La Santé Prison (named after its location on the Rue de la Santé) (french: Maison d'arrêt de la Santé or ) is 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 ...

operated by the French Prison Service of the Ministry of Justice located in the east of the

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

district of the 14th arrondissement in southern

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

at 42 Rue de la Santé. It is one of the most famous prisons in France, with both VIP and maximum security sections. La Santé is one of the three main prisons of the Paris area, along with Fleury-Mérogis (Europe's largest prison) and Fresnes, both located in the southern suburbs.

History

The architect Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer built the prison, which was inaugurated on 20 August 1867. The prison is located on the site of a former coal market and replaced the Madelonnettes Convent in the 3rd Arrondissement, which had been used as a prison since the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. Previously, on the same site, was a ''Maison de la santé'' (House of Health), built on the orders of

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 un ...

and transferred in 1651 to what is now the

Sainte-Anne Hospital Center The Sainte-Anne Hospital Center (French: ''Centre hospitalier Sainte-Anne'') is a hospital located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, specializing in psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery, neuroimaging and addiction. With its creation dating to ...

. In 1899, after the closure and demolition of the prison Grande Roquette, convicts were transferred to La Santé either to await transfer to the Prison of St-Laurent-du-Maroni in

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

or to await execution. Initially, there were 500 cells in La Santé, which was increased to 1,000 cells in 1900. The cells are 4 metres long, 2.5m wide and 3m high. The prison has a total capacity of as many as 2,000 prisoners, divided into 14 divisions. With executions having previously been performed at the entrance to Grande Roquette, it was decided to do something similar at La Santé. The

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

was erected at the corner of the Rue de la Santé and the Boulevard Arago, on the pavement. The first execution – and the first in Paris for ten years – occurred on 6 August 1909. It was for Georges Duchemin, who had been convicted of parricide. On 7 May 1932, Eugene Boyer, a 27-year-old criminal who was denied a presidential pardon the previous day by President Paul Doumer, was to be executed by guillotine. Doumer was assassinated the day the execution was scheduled: in France, the president could reverse his decision until the last moment and obviously Boyer could not benefit from this potential "ultimate mercy", so the execution was cancelled "in extremis" (twenty minutes before the time scheduled). He was finally pardoned by

Albert Lebrun Albert François Lebrun (; 29 August 1871 – 6 March 1950) was a French politician, President of France from 1932 to 1940. He was the last president of the Third Republic. He was a member of the centre-right Democratic Republican Alliance (A ...

on 13 May – which respected the tradition of pardoning those sentenced to death the first time in the presidential office – and he was sent to prison in Guiana. He was referred to as André Baillard in the book by Henri Charrière. Nearly forty prisoners ended their lives in this place. It was also at this site that the second-last public execution in France was performed, for burglar and double murderer Max Bloch on 2 June 1939. Fifteen days later on 17 June, Eugen Weidmann, guilty of six murders, was guillotined in front of Versailles prison and on 24 June the decision was made to ban public executions. In the same decision, the death penalty was made dependent on the Court of Appeal of Seine (either

Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () was the former department of France encompassing the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris.Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cat ...

, were the first criminals to be guillotined inside the prison. During the

German Occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

, in addition to

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

criminals, there were also executions of 18

Resistance fighters Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation to propaganda, hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, r ...

and communists. Nine of them were guillotined between August 1941 and July 1942. The other nine were shot on 30 April 1944. They are memorialized by a plaque affixed to the wall of the prison at the corner of Rue Jean-Dolent and Rue de la La Santé. Plaque commémorative prison Santé

After the

Liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany inv ...

, only common criminals were executed in the courtyard of the prison (except for several FLN activists between 1958 and 1960). Those executed included

Marcel Petiot Marcel André Henri Félix Petiot (17 January 1897 – 25 May 1946) was a French medical doctor and serial killer. He was convicted of multiple murders after the discovery of the remains of 23 people in the basement of his home in Paris during W ...

in 1946, Marquis Alain de Bernardy de Sigoyer in 1947, Emile Buisson ("Public Enemy No. 1") in 1956, Jacques Fesch in 1957, and Georges Rapin, known as "Mr. Bill", in 1960. The last death sentences by

at La Santé were those of Roger Bontems and

Claude Buffet Claude Buffet (19 May 1933 – 28 November 1972) was a French criminal who was executed along with his accomplice, Roger Bontems (1936–1972), on 28 November 1972 by guillotine at La Santé Prison and buried at Ivry Cemetery. Both men had been ...

