How to cite this page Comment citer cette page

1991, The statue of Josephine is decapitated

Event

has description | a une description
On the night of September 21-22, the statue was decapitated and sprayed with red paint
has type | est de type
contestation
carried out by | réalisée par
For many years, the question remained: who decapitated Josephine's statue and where is her head? The latter has fueled the wildest rumors. In 2020, doctoral student and writer Zaka Toto gave us the beginnings of an answer. As part of his research, he interviewed a number of pro-independence activists. The statue was allegedly decapitated by a group of activists called Ych Telga (Telga's children), belonging to the Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance (responsible for a series of bomb attacks in the French overseas territories and France). In 1991, in a last revolutionary gesture, they decided to decapitate the statue and throw blood on it to symbolize the blood shed by their enslaved ancestors. They didn't leave the date to chance, since September 21 and 22 are the anniversary of the insurrection in southern Martinique in 1870. In fact, the band is named after Louis Telga, one of the leaders of the insurrection. The southern insurrection, known in 1991 as the Codé affair, is considered by pro-independence groups as one of the founding acts of the Martinican nation. For them, this insurrection is the starting point of the struggle against colonialism. So it's only logical to choose the anniversary of this bloody uprising, 121 years later, to remove the statue of Josephine's head.
took place at | a eu lieu dans
Place de la Savane, Fort-de-France, Martinique, France
took place on or within | a eu lieu le ou dans l'intervalle de temps
21 September 1991
was motivated by | le déplacement a été motivé par
The beheading was one of a series of attacks on several monuments in Martinique.
resulted in | a eu pour résultat
The statue remains decapitated, and is thus listed as a Monument Historique.
is referred to by | est référencé par
Valérie-Ann Edmond Mariette et Adélaïde Marine Gougeon, « Statue de Joséphine de Beauharnais, Fort-de-France », Cast in Stone