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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), [ 2 ] inmates included political prisoners (such as 239 republicans who opposed Napoleon III's coup d'état in 1851) and the most hardened of thieves and murderers.
Devil's Island (French: Île du Diable) is the smallest of the Salvation Islands, an island group in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately 14 km (9 mi) off the coast of French Guiana in South America just north of the town of Kourou. It has an area of 14 ha (34.6 acres).
Dreyfus' prison sentence on Devil's Island had taken its toll on his health. He was granted retirement from the army in October 1907 at the age of 48. As a reserve officer, he re-entered the army as a major of artillery at the outbreak of World War I. Serving throughout the war, Dreyfus was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
On 12 March 1895, after a difficult voyage of fifteen days, the ship anchored off the Îles du Salut. Dreyfus stayed one month in prison on Île Royale and was transferred to Devil's Island on 14 April 1895. Apart from his guards, he was the only inhabitant of the island and he stayed in a stone hut 4 by 4 metres (13 ft × 13 ft). [92]
Jules René Lucien Belbenoît (French pronunciation: [ʁəne bɛlbənwa]; 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) [1] and Hell on Trial (1940), [2] about his exploits.
The book is an account of a 14-year period in Papillon's life (October 26, 1931, to October 18, 1945), beginning when he was wrongly convicted of murder in France and sentenced to a life of hard labor at the Bagne de Cayenne, the penal colony of Cayenne in French Guiana known as Devil's Island.
Kourou is the port of departure for those going to the Iles du Salut, of which the most famous is Devil's Island. It is also common for many to go up the river in canoes on weekends to camp in the forest. The Guiana Space Centre, where the European Space Agency starts missions, is located a little behind and outside the town. Part of the town ...
George John Seaton (born December 3, 1900, in France), was an English man who was sentenced to imprisonment on Devil's Island in French Guiana. Seaton was one of the last prisoners to escape the island before it was officially closed as a prison colony. After escaping his imprisonment, Seaton went into servitude for local farmers.