Ushuaia Prison: history and famous inmates of the End of the World prison

Before Ushuaia: Isla de los Estados

Argentina first ran a military prison on Isla de los Estados (Staten Island), next to the San Juan de Salvamento lighthouse, the “Lighthouse at the End of the World”, from 1884 to 1889. It moved to Puerto Cook in 1900 and, because of the cold and damp, it was then moved to the main island of Tierra del Fuego (Wikipedia (Spanish): Penal de Ushuaia).

On 30 November 1902, 36 prisoners were taken to Ushuaia to build the new prison. A week later, the 83 still at Puerto Cook mutinied. 51 escaped in small boats: seven died and 39 were recaptured.

What the prison was like

Building started in 1902. At its peak it had:

• Five two-storey wings arranged like a star around a central hall.
• 380 cells of about four square metres, with 60 cm stone walls.
• More than 540 inmates and about 250 guards and wardens.

There was no perimeter wall, only a wire fence: the climate and the isolation did the rest. Inmates learned to read, were paid for their work and ran carpentry, blacksmith, printing, mechanics and shoemaking workshops. Well-behaved prisoners cut firewood in the forest, carried there by a small train to what is now Tierra del Fuego National Park. That line is the origin of today’s End of the World Train (Tren del Fin del Mundo). In the 1920s the prisoners even had a band that played for locals on Sundays.

Famous inmates

• Cayetano Santos Godino, “el Petiso Orejudo”: Argentina’s first serial killer. He arrived in 1923 and died in the prison on 15 November 1944.
• Simón Radowitzky: the anarchist who killed Buenos Aires police chief Ramón Falcón in 1909. He was pardoned in 1930.
• Political prisoners, including the writer Ricardo Rojas and Radical Party politicians in the 1930s.

The famous 1918 escape

On 7 November 1918, helped by Argentine and Chilean anarchists, Radowitzky walked out dressed as a guard and boarded a schooner. A Chilean Navy ship intercepted it; he had already swum ashore, but was caught hours later walking towards Punta Arenas and sent back to Ushuaia two weeks later, where he was punished with two years of solitary confinement on half rations (Wikipedia: Simón Radowitzky).

Closure and the museum today

The prison was closed on 21 March 1947 by order of President Juan Domingo Perón, and the building passed to the Navy. Wing 3 was briefly reopened in 1958 for political detainees.

Today it is the Maritime and Prison Museum, at the corner of Yaganes and Gobernador Paz streets, in Ushuaia. Check the museum’s official website for opening hours and tickets before you go.

Our podcast, Long Beach Club, is recorded in Ushuaia and is in Spanish. Two episodes tell these stories in depth.