The penal colony of Cayenne ( French: ''Bagne de Cayenne''), commonly known as Devil's Island (''Île du Diable''), was a French

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

that operated for 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, and officially closed in 1953 in the

Salvation Islands The Salvation Islands (french: Îles du Salut, so called because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland; sometimes mistakenly called Safety Islands) are a group of small islands of volcanic origin about off the coast of Fre ...

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 ...

. Opened in 1852, the Devil's Island system received convicts from the

Prison of St-Laurent-du-Maroni The prison of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni was the main penal colony in French Guiana for more than a century. Some of the buildings were restored in the early 1980s. History On 22 November 1850, Napoleon III declared: "Six thousand condemned me ...

, who had been deported from all parts of the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Empire, Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the French Second Republic, Second and the French Third Republic ...

. It was notorious both for the staff's harsh treatment of detainees and the tropical climate and diseases that contributed to high mortality. The prison system had a death rate of 75% at its worst, and was finally closed down in 1953. Devil's Island was also notorious for being used for the

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

of French

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

s, with the most famous being Captain

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus ( , also , ; 9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French artillery officer of Jewish ancestry whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most polarizing political dramas in modern French history. ...

, accused of spying for Germany. The

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

was a scandal extending for several years in late 19th and early 20th century France, exposing

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and corruption in the French military. Excerpt from the ''People's Almanac'', posted at "trivia-library.com. Archive.org

Organization

The prison system encompassed several locations, both on the mainland and in the off-shore

Île Royale The Salvation Islands (french: Îles du Salut, so called because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland; sometimes mistakenly called Safety Islands) are a group of small islands of volcano, volcanic origin about off the coa ...

was the reception centre for the general population of the

; they were housed in moderate freedom due to the difficulty of escape from the island.

Saint-Joseph Island The Salvation Islands (french: Îles du Salut, so called because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland; sometimes mistakenly called Safety Islands) are a group of small islands of volcanic origin about off the coast of Fre ...

was the ''Reclusion'', where inmates were sent to be punished by solitary confinement in silence and darkness, for attempted escapes or offences committed in the penal colony. Devil's Island was for political prisoners. In the 19th century; the most famous such prisoner was Captain

. In addition to the prisons on each of the three islands in the Salut island group, the French constructed three related prison facilities on the South American mainland: just across the straits at

Kourou Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...

, east 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 ...

(which later became the capital of French Guiana), and St. Laurent, to the west.

Early penal system

Prisoners convicted of felonies in the 17th and 18th centuries were sentenced to serve as oarsmen in the French

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

fleet. Given the harsh conditions, this was virtually a death sentence. Following the decommissioning of the Mediterranean galley fleet in 1666, the French detained the majority of prisoners in pairs, held in chains aboard galley hulks (''bagnes'') moored in French harbours, until the bagnes rotted and sank. The prisoners were transferred to live on the adjacent pontoons. Prisoners relied on charity or their families for food, bedding and clothing. They were required to work 12 hours a day in the docks, earning 10–15 centimes, which they could spend on food and wine. Other prisoners were housed in prisons onshore, but conditions were reportedly so bad that many prisoners would beg to be transferred to the hulks. By the early 19th century, the French urban population had increased from under six million to over 16 million, and crime kept pace. In 1832 legislation was passed mandating the state's provision of basic necessities to prisoners. Prison reform changed the previous reliance on corporal punishment through hard labor, to imprisonment with a goal of punishment and deterrence. Imprisonment was considered a way to remove offenders from society.

