Aimé Césaire
Encyclopedia
Aimé Fernand David Césaire (26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French
poet
, author
and politician
from Martinique
. He was "one of the founders of the négritude
movement in Francophone literature".
, Martinique
in 1913. He traveled to Paris
to attend the Lycée Louis-le-Grand
on an educational scholarship. In Paris
, Césaire, who in 1935 passed an entrance exam for the École normale supérieure
, created, with Léopold Sédar Senghor
and Léon Damas
, the literary review L'Étudiant Noir (The Black Student). In 1936, Césaire began work on his book-length poem Cahier d'un retour au pays natal (Notebook of a Return to My Native Land, 1939), a vivid and powerful depiction of the ambiguities of Caribbean life and culture in the New World and this upon returning home to Martinique.
Césaire married fellow Martinican student Suzanne Roussi in 1937. Together they moved back to Martinique in 1939 with their young son. Césaire became a teacher at the Lycée Schoelcher in Fort-de-France
, where he taught Frantz Fanon
and served as an inspiration for, but did not teach, Édouard Glissant
. He would become a heavy influence for Fanon as both a mentor and a contemporary throughout Fanon's short life.
were ones of great intellectual activity for the Césaires. In 1941, Aimé Césaire and Suzanne Roussi founded the literary review Tropiques, with the help of other Martinican intellectuals such as René Ménil
and Aristide Maugée, in order to challenge the cultural status quo and alienation that then characterized Martinican identity. Many run-ins with censorship did not deter Césaire from being an outspoken defendant of Martinican identity. He also became close to French surrealist poet André Breton
, who spent time in Martinique during the war. (The two had met in 1940, and Breton would champion Cesaire's work.)
In 1947 he was finally able to publish his long poem "Cahier d'un retour au pays natal" ("Notebook of a Return to the Native Land"), which had first been published in the Parisian periodical Volontés in 1939. The book mixes poetry and prose to express his thoughts on the cultural identity of black Africans in a colonial setting. Breton contributed a laudatory introduction to this 1947 edition, saying that the "poem is nothing less than the greatest lyrical monument of our times."
(PCF), Césaire was elected mayor of Fort-de-France
and deputy to the French National Assembly
for Martinique. He was one of the principal drafters of the 1946 law on departmentalizing former colonies, a role for which independentist politicians have often criticized him.
Like many left intellectuals in France, Césaire looked in the 1930s and 1940s toward the Soviet Union
as a source of human progress, virtue, and human rights, but Césaire later grew disillusioned with Communism. In 1956, after the Soviet Union's suppression of the Hungarian revolution, Aimé Césaire announced his resignation from the PCF in a text entitled Lettre à Maurice Thorez
. In 1958 he founded the Parti Progressiste Martiniquais
.
His writings during this period reflect his passion for civic and social engagement. He wrote Discours sur le colonialisme (Discourse on Colonialism) (1950; English translation 1953), a denunciation of European colonial racism, decadence, and hypocrisy that was republished in the French review Présence Africaine
in 1955. In 1960, he published Toussaint Louverture, based upon the life of the Haitian revolutionary
. In 1968, he published the first version of Une Tempête
, a radical adaptation of Shakespeare's play The Tempest for a black audience.
He served as President of the Regional Council of Martinique from 1983 to 1988. He retired from politics in 2001.
(UMP), Nicolas Sarkozy
, then a probable contender for the 2007 presidential election, because the UMP had voted for the February 23, 2005 law asking teachers and textbooks to "acknowledge and recognize in particular the positive role of the French presence abroad, especially in North Africa", a law considered by many as a eulogy to colonialism and French actions during the Algerian War. President Jacques Chirac
finally had the controversial law repealed.
On 9 April 2008, he had serious heart troubles and was admitted to Pierre Zobda Quitman hospital in Fort-de-France
. He died on 17 April 2008.
