Marie Bartête (25 February 1863 – 13 March 1938) was a French prisoner. She was sentenced on 4 June 1888 for shoplifting,
and was the last women to die in prison in the penal colony of French Guiana.
Biography
Bartête was born on 25 February 1863 in
Monein
Monein (; oc, Monenh) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.
Geography Neighbouring Communes
*North: Lahourcade and Pardies
*West: Lucq-de-Béarn and Cardesse
*South: Estialescq and Lasseube
*East: ...
,
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 ...
. She was abandoned by her mother, and became an orphan at the age of 9. She married at the age of 15, and became a widow at the age of 20.
She was arrested and imprisoned for shoplifting several times.
In 1888, Bartête was accused of "detestable conduct and morals".
On 4 June, she was sentenced to 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 ...
in French Guiana.
Bartête received the right to marry a former convict of the penal colony,
because the authorities wanted to populate the colony.
In 1923, the investigative journalist
Albert Londres visited Bartête in prison, and wrote down her story in ''Au Bagne'' (1923).
During her stay in the prison, she contracted
Elephantiasis tropica
Lymphatic filariasis is a human disease caused by parasitic worms known as filarial worms. Usually acquired in childhood, it is a leading cause of permanent disability worldwide. While most cases have no symptoms, some people develop a syndrom ...
, and became disfigured.
Bartête died on 13 March 1938
as the last women to die in the penal colony.
In 2014, a monument was erected in Monein near her place of birth.
References
Bibliography
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1863 births
1938 deaths
French female criminals
French prisoners and detainees
People from Béarn
Prisoners who died in French detention
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