Recidivism Recidivism (; from ''recidive'' and ''ism'', from Latin ''recidīvus'' "recurring", from ''re-'' "back" and ''cadō'' "I fall") is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of th ...

of up to 75% had become a major problem; released and unemployed prisoners entered cities to seek a way to live. In the 1840s, the state set up internal agricultural penal colonies as a place to receive prisoners, thereby removing them from urban environments and giving them work. Prisoners were commonly sentenced under ''doublage'' by which, on completion of their sentence, they were required to work as employees at the penal colony for an additional period equal to their original sentence.Toth, Stephen (2006) ''Beyond Papillon: The French Overseas Penal Colonies, 1854–1952,'' University of Nebraska Press The French Navy, which had been tasked with managing the prison hulks, complained strongly about the cost of guarding the hulks and the disruption they caused to the work of the shipyards. Following his coup in 1851, Emperor Napoleon III ordered that the hulks be permanently closed and that civil law convicts be transferred overseas to colonies. Debate over where the convicts would be sent was prolonged.

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

was ruled out by the Navy as it was controlled by the French Army;

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the United States were considered, but the government eventually chose its own colony of

. Since 1604 France had repeatedly failed to colonize French Guiana. The last attempt at colonization was in 1763. Some 75% of the 12,000 colonists who had been sent there died in their first year, often from tropical diseases. By the 1850s, the declining number of survivors were on the brink of extinction. In 1852, Napoleon called for volunteer prisoners from the hulks to transfer to the new ''Bagne de Cayenne'' (Cayennes penal colony) at French Guiana; 3,000 convicts applied. Two categories of prisoners were eligible for transportation: ''transportés,'' those civil-law prisoners sentenced under ''doublage,'' and ''déportés,'' prisoners convicted of political crimes, such as espionage or conspiracy. France also continued to use the hulks, housing an average of 5,400 prisoners at a time, until they were finally closed around the end of the 19th century. The agricultural penal colonies continued to be used for juveniles until the last was closed in 1939.

Use as penal colony

The islands were part of a penal colony from 1852 onward for French criminals: those convicted by juries rather than

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

s. The main part of the penal colony was a labor camp that stretched along the border with Dutch Guiana (present-day

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

). This penal colony developed a reputation for harshness and brutality, and generated periodic calls for reform. Prisoner-on-prisoner violence was common; tropical diseases were rife. Only a small minority of broken survivors returned to France to tell how horrible it was; they sometimes scared other potential criminals to go straight. This system was gradually phased out and closed completely in 1953. Since the late 20th century, the islands have become tourist destinations with areas of the former prisons open for tours. Devil's Island and associated prisons eventually became one of the most infamous prison systems in history. While the prison system was in use (1852–1952), inmates included

s (such as 239 republicans who opposed Napoleon III's coup d'état in 1851) and the most hardened of thieves and murderers. The vast majority of the more than 80,000 prisoners sent to the Devil's Island prison system never returned to France. Many died due to disease and harsh conditions. Sanitary systems were limited, and the region was

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

-infested, with the insects transmitting

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

tropical diseases. The only exit from the island prisons was by water, and few convicts escaped. Convicts who were lucky enough to have family or friends willing to send them money had to have it sent to them in care of a prison guard. The standard practice was for the guard to keep for himself a quarter of the amount sent and give the rest to the prisoner. On 30 May 1854, France passed a new law of forced residency. It required convicts to stay in French Guiana after completion of sentence for a time equal to their forced labour time. If the original sentence exceeded eight years, they were forced to stay as residents for the remainder of their lives and were provided land to settle on. In time, a variety of penal regimes emerged, as convicts were divided into categories according to the severity of their crimes and the terms of their imprisonment or "forced residence" regime. An 1885 law provided for repeat offenders for minor crimes to be sent to the French Guiana prison system, previously reserved for serious offenders and political prisoners. A limited number of convicted women were also sent to French Guiana, with the intent that they marry freed male inmates to aid in settlement and development of the colony. As the results were poor, the government discontinued the practice in 1907. On Devil's Island itself, the small prison facility did not usually house more than 12 persons. The horrors of the penal settlement were publicized during the

, as the French army captain

was unjustly convicted of treason and sent to Devil's Island on 5 January 1895. In 1938 the penal system was strongly criticized in

René Belbenoît Jules René Lucien Belbenoît (; 4 April 1899 – 25 February 1959) was a French prisoner on Devil's Island who successfully escaped to the United States. He later published the memoirs, ''Dry Guillotine'' (1938) and ''Hell on Trial'' (1940), ab ...

