Penal Colony - Non-fiction

Non-fiction

• "Papillon" is the title of Henri Charriere's 20th Century autobiographical novel concerning a Frenchman interned on a penal colony in French Guiana, and the 1973 movie directed by Franklin J. Schaffner.

Charrière's account aroused considerable controversy. French authorities disputed it and released penal colony records that contradicted his account. Charrière had never been imprisoned on Devil's Island. He had escaped from a mainland prison. French journalists or prison authorities disputed other elements of his book, and said that he had invented many incidents or appropriated experiences of other prisoners.7 Critics said he should have admitted his book was fiction.7