The Butterfly Man

Henri Charriere lived in Paris in 1920s. He was a famous thief and a bank robber. He had a tattoo of a butterfly on his chest that’s why people named him ‘Papillion’. In 1931, the police arrested Papillion for a murder. He admitted that he committed other crimes but said that he didn’t murder anyone. He wasn’t guilty but the police didn’t listen to him and they sent him to a prison in South America. The prison was for dangerous criminals.

 

Papillion tried to escape from the prison many times. Once, he escaped in a boat and lived in a village in the jungle for a few months. But the police found him and he went back to prison. Every time he escaped, the police found him and put him back in prison.

 

At last, they sent him to a prison on Devil’s Island. This was a place that prisoners could never escape, but of course this didn’t stop Papillion. He wanted to be free. After spending 13 years in prison, one day he jumped off a cliff into the sea and escaped.

 

He went to Venezuela and met the love of his life Rita. They got married soon. Papillion ran a nightclub and became a businessman. However, one day, an earthquake ruined the area and his nightclub. After this event, he decided to go to France and write a book that told his life story. The book was a great success and Henri became rich and famous. He died in 1973 and in the same year they made a Hollywood movie based on his book.