's book ''

Dry Guillotine Dry Guillotine is the English translation of the French phrase ''la guillotine sèche'', which was prisoner slang for the Devil's Island penal colony at French Guiana. It is also the title of several articles by various authors and most notably, a ...

''. Shortly after the release of Belbenoît's book, which aroused public outrage about the conditions, the French government announced plans to close the ''bagne de Cayennes''. The outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

delayed this operation but, from 1946 until 1953, one by one the prisons were closed. The Devil's Island facility was the last to be closed. The

cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** Bi ...

system that provided access to Devil's Island from Royale Island deteriorated and Devil's Island is now closed to public access. It can be viewed from off shore by use of charter boats. The two larger islands in the Salut island group are open to the public, with some of the old prison buildings restored as museums. They have become tourist destinations.

Fifteen women to camp

Around the middle of the 19th century, an experiment was carried out in which 15 prostitutes were brought to Devil's Island, who were thought to encourage prisoners to live a dignified life and start a family. The women were guarded by nuns. No families were born, but the women offered

sexual favors Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...

to anyone who could offer them rum. Disputes arose among the men, and eventually a

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

epidemic raged on the island.

Alleged and successful escapes

Charles DeRudio

After an attempt on January 14, 1858, to assassinate Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

Charles DeRudio Charles Camillo DeRudio (born Carlo Camillo Di Rudio; August 26, 1832 – November 1, 1910) was an Italian aristocrat, would-be assassin of Napoleon III, and later a career U.S. Army officer who fought in the 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment at t ...

was sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. He escaped with twelve others, making their way to

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. In later life he joined the American Army and survived the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

Clément Duval

Clément Duval Clément Duval (; 1850–1935) was a famous French anarchist and criminal. His ideas concerning individual reclamation were greatly influential in later shaping illegalism. According to Paul Albert, "The story of Clement Duval was lifted and, shor ...

, an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

, was sent to Devil's Island in 1886. Originally

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, he later received a commuted sentence of hard labour for life. He escaped in April 1901 and fled to New York City, where he remained for the rest of his life. He eventually wrote a book about his imprisonment called ''Revolte''.

François Frean, Paul Renuci, Raymond Vaude, and Giovanni Batistoti

Four escapees from Devil's Island arrived in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands on 18 October 1936. Their native boat was nearly wrecked on the reef and the convicts were initially entertained as guests and treated for injuries at the Municipal Hospital. The fugitives, François Frean, 37, Paul Renuci, 32, Raymond Vaude, 35, all French, and Giovanni Batistoti, 35, Italian, were reported to have suffered hardships.

Henri Charrière and Sylvain

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 ...

's bestselling book '' Papillon'' (1969) describes his successful escape from Devil's Island, with a companion, Sylvain. They used two sacks filled with coconuts to act as lifeboats. According to Charrière, the two men leaped into heavy seas from a cliff and drifted to the mainland over a period of three days. Sylvain died in

quicksand Quicksand is a colloid A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a ...

a short distance from the shore. From there, Charrière was to meet a man by the name of Cuic-Cuic who would help him continue and complete his escape to freedom; instead Charrière was caught again and served for a time in the Bagne at El Dorado, Venezuela. Once finally freed, he remained in Venezuela. Charrière's account aroused considerable controversy. French authorities disputed it and released penal colony records that contradicted his account. Charrière had never been imprisoned on Devil's Island. He had escaped from a mainland prison. French journalists or prison authorities disputed other elements of his book and said that he had invented many incidents or appropriated experiences of other prisoners."Papillon alive and well in a Paris retirement home"
''Mail & Guardian'', 26 June 2005. Critics said he should have admitted his book was fiction.

Felix Milani

Felix Milani travelled on the same ship over as Henri Charrière and wrote a book about his experiences titled ''The Convict''.