Césaire was given the honour of a state funeral
, held at the Stade de Dillon in Fort-de-France on April 20. President Nicolas Sarkozy
was present but did not make a speech. Pierre Aliker, who served for many years as deputy mayor under Césaire, gave the funeral oration.
was renamed Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport
on 15 January 2007.
An national commemoration ceremony was held on April 6, 2011, as a plaque in Aimé Césaire's name was inaugurated in the Panthéon
in Paris
.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
. He was "one of the founders of the négritude
Négritude
Négritude is a literary and ideological movement, developed by francophone black intellectuals, writers, and politiciansin France in the 1930s by a group that included the future Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor, Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, and the Guianan Léon Damas.The Négritude...
movement in Francophone literature".
Student, educator, and poet
Aimé Césaire was born in Basse-PointeBasse-Pointe
Basse-Pointe is a town and commune in the French overseas department of Martinique. Also known as the island of the people because the people living there are known to be the friendliest on Earth.-External links:*...
, Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
in 1913. He traveled to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to attend the Lycée Louis-le-Grand
Lycée Louis-le-Grand
The Lycée Louis-le-Grand is a public secondary school located in Paris, widely regarded as one of the most rigorous in France. Formerly known as the Collège de Clermont, it was named in king Louis XIV of France's honor after he visited the school and offered his patronage.It offers both a...
on an educational scholarship. In Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Césaire, who in 1935 passed an entrance exam for the École normale supérieure
École normale supérieure
An école normale supérieure or ENS is a type of publicly funded higher education in France. A portion of the student body who are French civil servants are called Normaliens....
, created, with Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal . Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française. Before independence, he founded the political party called the Senegalese...
and Léon Damas
Léon Damas
Léon-Gontran Damas was a French poet and politician. He was one of the founders of the Négritude movement.-Biography:...
, the literary review L'Étudiant Noir (The Black Student). In 1936, Césaire began work on his book-length poem Cahier d'un retour au pays natal (Notebook of a Return to My Native Land, 1939), a vivid and powerful depiction of the ambiguities of Caribbean life and culture in the New World and this upon returning home to Martinique.
Césaire married fellow Martinican student Suzanne Roussi in 1937. Together they moved back to Martinique in 1939 with their young son. Césaire became a teacher at the Lycée Schoelcher in Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France is the capital of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean. Exports include sugar, rum, tinned fruit, and cacao.-Geography:...
, where he taught Frantz Fanon
Frantz Fanon
Frantz Fanon was a Martiniquo-Algerian psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary and writer whose work is influential in the fields of post-colonial studies, critical theory and Marxism...
and served as an inspiration for, but did not teach, Édouard Glissant
Édouard Glissant
Édouard Glissant was a Martinican writer, poet and literary critic. He is widely recognised as one of the most influential figures in Caribbean thought and cultural commentary.-Life:...
. He would become a heavy influence for Fanon as both a mentor and a contemporary throughout Fanon's short life.
World War II
The years of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
were ones of great intellectual activity for the Césaires. In 1941, Aimé Césaire and Suzanne Roussi founded the literary review Tropiques, with the help of other Martinican intellectuals such as René Ménil
René Ménil
René Ménil was a French surrealist writer and philosopher who lived on the island of Martinique.Born and raised on the island of Martinique, Ménil was one of several of the island's natives who studied in France and returned to influence the independence movement with the ideas of Marxism, and...
and Aristide Maugée, in order to challenge the cultural status quo and alienation that then characterized Martinican identity. Many run-ins with censorship did not deter Césaire from being an outspoken defendant of Martinican identity. He also became close to French surrealist poet André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
, who spent time in Martinique during the war. (The two had met in 1940, and Breton would champion Cesaire's work.)
In 1947 he was finally able to publish his long poem "Cahier d'un retour au pays natal" ("Notebook of a Return to the Native Land"), which had first been published in the Parisian periodical Volontés in 1939. The book mixes poetry and prose to express his thoughts on the cultural identity of black Africans in a colonial setting. Breton contributed a laudatory introduction to this 1947 edition, saying that the "poem is nothing less than the greatest lyrical monument of our times."
