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 woman to die in prison in the penal colony of French Guiana.
Biography
Bartête was born on 25 February 1863 in
Monein
Monein (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in south-western France.
Geography Neighbouring communes
*North: Lahourcade and Pardies
*West: Lucq-de-Béarn and Cardesse
*South: Estial ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. 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 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
Albert Londres (1 November 1884 – 16 May 1932) was a French journalist and writer. One of the inventors of investigative journalism, Londres not only reported news but created it, and reported it from a personal perspective. He criticized abu ...
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, impacting over a hundred million people and manifesting itself in ...
, 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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