Françoise Claustre (8 February 1937 – 3 September 2006), was a French
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
.
Life and career
Claustre was taken hostage
by a group of Chadian rebels, led by
Hissène Habré, on 20 April 1974, at
Bardaï, in the
Tibesti Mountains of northern Chad. At the same time, the rebels also seized a German doctor,
Christophe Staewen
Dr. Christoph Staewen (14 July 1926 – 24 April 2002) was a German medical doctor, specialist of psychiatry, neurology and psychotherapy. In 1963 and early 1964 he visited parts of west and central Africa, amongst others the Tibesti region. In 1 ...
, and
Marc Combe Marc or MARC may refer to:
People
* Marc (given name), people with the first name
* Marc (surname), people with the family name
Acronyms
* MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging,
* MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...
, who was an assistant of Claustre's husband, Pierre.
Marc Combe managed to escape and Staewan was released on 11 June 1974, after a ransom had been paid by the West German government.
Military officer
Pierre Galopin was sent to negotiate with the rebels on behalf of the French and Chadian Governments, but he was captured by them in August 1974, and executed in April 1975 after the French government refused to exchange him for arms.
Claustre's husband, a senior French development worker, was away on business when the attack on Bardaï took place. He lobbied strongly to get his wife released, and also attempted to intervene himself, but was captured by the rebels in August 1975. Habré then threatened to kill the Claustres unless a large ransom was paid. A sum was paid by the French government, but this was insufficient to secure the release of the hostages.
France then resorted to diplomacy, seeking support from the Libyan leader,
Muammar al-Gaddafi. Gaddafi's intervention led to the release of Pierre and Françoise Claustre, in Tripoli, on 1 February 1977.
After her release, Claustre returned to working as an archaeologist in France. In an interview with ''
Paris Match,'' she said that she wanted to return to anonymity. In 1990, her story was made into a film by
Raymond Depardon, ''
La Captive du désert
''Captive of the Desert'' (french: La captive du désert) is a 1990 French drama film directed by Raymond Depardon. It was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. It was based in part on the experiences of Françoise Claustre who was captured ...
'', starring
Sandrine Bonnaire. Depardon had also visited the rebels and interviewed Claustre during her captivity. The resulting broadcast had generated considerable public interest, encouraging the subsequent action by the French government.
Claustre, who was born in
Paris, died at her home in
Montauriol,
Pyrénées-Orientales
Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...
, France, in September 2006, at the age of 69.
See also
*
List of kidnappings
The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each individual case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.
Before 1900
1900–1949
...
*
List of solved missing person cases
References
Books
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claustre, Francoise
1937 births
1970s missing person cases
2006 deaths
20th-century archaeologists
20th-century French women
Archaeologists from Paris
Formerly missing people
French ethnologists
French people taken hostage
French women archaeologists
Foreign hostages in Chad
Kidnapped French people