. They were the authors of an escape attempt with hostage-taking that ended with the death of the hostages in 1971. Sentenced to death at Troyes on 29 June 1972, they were executed on the following 28 November. According to them, those sentenced to death who were from the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...

region were locked in

Fresnes Prison Fresnes Prison (''French Centre pénitentiaire de Fresnes'') is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne, south of Paris. It comprises a large men's prison (''maison d'arrêt'') of about 1200 cells, a small ...

(which from 1978 would become the only prison permitted to host executions) but neither were executed due to the eventual abolition of the death penalty. The last two remaining guillotines in France are now stored in the basement of the National Centre for Guidance in Fresnes prison. In 2000, the chief doctor of the prison, Véronique Vasseur, published a book in which she denounced the very poor imprisonment conditions. The book was a shock to the public and prompted parliamentary evaluation of the situation. In 2014, the prison closed for renovations, which required 5 years to complete

The buildings

The prison features a hub-and-spoke design similar to that which had been implemented previously for the construction of

Eastern State Penitentiary The Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located at 2027 Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the Fairmount section of the city, and was operational from ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The prison is surrounded by: *Boulevard Arago to the north. *Rue Messier to the west. *Rue Jean-Dolent to the south. *Rue de la Santé to the east. One of the peculiarities of la Santé is that, until 2000, inmates were divided by geographic origin and ethnicity within the prison. One group of prisoners (those who are studying in particular) are grouped separately but most of them were arranged in four blocks: Block A:

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

Block B:

Black Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African co ...

Block C:

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Block D: rest of the world. These blocks have undergone substantial renovation since 2000. The prison was partially closed from 2014 until 2019 in order to be rehabilitated; the parole section, however, was kept in operation during this time. Prison de la Santé is now the last ''intra-muros'' prison in Paris. The other large prisons (in all categories) dependent on Paris are

Poissy Poissy () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Pisciacais'' in French. Poissy is one ...

Fleury-Mérogis Fleury-Mérogis () is a commune in the Essonne department in northern France, in the southern suburbs of Paris. The commune has the Fleury-Mérogis Prison, France's and Europe's largest prison. Population Inhabitants of Fleury-Mérogis are know ...

, Fresnes, and

Melun Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of the Seine-et-Ma ...

. Image:Entrée prison de la Santé.JPG, Main entrance of the Prison at 42 rue de la Santé. Image:Facade Nord de la prison de la Santé.jpg, North face of the La Santé Prison, taken from Boulevard Arago.

The "VIP" Section

The imprisonment of convicted "personalities" is one of the features of La Santé Prison. The area where these well-known people are imprisoned is termed the "special area" by the administration. The visiting rooms for these prisoners are at 1 rue Messier as for other prisoners (where there is nearby accommodation for visiting relatives). The movie ''Quartier V.I.P.'' is set partly there.

Some notable prisoners

* Hocine Aït Ahmed –

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n Politician (and one of the nine "historic leaders" of the FLN) *

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of t ...

Patrick Balkany Patrick Balkany (born 16 August 1948 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French politician. He is a former member of the National Assembly of France. He was representing the 5th constituency of the Hauts-de-Seine department, and is a member of The ...

*Lieutenant-colonel

Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry (; 19 October 1927 – 11 March 1963) was a French Air Force lieutenant-colonel and military air-weaponry engineer. He was the creator of the Nord SS.10/ SS.11 missiles. He attempted to assassinate French President ...

– attack of Petit-Clamart against President de Gaulle in 1962 *

Ahmed Ben Bella Ahmed Ben Bella ( ar, أحمد بن بلّة '; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 ...

–

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n Politician (and one of the nine "historic leaders" of the FLN and former President of Algeria) * François Besse – robbery, escape *

Bernard Bonnet Bernard Bonnet (born 11 February 1948), French civil servant, is best known for being the first prefect since World War II to be convicted of an offense committed in the course of his duties, his role in the "Affair of the beach huts". Early ca ...

* Pierre Botton *

Mohamed Boudiaf Mohamed Boudiaf (23 June 1919 – 29 June 1992, ar, محمد بوضياف; ALA-LC: ''Muḥammad Bū-Ḍiyāf''), also called Si Tayeb el Watani, was an Algerian political leader and one of the founders of the revolutionary National Liberat ...

