La Santé Prison
Encyclopedia
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
operated by the Ministry of Justice located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is one of the most famous prisons in France, with both VIP and high security wings.
La Santé is one of the three main prisons of the Paris area, the Fleury-Mérogis Prison
Fleury-Mérogis Prison
Fleury-Mérogis Prison is a prison in France, located in the town of Fleury-Mérogis, in the southern suburbs of Paris. With 3,800 prisoners, it is the largest prison in Europe ...
(Europe's largest prison) and the Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...
, both located in the southern suburbs, being the other two.
History
The architect Vaudremer built the prison, which was inaugurated on 20 August 1867.During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the prison was used to hold both common criminals as well as opponents of the German occupation. On Bastille Day
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...
in 1944, as Allied forces were approaching the city, the prisoners revolted, an insurrection that was put down with great brutality and loss of life by the Vichy Milice
Milice
The Milice française , generally called simply Milice, was a paramilitary force created on January 30, 1943 by the Vichy Regime, with German aid, to help fight the French Resistance. The Milice's formal leader was Prime Minister Pierre Laval, though its chief of operations, and actual leader, was...
.
The prison features a hub-and-spoke design similar to that which had been previously implemented in the construction of Eastern State Penitentiary
Eastern State Penitentiary
The Eastern State Penitentiary is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located on 2027 Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia and was operational from 1829 until 1971...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
In 2000, the head doctor of the prison, Veronique Vasseur, published a book in which she denounced the very bad conditions of imprisonment, filth, illnesses, etc. The book was a shock to the public and prompted parliamentary evaluation of the situation.
Well-known prisoners of La Santé
- Guillaume ApollinaireGuillaume ApollinaireWilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki, known as Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic born in Italy to a Polish mother....
- Alén DivišAlén DivišAlén Diviš was a Czech painter known for his melancholic art. Having spent much of his life abroad, often working in solitude, he remained rather unknown during his life but has had a postmortem revival in the art world....
- Jean GenetJean GenetJean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
- Paul GorguloffPaul GorguloffPaul Gorguloff, originally Pavel Timofeyevich Gorgulov was a Russian emigre who assassinated French President Paul Doumer at a book fair in 1932. Gorgulov was born in Labinskaya, Russia and died at La Santé prison in Paris, France by guillotine. His defence of insanity was rejected...
- killer of President of France Paul DoumerPaul DoumerJoseph Athanase Paul Doumer, commonly known as Paul Doumer was the President of France from 13 June 1931 until his assassination.-Biography:... - Jacques FeschJacques FeschJacques Fesch was the murderer of a French police officer, who became such a devout Roman Catholic while in prison awaiting execution that he has been proposed for canonization as a saint.-Early life:Fesch's father was a wealthy banker of Belgian origin, an artist and atheist, distant from his son...
- Willem HolleederWillem HolleederWillem Frederik Holleeder is perhaps one of the best known Dutch criminals. In 2007 he was sentenced to nine years in prison for several counts of extortion, including the extortion of Willem Endstra, who was murdered in 2004 after falling-out with Holleeder. He is currently serving his sentence...
- infamous Dutch criminal - Jérôme KervielJérôme KervielJérôme Kerviel is a French trader who has a pending appeal of his conviction in the January 2008 Société Générale trading loss incident for breach of trust, forgery and unauthorized use of the bank's computers, resulting in losses valued at €4.9 billion.Société Générale characterizes Kerviel...
- Arsène LupinArsène LupinArsène Lupin is a fictional character who appears in a book series of detective fiction / crime fiction novels written by French writer Maurice Leblanc, as well as a number of non-canonical sequels and numerous film, television such as Night Hood, stage play and comic book adaptations.- Overview :A...
- fictitious character - Jacques MesrineJacques MesrineJacques Mesrine was the most famous criminal in modern French history. He was responsible for numerous bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made international headlines during a final period as a fugitive when his exploits...
- Francesc Macià
- Lucio UrtubiaLucio UrtubiaLucio Urtubia Jiménez is a Spanish anarchist famous for his practice of expropriative anarchism. At times compared to Robin Hood, Urtubia carried out bank robberies and forgeries throughout the 1960s and 1970s...
- anarchist - Ernesto MiláErnesto MiláErnesto Milá Rodríguez is a Spanish neo-Nazi political activist and, according to some sources, CESID operative.- Early years :...
- Catalan Neo-Nazi - Manuel NoriegaManuel NoriegaManuel Antonio Noriega Moreno is a Panamanian politician and soldier. He was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989.The 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States removed him from power; he was captured, detained as a prisoner of war, and flown to the United States. Noriega was tried on...
- deposed military dictator of PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The... - Maurice PaponMaurice PaponMaurice Papon was a French civil servant, industrial leader and Gaullist politician, who was convicted for crimes against humanity for his participation in the deportation of over 1600 Jews during World War II when he was secretary general for police of the Prefecture of Bordeaux.Papon also...
- Marcel PetiotMarcel PetiotMarcel André Henri Félix Petiot was a French doctor and serial killer. He was convicted of multiple murders after the discovery of the remains of 26 people in his home in Paris during World War II...
- Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, aka Carlos the Jackal
- Issei SagawaIssei Sagawais a Japanese man who in 1981 murdered and cannibalized a Dutch woman named Renée Hartevelt. After his release, he became a minor celebrity in Japan and made a living through the public's interest in his crime.-Early life:...
- Victor SergeVictor SergeVictor Serge , born Victor Lvovich Kibalchich , was a Russian revolutionary and writer. Originally an anarchist, he joined the Bolsheviks five months after arriving in Petrograd in January 1919 and later worked for the Comintern as a journalist, editor and translator...
- Bernard TapieBernard TapieBernard Tapie is a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Ministre de la Ville in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy, a businessman specializing in recovery for bankrupted companies, among which Adidas is the most famous ; and owner of sports teams...
- Cheb MamiCheb MamiAhmed Khelifati Mohamed better known by his stage name Cheb Mami , is an Algerian-born raï singer...
- Cor van Hout
- Seth Gueko
External links
- La Santé - Etablissement pénitentiaire - maison d'arrêt - Ministry of France