 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian doctor, educator, scientist and medical science popularizer in the press and TV, as well as best-selling author. In addition to medicine, ...
, a noted Brazilian physician, volunteered as an unpaid physician in Carandiru from 1989 to 2001, in particular to address its AIDS epidemic. He wrote a book, ''
Estação Carandiru'' ( en, Carandiru Station), describing his own experiences there and the dreadful conditions of the inmates. The book was later made into a movie (''
Carandiru'', directed by
Hector Babenco
In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
), and both were highly regarded by critics and the public.
The prison was demolished on December 8, 2002. One block was left intact to be used as a museum, now open to public and accessible via
Carandiru Metro Station (''Estação Carandiru''). Today the Parque da Juventude complex is located on the site of the former penitentiary.
Cultural references
The Carandiru Penitentiary is the inspiration for the Penitenciaría Federal de Sona; the prison the fictional TV character,
Michael Scofield
Michael Scofield, portrayed by Wentworth Miller, is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the American television series '' Prison Break''. The character first appeared in the series pilot, in which he deliberately goes ...
, was incarcerated in during the third season of the US television series ''
Prison Break''.
FOX Broadcasting Company: Prison Break
Jorge Aragão
Jorge Aragão (, (b. March 1, 1949 in Rio de Janeiro), birth name Jorge Aragão da Cruz) is a Brazilian musician, singer/songwriter, working in the genres of samba and pagode. He is a multi-instrumentalist, and plays the guitar, ''surdo'', '' ca ...
refers to Carandiru in his song "O Iraque é Aqui".
Brazilian metal band Sepultura
Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. the band was a major force in the groove metal, thra ...
wrote the song "Manifest" about the massacre. The track is featured on their 1993 album '' Chaos A.D.''.
Brazilian rap band Racionais Mc's wrote the song "Diário De Um Detento" and refers to Carandiru.
References
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