Louis Dega (sometimes written Louis Delga III) is the name of a character in
Henri Charrière
Henri Charrière (; 16 November 1906 – 29 July 1973) was a French writer, convicted of murder in 1931 by the French courts and pardoned in 1970. He wrote the 1969 novel '' Papillon'', a memoir of his incarceration in and escape from a p ...
's novel ''
Papillon''. In the
1973 film this character was played by
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...
and in the
2017 film the role was played by
Rami Malek. Purportedly an autobiography, few of the characters and events in ''Papillon''
could be corroborated and it is perhaps best regarded as a narrative novel, combining and embellishing the adventures of Charrière and several fellow inmates, in particular of
René Belbenoît and
Charles Brunier
Charles Brunier (31 May 1901 – 26 January 2007) was a French convicted murderer and veteran of both the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars, who claimed in 2005 to have been the inspiration for ''Papillon (book), Papillon''. ...
.
In the book, Dega is introduced as one who "had been caught up in the scandal of the counterfeit National Defense bonds", had become rich and "one of the biggest crooks" in the
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
underworld, but was exposed as the lead forger in 1929 by one "Brioulet", an arrested partner in this crime, when Dega had refused to help him to pay for a lawyer. He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment on
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 Islan ...
, where he became a companion of Charrière for 13 years. The two were first sent to a prison in
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
, where they made a deal in which Dega paid Papillon for protection, until they embarked for South America in 1932. Dega's younger brother Joseph tried to help Charrière escape from
Barranquilla
Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...
prison in
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
. The two became best friends during their sentence.
There was a real bonds counterfeit scandal, for which multiple people were arrested in
Metz
Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...
in 1925, the main forger among them one Fernand Royer born in Paris in 1881, but the names Dega or Brioulet were not associated with it. Dega likely is a fusion of two or more people Charrière had met or read about.
[ Gérard de Villiers, ''Papillon épinglé – La vérité sur le bagne et sur le Venezuela'', Presses de la cité, 1970, ]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dega, Louis
Literary characters introduced in 1969
Fictional French criminals
Male characters in literature