Overlooked? Other black heroes in French history
The Chevalier de Saint-George (1745-1799)
Illegitimate
son of a slave and a plantation owner, Joseph Boulogne, his given name,
came from Guadeloupe. Taken to Paris at 14, he became a superb
swordsman and an even better composer, known as "The Black Mozart".
Fêted at court, he later supported the Revolution. In 1792 he became
colonel of a corps of 1,000 black troops, the Légion de Saint-George,
defeating counter-revolutionary forces. He later narrowly escaped the
guillotine, dying in poverty.
Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (1762-1806)
The
son of a slave, Dumas enlisted in the French army in 1786 and after the
Revolution, became a leading officer in the Légion de Saint-George. He
fought with distinction in several campaigns – the Austrians nicknamed
him "the black devil" – and became a general. But he fell from favour
after questioning the wisdom of Napoleon's Egypt campaign and, like the
Chevalier de Saint-George, died in poverty. He did, however, leave a
son, Alexandre Dumas, père, author of 'The Three Musketeers' and father
of Alexandre Dumas, fils.
Jean-Baptiste Belley (c1746-1805)
A
Senegal-born slave taken to Saint-Domingue (later Haiti), Belley
managed to purchase his freedom, fought in the Haitian revolution of
1791 and in 1793 was elected (as member for Saint-Domingue) to France's
National Convention. He also sat on the Council of 500. He took part in
the debate in February 1794 in which the Covention voted to abolish
slavery, but lost his seat in 1797. He spent the last three years of
his life in prison in France after taking part in an ill-fated
expedition to return Saint-Domingue to French rule.
Gaston Monnerville (1897-1991)
One
of the most powerful men in France for two decades, Monnerville grew up
in French Guyana, the grandson of a slave, and studied in Toulouse,
becoming a lawyer. Having served as undersecretary of state for the
colonies, he joined the Navy at the start of the war and was at sea at
the time of France's capitulation. He attacked the "public lies" of the
Vichy regime and was active in the Resistance. A delegate to the First
and Second Constituent Assemblies of the Fourth Republic, he was
President of the Council of the Republic from 1947-59. He was then
President of the Senate until 1968.
Félix Eboué (1884-1944)
Born
in French Guyana, Eboué was a respected colonial administrator,
appointed governor of Chad just before the Second World War. Following
the armistice of June 1940, he ensured that, in contrast to many of
France's African colonies, Chad aligned itself with General de Gaulle's
Free French rather than the Vichy regime – which sentenced him to death
in absentia. Eboué's brave move was crucial in giving de Gaulle
legitimacy and a power-base in Africa. Made governor-general of French
Equatorial Africa and later a member of the Council of the Order of the
Liberation, Eboué died a few months before the liberation of Paris. His
ashes rest in the Panthéon, yet he has faded from public memory.