–

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n Politician (and one of the nine "historic leaders" of the FLN and former President of Algeria) * Eugène Boyer * Clairvaux mutineers *

Yvan Colonna Yvan Colonna ( co, Ivanu Colonna, ; 7 April 1960 – 21 March 2022) was a French Corsican nationalist convicted for the assassination in 1998 of the prefect of Corse-du-Sud, Claude Érignac. He was beaten to death in prison by a jihadist inmate ...

– for the assassination of

Claude Érignac Claude Jean Pierre Érignac (; 15 December 1937 – 6 February 1998) was a French prefect on the island of Corsica. Érignac was born in Mende, Lozère. In the course of his political career, he had been prefect of several departments an ...

* Jacques Crozemarie *

Maurice Challe Maurice Challe (5 September 1905 – 18 January 1979) was a French general during the Algerian War, one of four generals who took part in the Algiers putsch. A native of Le Pontet, Vaucluse, and a veteran of the Second World War, Challe trans ...

– attempted coup against the France of Charles de Gaulle,

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Léon Daudet Léon Daudet (; 16 November 1867 – 2 July 1942) was a French journalist, writer, an active monarchist, and a member of the Académie Goncourt. Move to the right Daudet was born in Paris. His father was the novelist Alphonse Daudet, his moth ...

Mourad Dhina Mourad Dhina ( ar, مراد دهينة; born 6 August 1961) is an Algerian physicist and activist living in Switzerland. He is the executive director of the Alkarama non-governmental organization. Education and scientific works He obtained a m ...

–

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n Politician, imprisoned from 16 January to 4 July 2012. *

Alén Diviš Alén Diviš (26 April 190015 November 1956) was a Czech painter known for his melancholic art. Having spent much of his life abroad, often working in solitude, he remained rather unknown during his life but has had a postmortem revival in the a ...

* Antonio Ferrara – armoured car robbery, escape * Jacques Fesch * Jean Genet *

Paul Gorguloff Paul Gorguloff, originally Pavel Timofeyevich Gorgulov (russian: Павел Тимофеевич Горгулов; June 29, 1895 – September 14, 1932), was a Russian émigré and assassin who shot and fatally wounded the French Presi ...

– killer of Paul Doumer (President of France) * Willem Holleeder – infamous Dutch criminal * Cor van Hout *

Félicien Kabuga Félicien Kabuga (born 1 March 1933) is a Rwandan businessman and génocidaire who played a major role in the run-up to the Genocide of the Rwandan Tutsis. A multimillionaire,

– Financier of the 1994 Rwandan genocide *

Jérôme Kerviel Jérôme Kerviel (; born 1977) is a French rogue trader who was convicted and imprisoned in the 2008 Société Générale trading loss for breach of trust, forgery and unauthorized use of the bank's computers, resulting in losses valued at € ...

Pierre Lagaillarde Pierre Lagaillarde (; Courbevoie, 15 May 1931 – 17 August 2014) was a French politician, and a founder of the ''Organisation armée secrète'' (OAS). Lagaillarde was a lawyer at Blida in Algeria, a reserve officer of the paratroopers, and an e ...

* Younes Latifi better known as

Mister You Younes Latifi (; ar, يونس لطيفي; born 5 February 1984), better known by his stage name Mister You, is a French rapper of Moroccan descent known for his freestyles. Career Born in Paris, he was raised in the Belleville area of the capita ...

or Yougataga *

Francesc Macià Francesc Macià i Llussà (; 21 September 1859 – 25 December 1933) was a Spanish politician from Catalonia who served as the 122nd president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, and formerly an officer in the Spanish Army. Politically, he evol ...

– President of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

(Spain) * Cheb Mami *

Jacques Mesrine Jacques Mesrine (; 28 December 1936 – 2 November 1979) was a French criminal responsible for numerous murders, bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France, the US, and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made ...

– robbery, murder, escape, illegal confinement of a judge, abduction of a Canadian millionaire * Ernesto Milá *

Jean-Christophe Mitterrand Jean-Christophe Mitterrand (born 19 December 1946) is the son of former French president François Mitterrand. He was an advisor to his father on African affairs from 1986 to 1992,Didier Morville better known under the name ''Joey Starr'', a rapper from

Suprême NTM Suprême NTM (), or simply NTM, is a French hip hop band formed in 1989 in Seine-Saint-Denis. The band comprises rappers JoeyStarr and Kool Shen. Their 6 albums were released by Sony Music Entertainment. The group takes its name from the Fre ...