René Belbenoît

is perhaps the most renowned escapee of the penal colony, who wrote about his experiences in two well-received memoirs: ''Hell on Trial'' (1940) and '' The Dry Guillotine: Fifteen Years Among the Living Dead'' (1938). After leaving the colony with temporary permission in 1930, he eventually made his way to the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

where he worked for nearly a year. In late 1930, he decided to return to France to argue for his freedom. However, it was a crime for a Devil's Island convict to return to France. He was sent back to French Guiana in 1931 to the prison colony. This time he was sent to Île Royale rather than Devil's Island. He was put into solitary confinement for almost one year. In 1934, he was again released, but as a ''libéré'', or free prisoner, he was, as before in 1930, not allowed to return to France. He eventually made his way to the United States. He gained US citizenship in 1956. He died in California in 1959, age 59.

Francis Lagrange

Francis Lagrange was a painter and

forger Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

who wrote a book about his experiences on Devil's Island.

Bernard Carnot

According to the second memoir of American sailor and writer William Willis (''Damned and Damned Again)'', a few days after New Years in 1938, he rented a room in New York City from a French immigrant named Madame Carnot. Her son, Bernard Carnot, had been sent to Devil's Island in 1922 for a murder that he did not commit, and the Carnot family had since moved to the United States. Out of compassion and a sense of adventure, Willis set out to the penal colony to effect Bernard Carnot's escape, which he eventually accomplished. The subtitle of the book indicates that it documents the 'true story of the last escape from Devil's Island'. Having been smuggled to Brazil aboard a supply ship, Carnot would never reunite with his family, although they learned via Willis that he had gained his freedom. On the outbreak of WW2 he returned to Europe and joined the French forces. He is believed to have been killed in action shortly before the liberation of Strasbourg.

Aftermath

In 1938, the French government stopped sending prisoners to Devil's Island. In 1953, the prison system was finally closed entirely. Most of the prisoners at the time were repatriated to

metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...

the Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

. Some chose to stay and resettle in French Guiana. In 1965, the French government transferred responsibility for most of the islands to its newly founded

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...

. The islands are under the trajectory of the space rockets launched from the Centre eastward, toward the sea (to

geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

). They must be evacuated during each launch. The islands host a variety of measurement apparatus for space launches. The

CNES The (CNES; French: ''Centre national d'études spatiales'') is the French government space agency (administratively, a "public administration with industrial and commercial purpose"). Its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is und ...

space agency, in association with other agencies, has restored buildings that are classified as historical monuments. Since the addition of tourism facilities, the islands now receive more than 50,000 tourists each year."Les Îles du Salut"
, CNES website

In popular culture

*In the 1925 American film ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...

'', starring

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

, the Phantom is said to have escaped Devil's Island. *Devil's Island is featured in the plot of ''

The Dain Curse ''The Dain Curse'' is a novel by Dashiell Hammett, published in 1929. Before its publication in book form, it was serialized in ''Black Mask (magazine), Black Mask'' magazine in 1928 and 1929. Serial publication ''The Dain Curse'' was original ...

'' (1928), a novel by

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...

, an American mystery writer. *Danish writer Aage Krarup Nielsen wrote a novel ''Helvede hinsides havet'' (1933) (''Hell beyond the Sea''), describing life in the prison system. *In 1939,

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

was cast as Dr. Charles Gaudet in the American film ''

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 ...

''. *Director

Frank Borzage Frank Borzage (; April 23, 1894 – June 19, 1962) was an Academy Award-winning American film director and actor, known for directing '' 7th Heaven'' (1927), '' Street Angel'' (1928), '' Bad Girl'' (1931), '' A Farewell to Arms'' (1932), ''Man's ...

's 1940 film '' Strange Cargo'' stars

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

, Ian Hunter, and

Albert Dekker Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in ''Dr. Cyclops'', ''The Killers'' (1946), ''Kiss Me Deadly'', and ''The Wild Bunch''. Early life and car ...

as three convicts and a woman who escape from Devil's Island; they are led by Hunter's character, a possible personification of God.

