Devil's Island (French: île du Diable) is the third largest island of the Îles du Salut 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). The island was a part of the controversial French penal colony of French Guiana for 101 years, from 1852 to 1953, but in spite of its being the smallest part of the penal colony, it is the most famous due to its use for the internal exile of political prisoners. The most famous political prisoner on Devil's Island was Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
English speakers have come to use the island's name to refer to the entire former prison system of French Guyana; however, French speakers refer to it as the Bagne de Cayenne (Cayennes penal colony).
Read more about Devil's Island: Use As Penal Colony, Aftermath, Cultural References
Famous quotes containing the words devil and/or island:
“It is said, the devil takes care of his own. Much more should a good spirit—the spirit of the Constitution and the Union—take care of its own. I think it can not do less, and live.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“Your kind doesn’t just kill men. You murder their spirits, you strangle their last breath of hope and freedom, so that you, the chosen few, can rule your slaves in ease and luxury. You’re a sadist just like the others, Heiser, with no resource but violence and no feeling but fear, the kind you’re feeling now. You’re drowning, Heiser, drowning in the ocean of blood around this barren little island you call the New Order.”
—Curtis Siodmak (1902–1988)