* Samy Naceri * Michel Neyret – remanded from 3 October 2011 to 23 May 2012 in the matter of the case of corruption in the French police in 2011 * Xavier Niel – one month on remand with a warrant of committal for "the misuse of corporate assets" in 2004 (in the "VIP area" in the former cell of

Alfred Sirven Alfred Sirven (6 January 1927, in Toulouse – 12 February 2005, in Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference cen ...

) *

Manuel Noriega Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the ''de facto'' ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritarian ruler who amassed a personal f ...

– deposed military dictator of

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

Maurice Papon Maurice Papon (; 3 September 1910 – 17 February 2007) was a French civil servant who led the police in major prefectures from the 1930s to the 1960s, before he became a Gaullist politician. When he was secretary general for the police in Bo ...

* Pascal Payet – armored car robbery, murder of a cash-escort, escape *

Gabriel Péri Gabriel Péri (Peri) (9 February 1902 — 15 December 1941) was a prominent French Communist journalist and politician, and member of the French Resistance. He was executed in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Early life Péri was ...

* Christophe Rocancourt in December 2011 *

Issei Sagawa also known as Pang or The Kobe Cannibal, was a Japanese murderer, cannibal, and necrophiliac known for the killing of Renée Hartevelt in Paris in 1981. Sagawa murdered Hartevelt then mutilated, cannibalized, and performed necrophilia on her ...

* Nicolas Salvadori better known as

Seth Gueko Nicolas Salvadori (; born 27 October 1980), better known by his stage name Seth Gueko (, ), is a French rapper. He has released two albums that have charted in France and a number of street albums and mixtapes. Career Nicolas Salvadori was bor ...

Ilich Ramírez Sánchez Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (; born 12 October 1949), also known as Carlos the Jackal ( es, link=no, Carlos el Chacal) or simply Carlos, is a Venezuelan convicted of terrorist crimes, and currently serving a life sentence in France for the 1975 murder ...

, called ''Carlos (The Jackal)''Davies, Lizzie.
Manuel Noriega, former ruler of Panama, sent to jail by French judge
" ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Tuesday 27 April 2010. Retrieved on 21 May 2010. "Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the Venezuelan terrorist better known as Carlos the Jackal, is currently serving a life sentence there.."Souchard, Pierre-Antoine.
Panama's ex-dictator Noriega jailed in France
" ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

''. Tuesday 27 April 2010. Retrieved on 20 May 2010. *

Victor Serge Victor Serge (; 1890–1947), born Victor Lvovich Kibalchich (russian: Ви́ктор Льво́вич Киба́льчич), was a Russian revolutionary Marxist, novelist, poet and historian. Originally an anarchist, he joined the Bolsheviks fi ...

* Claude Sigala – main protagonist in the Coral Case *

Albert Spaggiari Albert Spaggiari (14 December 1932 – 8 June 1989), nicknamed Bert, was a French criminal chiefly known as the organizer of a break-in into a Société Générale bank in Nice, France, in July 1976. Early life Albert Spaggiari was born on 14 D ...

* Bruno Sulak (called the "

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin (French pronunciation: ʁsɛn lypɛ̃ is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazi ...

of the 80s": 1955–1985 ; died from wounds after an attempted escape) *

Bernard Tapie Bernard Roger Tapie (; 26 January 1943 – 3 October 2021) was a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Minister of City Affairs in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy. Life and career Tapie was bor ...

Phan Chau Trinh Phan Châu Trinh (Chữ Hán: 潘周楨, 9 September 1872 – 24 March 1926), courtesy name Tử Cán (梓幹), pen name Tây Hồ (西湖) or Hi Mã (希馬), was an early 20th-century Vietnamese nationalist. He sought to end France's colonial oc ...

(Vietnam Sep 1914–July 1915) *

Lucio Urtubia Lucio Urtubia Jiménez (1931–2020) was a Spanish anarchist known for his practice of expropriative anarchism through forgery. At times compared to Robin Hood, Urtubia carried out bank robberies and forgeries throughout the 1960s and 1970s. ...

–

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

anarchist * Élie Yaffa better known as

Booba Élie Yaffa (; born 9 December 1976), better known under his stage name Booba, is a French rapper. After a brief stint as a break dancer in the early 1990s, Booba partnered with his friend Ali to form Lunatic. The duo released a critically a ...

