Émile Dubois
The grave of a man sentenced to death whom Valparaíso turned into a folk saint, covered in plaques and candles in the Playa Ancha cemetery.
In the Playa Ancha cemetery in Valparaíso, one grave receives more visitors than almost any other: that of Émile Dubois. Thank-you plaques, candles and flowers pile up around it, just as at an animita.
Who he was
He was born Louis-Amadeo Brihier Lacroix in France in 1867. In Chile he was convicted of murdering several foreign merchants in Santiago and Valparaíso between 1905 and 1906, and he was executed by firing squad in Valparaíso on 26 March 1907. He maintained his innocence to the end.
An unexpected devotion
According to Memoria Chilena, popular feeling came to doubt his guilt and people began to venerate him at his grave. Over time the image spread of a “Robin Hood” who had punished moneylenders: it is a legend, not a proven fact, but it explains how a condemned man became a folk saint people ask for favours.
Animita and grave
Strictly speaking, an animita stands where a death took place, and this is a burial site. Yet the devotion takes the same form: candles, “thank you for the favour granted” plaques and written requests. That is why it is part of the atlas.
Visiting
The map pin marks the cemetery area, not the exact grave. Check opening hours before you go, and remember it is a place of mourning for many families.