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...

also stars, playing a bounty hunter pursuing the others. *In the American film ''

To Have and Have Not ''To Have and Have Not'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1937 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The book follows Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain out of Key West, Florida. ''To Have and Have Not'' was Hemingway's second novel set in th ...

'' (1944), Paul de Bursac ( Walter Surovy) tells Harry Morgan (

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

): "Did you ever hear of Pierre Villemars? .... He's on Devil's Island, they sent me here to get him, to bring him back here to

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

." *'' We're No Angels'' is a 1955 American movie directed by

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed cla ...

which starred

Aldo Ray Aldo Ray (born Aldo Da Re; September 25, 1926 – March 27, 1991) was an American actor of film and television. He began his career as a contract player for Columbia Studios before achieving stardom through his roles in '' The Marrying Kind ...

, and

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...

as escapees from Devil's Island. *The season 2, episode 8 of ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels w ...

'' (first broadcast on 4 November 1966) takes place on Devil's Island. *Episode 9 of ''

The Time Tunnel ''The Time Tunnel'' is an American color science fiction TV series written around a theme of time travel adventure starring James Darren and Robert Colbert. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science-fiction television series and ...

'' (first broadcast on 11 November 1966), titled "Devil's Island", was set on Devil's Island. *

's memoir, '' Papillon'' (1969), ostensibly described the extreme brutality of the penal colony. He claimed to be an escaped convict but was found never to have visited the island. The book was adapted as an American movie of the same name; released in 1973, it starred

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

and

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...

. A

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of ''Papillon'' was released in 2017, starring

Charlie Hunnam Charles Matthew Hunnam (; born 10 April 1980) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Pete Dunham in ''Green Street Hooligans'' (2005) and as Jax Teller in the FX series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014). For the latter, he was ...

and

Rami Malek Rami Said Malek (; , ; born May 12, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for portraying computer hacker Elliot Alderson in the USA Network television series ''Mr. Robot'' (2015–2019), for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outs ...

. *Argentine author

Adolfo Bioy Casares Adolfo Bioy Casares (; 15 September 1914 – 8 March 1999) was an Argentine fiction writer, journalist, diarist, and translator. He was a friend and frequent collaborator with his fellow countryman Jorge Luis Borges. He is the author of the Fan ...

's novella ''Plan de Evasion'' (A Plan for Escape, 1969), is set on Devil's Island. The novella tells of a French military officer sent to the archipelago and his interactions with the island's governor and staff. *In the fifth season of American TV series ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Case ...

,'' episode 23, "Party, Party", Niles extols Seattle's exclusive

Safari Club The Safari Club was a covert alliance of intelligence services formed in 1976 that ran clandestine operations around Africa at a time when the United States Congress had limited the power of the CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), k ...

, saying "These are the people who introduced

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

to Devil's Island!" *Alexander Miles's 1988 history of Devil's Island, including an analysis of Charrière's "memoir" based on the records of the penal colony, show that most of the latter account did not happen, were embellishments, or were feats ascribed to others. Although prisoners were not treated well, conditions were not as bad as in Charrière's account. *In the 2003 episode "

Bend Her "Bend Her" is the thirteenth episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series ''Futurama''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on July 20, 2003. In the episode, Bender changes into a female robot an ...

" of the animated comedy ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...

'', Devil's Island has independently entered the 3004 Olympics; its athletes appear to be wearing striped prison uniforms. *"Devils Island" is the title of a song by the band

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

on their 1986 album '' Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?'' The song expresses the thoughts of a prisoner on Devil's Island about to be executed. *Devil's Island has one full episode of

Dave Salmoni Dave Salmoni (born September 4, 1975) is a Canadian animal trainer, entertainer and television producer. He has his own production company, Triosphere, which is based in South Africa and specializes in wildlife films. Dave has dedicated his life ...

