Devil's Island Escapee, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, Holder of the Croix De Guerre. A medical doctor in Marseille, France, Dr. Bougrat was charged in 1925 of the murder of Jacques Rumèbe who was an accountant and collector of funds as well as a friend and patient of Dr. Bougrat. While Rumèbe's death may have been the accidental result of a medical treatment, Bougrat hid the body rather than reporting the death. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, a sentence commuted to 25 years in prison because he was awarded the Legion of Honor during the Great War. He was sent to prison on Devil's Island* (Île du Diable) which is off the coast of French Guiana in South America. In October 1928 he escaped from the prison with two other convicts. The other convicts were returned to the prison, but the government of Venezuela refused to return Dr. Bougrat. Until his death in 1962, he devoted his life to the care of the poor of Margarita Island. While he was never allowed a medical license there, the Venezuelan government did not interfere with his medical practice on the island.
Devil's Island Escapee, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, Holder of the Croix De Guerre. A medical doctor in Marseille, France, Dr. Bougrat was charged in 1925 of the murder of Jacques Rumèbe who was an accountant and collector of funds as well as a friend and patient of Dr. Bougrat. While Rumèbe's death may have been the accidental result of a medical treatment, Bougrat hid the body rather than reporting the death. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, a sentence commuted to 25 years in prison because he was awarded the Legion of Honor during the Great War. He was sent to prison on Devil's Island* (Île du Diable) which is off the coast of French Guiana in South America. In October 1928 he escaped from the prison with two other convicts. The other convicts were returned to the prison, but the government of Venezuela refused to return Dr. Bougrat. Until his death in 1962, he devoted his life to the care of the poor of Margarita Island. While he was never allowed a medical license there, the Venezuelan government did not interfere with his medical practice on the island.
Inscription
Homenaje del pueblo agradecido
a la memoria del medico francés
Dr. Pierre Bougrat
quien hallo en esta tierra un
remanso de paz y a su afecto
con el bien a través del noble
ejercicio de su profesión
1890 — 1962
Translation:
Homage of the grateful people
to the memory of French doctor
Dr. Pierre Bougrat
who found in this land
a haven of peace and affected us
with good through the noble
exercise of his profession.
Gravesite Details
Per Associated Press, he was buried between January 8 to 12 as news reports dated January 12 read: Several hundred neighbors gathered this week to bury the man. *GPS coordinates for Devil's Island are 5.2936,-52.5831.
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