Marie LaFarge

Marie-Fortunée LaFarge, née Capelle (January 15, 1816 - November 7, 1852) was a Frenchwoman who was convicted of murdering her husband by arsenic poisoning in 1840. Her case became notable because it was one of the first trials to be followed by the public through daily newspaper reports as well as the first person convicted largely on direct forensic toxicological evidence. However, questions about her guilt had divided French society to the extent that it is often compared to the better-known Dreyfus affair.

Aftermath

While imprisoned Marie wrote her Mémoires, which was published in 1841.

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At last, on June 1852, stricken with tuberculosis, she was released by Napoleon III. She settled in Ussat in the département of Ariège and died on November 7 of the same year, protesting her innocence to the last. She was buried in the cemetery of Ornolac.

Related Topics:
June - 1852 - Tuberculosis - Napoleon III - Ussat - Département - Ariège - November 7 - Ornolac

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For Charles Lachaud, the LaFarge case was his baptism of fire. He later achieved greater fame defending François Achille Bazaine against charges of treason, and was able to defend successfully another woman named Marie ? last name Bière ? in 1880.

Related Topics:
François Achille Bazaine - 1880

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As for the foundry, it was bought again by the Carthusian monks in 1860 and flourished as a monastery as before until it was sold again in 1904. It served as a shelter for children in World War I, then as a sanitorium for women and children run by the département of the Seine until January 5, 1965, when it became a shelter for semi-handicapped children. Finally on January, 2005, it was purchased by the département of Corrèze.

Related Topics:
1860 - 1904 - World War I - Seine - January 5 - 1965 - January - 2005 - Corrèze

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The story of Marie LaFarge got the cinematic treatment in 1937 with the release of the film L'Affaire LaFarge, directed by Pierre Chenal, with Marcelle Chantal as Marie and Pierre Renoir as Charles. The film itself is notable for being the first French film to use flashbacks as a narrative device. Of course, as with the real-life case, the film was not free from controversy as the grand-niece of Charles Lafarge sued the film's producers for defaming the memory of her great-uncle.

Related Topics:
1937 - Pierre Chenal - Marcelle Chantal - Pierre Renoir

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