Henri Charrière (16 November 1906 - July 29, 1973) was chiefly known as the author of Papillon, a memoir of his incarceration in a penal colony on French Guiana. The book details his numerous escapes, attempted escapes, adventures and recaptures from his imprisonment in 1931 to his final escape to Venezuela, where he became a resident in 1945, married, and opened a restaurant in Caracas. The book's title is Charrière's nickname, derived from a butterfly tattoo on his chest. The veracity of his account has been questioned but he always maintained that, excepting minor lapses in memory, it was entirely true. What follows is a summary of Charrière's life as recorded in Papillon. November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 1906 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... Categories: Literature stubs ... French Guiana ( French: Guyane) is an overseas département (département doutre-mer, or DOM) of France, located on the Caribbean coast of South America. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Cerro Avila, Caracas. ... Families Superfamily Hesperioidea: Hesperiidae Superfamily Papilionoidea: Papilionidae Pieridae Nymphalidae Lycaenidae Riodinidae A butterfly is a flying insect of the order Lepidoptera belonging to one of the superfamilies Hesperioidea (the skippers) and Papilionoidea (all other butterflies). ... This article is about the tattoo, a design in ink or some other pigment, usually decorative or symbolic, placed permanently under the skin. ... Categories: Literature stubs ...

Charrière was a safe-cracker of the Paris underworld, framed for the murder of a pimp, Roland le Petit. He was convicted and sentenced to hard labour for life on 26 October 1931. After a brief imprisonment in Caen he was sent to the penal colony in French Guiana. In 1933 he successfully escaped from a hospital on the mainland with two companions, sailing along the coast via Trinidad and Curaçao to Riohacha in Colombia. Here they were caught and imprisoned; Charrière escaped alone to Guajira. Here he spent several months living in a native village, taking two wives during his stay there. Eventually he left and headed westward, but was captured and imprisoned at Santa Marta, and later transferred to Barranquilla. In spite of numerous audacious attempts, he failed to escape from these prisons and was finally extradited back to French Guiana in 1934. For the escape he spent two years in solitary confinement on the island of Saint-Joseph. Upon release he was transferred to the island of Royale, where another escape attempt was foiled by an informer. After another nineteen months in solitary for the escape attempt and the murder of the informer, he feigned madness and attempted another escape from the mental hospital on Saint-Joseph. Finally he was transferred to Devil's Island. Here he finally succeeded in escaping, flinging himself into the ocean from a cliff with a bag of coconuts as a raft. Having reached the mainland, he escaped by boat to Georgetown. From here he and five others continued by sea to Venezuela, where they were captured and imprisoned in El Dorado. Charrière was finally freed on 18 October 1945. The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... A prison is a place in which people are confined and deprived of a range of liberties. ... Location within France Caen is a city and a commune of northwestern France. ... French Guiana ( French: Guyane) is an overseas département (département doutre-mer, or DOM) of France, located on the Caribbean coast of South America. ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... A hospital today is an institution for professional health care provided by physicians and nurses. ... Trinidad (Spanish, Trinity) most commonly refers to the larger island of the nation Trinidad and Tobago, the subject of this article. ... Curaçao and Bonaire are two Caribbean islands Curaçao [pronounced koo-rah-sow] (population 150,000) is an island in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea, one of the Windward Islands of the Netherlands Antilles, a self-governing part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. ... The Republic of Colombia is a country in north-western South America. ... Categories: Departments of Colombia | Stub ... Santa Marta was the first city to be founded in Colombia and South America. ... A Colombian fisherman casts his line as the sun sets near Barranquilla, Colombia Barranquilla is the major industrial city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. ... French Guiana ( French: Guyane) is an overseas département (département doutre-mer, or DOM) of France, located on the Caribbean coast of South America. ... 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Solitary confinement is a punishment in which a prisoner is denied contact with any other persons, excluding guards. ... A small island in the Adriatic sea An island is any piece of land smaller than a continent and larger than a rock, that is completely surrounded by water. ... Devils Island (French Île du Diable), is an island located off the coast of French Guiana. ... Georgetown, estimated population 75,000 (1985), is the capital and largest city of Guyana. ... The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela)1 is a country in northern South America. ... El Dorado is the name of a mythical country of gold which was supposedly in South America. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...