Prisoners - The last years of the Saint-Lazare prison 1919-1932
When: 17.09.2026 00:00
Where: 48.875430, 2.353667
Organizer: Admin
After the end of the Grande Guerre all Parisians know the grim façade of the Saint-Lazare prison in the suburb of Saint-Denis. Behind the ruined walls of this former monastery punishment and treatment take place. The only women’s prison in Paris, it holds more than a thousand inmates: the accused, those sentenced to short terms, prostitutes who broke the rules, or those suffering from syphilis. The latter are treated in a special medical unit, a true prison hospital.
The fate of this institution, often compared to a plague in the heart of the capital, unfolds in the 1920s, marked by repressive natalist politics and the fear of “venereal danger”. In 1932 the prison is closed, and later partially demolished. The medical unit, initially turned into a health house for prostitutes, now houses the Françoise-Sagan media library.
The exhibition aims to make this history visible and tangible, whose traces have almost disappeared in contemporary locations. Through images, books, archives and objects from the collections of numerous institutions the path returns to the prison’s final years.
It begins with an outdoor route at Alban Satragne Square, where large-format photographs allow one to see the old prison in its urban setting. The route then continues into the media library, where the prison’s final years are examined again, along with numerous perspectives on the inmates and what they reveal about the status of women at the time, as well as subtle traces left by the women themselves: letters, graffiti, imprints that testify to the lives of these shadows of history.
The exhibition is on two sites: Alban Satragne Square and the Françoise Sagan media library
This project was initiated by the association Histoire et vies du 10e and supported by the Mairie du 10e arrondissement.
A program of tours and activities accompanies the exhibition
Tours as part of the Journées européennes du Patrimoine
Performance “Maison noire”, voiced by the singing of Cirque du Dr Paradi
Musical listening of prison-themed songs
A series of conferences in partnership with the Comité d'Histoire de la Ville de Paris
Colloquium organized by the Centre d'Histoire du XIXe siècle
Tags: feminism, prison, history
Source: https://www.paris.fr/evenements/prisonnieres-les-dernieres-annees-de-la-prison-saint-lazare-1919-1932-113922
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