Jean-Luc Brunel Jean-Luc Brunel (1946 – 19 February 2022) was a French model scout. He gained prominence by leading the international modelling agency Karin Models, and founded MC2 Model Management, with financing by Jeffrey Epstein. The subject of a '' 60 Min ...

, the former head of a French model agency who was accused of supplying young girls to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, was found hanged in his cell 2/19/2022.

Escapes

*1927:

escaped 13 days after his imprisonment with Joseph Delest with a false order of release given to the prison director. *8 May 1978:

, François Besse, and Carman Rives (who was killed during the escape). *May 1986: Michel Vaujour escaped in a helicopter piloted by his wife at the time, Nadine Vaujour. These are the only known escapes from this prison.

Around the prison

''À la bonne Santé''

In front of the exit of the prison there was a cafe called ''À la bonne Santé'' (In good health). Relatives of the prisoners would meet there with released prisoners. Scenes from several films took place and were filmed there. The cafe closed in 1980. Currently the premises are used by the prison administration.

La Santé in popular culture

, a fictional character by

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French c ...

, was taken prisoner at La Santé prison at the end of his debut, the short story "The Arrest of Arsène Lupin," and in the novel ''813'' (1910). *La Santé Prison was the supposed scene of the movie ''

Le Trou ''The Hole'' (french: Le Trou) is a 1960 French crime film directed by Jacques Becker. It is an adaptation of José Giovanni's 1957 book '' The Break''. It was called ''The Night Watch'' when first released in the United States, but is released ...

'' (The Hole) (1960), directed by Jacques Becker. During preparations for the escape of prisoners through the sewers the street names can be seen on signs in the sewers and there is an exterior view of the prison at the corner of the Boulevard Arago and Rue de la Santé. *In the song "L'argent ne fait pas le bonheur" (Money does not buy happiness) (1966) from the group ''Les Parisiennes'': "Take all your lothesgaily under your arm and leave without paying / We will bring you oranges at La Santé". *

Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and a ...

evokes La Santé Prison in his song ''La femme d'Hector'' (Hector's wife): "When one takes us by hand / god darned good in a bag / And one sends us to plant / Cabbages at La Santé" as well as his song ''Le mauvais sujet repenti'' (The evil-doer repents): "After a century, was thrown / At the door of La Santé". *Yves Duteil evokes empathy of a passer-by for the prisoners of La Santé in his song ''Le mur de la prison d'en face'' (The prison wall opposite). * For the episode Broken Wing Television Series ''Leverage''. Season Five Episode Eight "The Broken Wing Job." (9 Sep. 2012) of U.S. television drama '

Leverage Leverage or leveraged may refer to: *Leverage (mechanics), mechanical advantage achieved by using a lever * ''Leverage'' (album), a 2012 album by Lyriel *Leverage (dance), a type of dance connection *Leverage (finance), using given resources to ...

', Parker served an unknown amount of time in La Sante. Afterwards, she declared that the best meal she ever ate was in that prison and that she didn't serve as long as they thought she would there. *The novel "A Cold Death" by Michael Mandaville uses La Santé Prison to show the attempted assassination of

. *In Georges Simenon's Maigret series novel "A Man's Head", La Sante Prison features greatly in the first chapter. *In '' Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?'', Lobelia Carlini was detained in La Santé for 1,000-year-long sentence. *La Sante is the subject of a 2016 episode in the Arte TV Series ''Architectures''. In this episode, the design and aesthetic values of the building are studied.

References

*Jacques Hillairet, ''Historical Dictionary of the Streets of Paris'',

Les Éditions de Minuit Les Éditions de Minuit (, ''Midnight Press'') is a French publishing house. It was founded in 1941, during the French Resistance of World War II, and is still publishing books today. History Les Éditions de Minuit was founded by writer and i ...

, 1985, , Vol. 2, p. 503

External links

La Santé - Etablissement pénitentiaire - maison d'arrêt
- Ministry of France {{DEFAULTSORT:La Sante Prison Prisons in Paris Buildings and structures in the 14th arrondissement of Paris 1867 establishments in France Buildings and structures completed in 1867

History

The buildings

The "VIP" Section

Some notable prisoners

Escapes

Around the prison

''À la bonne Santé''

La Santé in popular culture

References

Further reading

External links