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A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. M. leprae , the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Africa through the Near East , Europe , and Asia by the 5th century before reaching the rest of the world ...
Pigeon Island is a 44-acre (180,000 m 2) islet located in Gros Islet in the northern region of Saint Lucia. Once isolated from the country in the Caribbean Sea , the island was artificially joined to the western coast of mainland in 1972 by a man-made causeway built from dirt excavated to form the Rodney Bay Marina.
Toussaint (c. 1890 – after 1934) was the chief of a leper colony in South America, known for his appearance in the novel Papillon. The novel recounts the escape of Henri Charrière from the French penal colony of Devil's Island in French Guiana. In 1934, Charrière, with his fellow prisoners Clusiot and Maturette, escaped from the penal colony.
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Most of these people lived in isolation and engaged in crude agriculture and fishing and most lived in great poverty. As time went on and medical advancements were made towards the curing of leprosy, the island welcomed people with non-leprosy as settlers, many of whom were the relatives and friends of the pre-existing patients. [3]
Saint Lucia was first inhabited sometime between 1000 and 500 BC by the Ciboney, but there is not much evidence of their presence on the island.The first proven inhabitants were the peaceful Arawaks, believed to have come from northern South America around 200-400 AD, as there are numerous archaeological sites on the island where specimens of the Arawaks' well-developed pottery have been found.
Henri Charrière, André Maturette and Joanes Clousiot escaped from the French penal colony on Devil's Island near French Guiana. The trio would reach a leper colony on Pigeon Island, where they were given a boat and sailed to Colombia, where they were recaptured. After several other escape attempts, they would be extradited back to French Guiana.
At the end of the 19th century, a leper colony was established on the island. On December 17, 1876, the governor of Puerto Rico, Segundo de la Portilla, set the first stone of the official building to house lepers, which was completed in 1883. However, it is believed that the colony was established prior to construction of the building.