's ''Deadly Islands'' series dedicated to it. Aired on Animal Planet (Discovery Channel Network) in 2015, the episode documents Salmoni's exploration of the island together with talk of its flora & fauna, dangers, and past as host to a network of penitentiaries. *The life of

Vere St. Leger Goold Vere Thomas "St. Leger" Goold (2 October 1853 – 8 September 1909) was an Irish tennis player who competed for the 1879 Wimbledon All Comers' final. That year he became the first singles champion of the Irish Championships. He quickly faded fro ...

is the subject of a 2012 Irish theatrical play called ''Love All''. He was a top tennis player in the late 19th century who was convicted of murder and sentenced to Devil's Island. He committed suicide there. *Devil's Island is the title of a song by musical group

CocoRosie CocoRosie is an American musical group formed in 2003 by sisters Sierra Rose "Rosie" and Bianca Leilani "Coco" Casady. The group's music has been described as folktronica, freak folk and "New Weird America", and incorporates elements of pop, blu ...

, featured as a hidden track on the album ''

Tales of a GrassWidow ''Tales of a GrassWidow'', sometimes stylized as ''Tales of a Grasswidow'', is the fifth studio album by American musical group CocoRosie. It was released by independent record labels City Slang and Republic of Music on May 27, 2013 in the Unite ...

''. *In ''Tour de Farce'', a short film starring

The Inspector ''The Inspector'' is a series of 34 theatrical cartoon shorts produced between 1965 and 1969 by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and released through United Artists. The cartoons are dedicated to an animated version of Inspector Clouseau comical ...

, the title character accompanies a prisoner to Devil's Island. * William Willis's adventure on Devil's Island was featured in the Season 4 premiere of ''

Drunk History ''Drunk History'' is an American educational comedy television series produced by Comedy Central, based on the Funny or Die web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner in 2007. They and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are the show's exec ...

'' on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

''.'' *Devil's Island is mentioned in the plot of the 2015 sci-fi book

Seveneves ''Seveneves'' is a hard science fiction novel by Neal Stephenson published in 2015. The story tells of the desperate efforts to preserve ''Homo sapiens'' in the wake of apocalyptic events on Earth after the unexplained disintegration of the Moo ...

. In Rob Zombies 2022 movie The Munsters. Herman and Lilly vacation on the beach at Devils Island Hotel. Herman wears a prison uniform that says property of devils island penal colony.

References

Notes Further reading *Belbenoit, René. 1940. '' @#!*% on Trial''. Translated from the French by Preston Rambo. E. P Dutton & Co. Reprint by Blue Ribbon Books, New York, 1941. *Belbenoit, René. 1938. ''Dry Guillotine: Fifteen Years among the Living Dead''. Reprint: Berkley (1975). . Reprint: Bantam Books, 1971. *W.E. Allison-Booth. 1931. ''Hell's Outpost: The True Story of Devil's Island By a Man Who Exiled Himself There.'' Minton, Balch & Company, 1931. *Seaton, George John. ''Isle of the Damned: Twenty Years in the Penal Colony of French Guinea''. Farrar, Straus and Young, 1951. Also published in England as ''Scars Are My Passport''. *Charrière, Henry. ''Papillon''. Reprints: Hart-Davis Macgibbon Ltd. 1970. (hbk); Perennial, 2001. (sbk). *Godfroy Marion, ''Bagnards'', Tallandier, 2008. *Godfroy Marion, ''Bagnards,'' édition du chêne, 2002 (Ranked as "Best coffee table book of the year" by ''Le Monde''). *

,
Dossier de presse Îles du Salut
'' *Rickards, Colin. ''The Man From Devil's Island'' Peter Dawnay Ltd., London, 1968. Hardback *Nicol Smith, ''Black Martinique, Red Guiana,'' 1942. *Willis, William. 1959. ''Damned and Damned Again: The True Story of the Last Escape from Devil's Island''. New York:

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

External links

"Devil's Island French Penal Colony"
Salvation Army history * {{Coord, 5.293611, N, 52.583056, W, display=title Cayenne Dreyfus affair Defunct prisons in French Guiana 19th century in French Guiana Former penal colonies 20th century in French Guiana