Acarouany
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Acarouany | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Acarouany Location in French Guiana | |
| Coordinates: 5°35′35″N 53°48′55″W / 5.5930°N 53.8154°W | |
| Country | France |
| Overseas region | French Guiana |
| Arrondissement | Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni |
| Commune | Mana |
Acarouany is a village in the Mana commune of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in French Guiana. Acarouany was the location of a leper colony between 1833 and 1979. From 1989 until 1992, it was the location of a Surinamese refugee camp. The village is located on the Acarouany River.
In 1828, the Ministry of the Navy and Colonies sent Sister Anne-Marie Javouhey to Mana to colonize the area.[1] Lepers up to then had been treated on the Salvation Islands. In 1833, Sister Javouhe set out to create a leprosarium south of the village of Mana on the Acarouany River.[2] At first the patients were housed in straw huts. The construction of a leprosarium with brick buildings took three years.[3]
Between 1882 and 1886, the leprosarium was directed by Paul-Louis Simond. After returning to France, he wrote his doctoral thesis Leprosy and its means of spread in French Guiana[4] for which Simond was awarded the Godard Prize.[5] Simond would later prove that the flea spread the bubonic plague.[4]
In 1947, the leprosarium was modernized and renovated. However, the Sisters still remained in charge. In 1979, the leprosarium was closed.[2]