Abbé Faria (died 1828) was a French soldier and prisoner who was imprisoned at the Chateau d'If from 1810 to 1828. While he was no cleric, he assumed the identity of the famous priest José Custódio de Faria due to his rededication towards God after taking prat in the burning of a Spanish church during the Peninsular War.
Biography[]
"Abbé Faria" was born in France, and he served in the French Army during the Peninsular War. In 1808, he and his regiment were forced to burn down a church to kill the Spanish guerrillas trapped inside it, and he deserted the following day to devote the rest of his life to God and repentance. Faria became private secretary to Count Enrique Spada, who taught him the liberal arts and also told him of his hidden treasure on the island of Montecristo. On Spada's death in 1810, Emperor Napoleon demanded that Faria tell him where the treasure was buried, but Faria feigned ignorance, causing Napoleon to imprison him on the Chateau d'If. Faria attempted to tunnel his way out of the prison over the course of several years, but, in 1821, he found that his tunnel led to the cell of fellow prisoner Edmond Dantès rather than to the sea. While Faria found Dantès as a depressed, pessimistic, and atheistic man, Faria promised to teach Dantès economics, mathematics, philosophy, science, and even how to read and write in exchange for Dantès' help with tunneling out of the prison. Over the next seven years, Faria transformed Dantès into a well-read, well-spoken, and well-educated man with expertise in swordsmanship and a recovering interest in God. In 1828, the two men were nearly able to reach the sea wall, but the tunnel collapsed on Faria, puncturing his lungs and mortally wounding him. Faria bequeathed Dantès with the map to Spada's hidden treasure and reminded him that God believed in him, and he died in Dantès' arms. Dantès would trade places with Faria in the latter's body bag to escape from prison that same day.
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