Political career
In 1945, with the support of the French Communist PartyFrench Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
(PCF), Césaire was elected mayor of Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France is the capital of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean. Exports include sugar, rum, tinned fruit, and cacao.-Geography:...
and deputy to the French National Assembly
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
for Martinique. He was one of the principal drafters of the 1946 law on departmentalizing former colonies, a role for which independentist politicians have often criticized him.
Like many left intellectuals in France, Césaire looked in the 1930s and 1940s toward the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as a source of human progress, virtue, and human rights, but Césaire later grew disillusioned with Communism. In 1956, after the Soviet Union's suppression of the Hungarian revolution, Aimé Césaire announced his resignation from the PCF in a text entitled Lettre à Maurice Thorez
Maurice Thorez
thumb|A Soviet stamp depicting Maurice Thorez.Maurice Thorez was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party from 1930 until his death. He also served as vice premier of France from 1946 to 1947....
. In 1958 he founded the Parti Progressiste Martiniquais
Martinican Progressive Party
The Martinican Progressive Party is a Martinican political party founded on March 22, 1958 by poet Aimé Césaire. The party favors the autonomy of Martinique within France, unlike the nationalist MIM. The party has one seat in the French National Assembly, Serge Letchimy, deputy from...
.
His writings during this period reflect his passion for civic and social engagement. He wrote Discours sur le colonialisme (Discourse on Colonialism) (1950; English translation 1953), a denunciation of European colonial racism, decadence, and hypocrisy that was republished in the French review Présence Africaine
Présence Africaine
Présence africaine is a panafrican quarterly cultural, political, and literary magazine, published in Paris and founded by Alioune Diop in 1947. In 1949, Présence africaine expanded to include a publishing house and a bookstore on the rue des Écoles in the Latin Quarter of Paris...
in 1955. In 1960, he published Toussaint Louverture, based upon the life of the Haitian revolutionary
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution was a period of conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic...
. In 1968, he published the first version of Une Tempête
Une Tempête
Une tempête is a 1969 play by Aimé Césaire. It is an adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest from a postcolonial perspective: Prospero is a white master, while Ariel is a mulatto and Caliban is a black slave. Caliban favors revolution over Ariel's non-violence, and rejects his name as the...
, a radical adaptation of Shakespeare's play The Tempest for a black audience.
He served as President of the Regional Council of Martinique from 1983 to 1988. He retired from politics in 2001.
Later life
In 2006, he refused to meet the leader of the Union for a Popular MovementUnion for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...
(UMP), Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
, then a probable contender for the 2007 presidential election, because the UMP had voted for the February 23, 2005 law asking teachers and textbooks to "acknowledge and recognize in particular the positive role of the French presence abroad, especially in North Africa", a law considered by many as a eulogy to colonialism and French actions during the Algerian War. President Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
finally had the controversial law repealed.
On 9 April 2008, he had serious heart troubles and was admitted to Pierre Zobda Quitman hospital in Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France is the capital of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean. Exports include sugar, rum, tinned fruit, and cacao.-Geography:...
. He died on 17 April 2008.
Césaire was given the honour of a state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
, held at the Stade de Dillon in Fort-de-France on April 20. President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
was present but did not make a speech. Pierre Aliker, who served for many years as deputy mayor under Césaire, gave the funeral oration.
Legacy
Martinique's airport at Le LamentinLe Lamentin
Le Lamentin is a town and the second-largest commune in the French overseas department of Martinique.It is located in the center of the island of Martinique, and is part of the metropolitan area of Fort-de-France, the largest conurbation in Martinique. In the 1999 census, Le Lamentin had a...
was renamed Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport
Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport
Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport is the international airport of Martinique in the French West Indies. Located in Le Lamentin, a suburb of the capital Fort-de-France, it was opened in 1950 and renamed in 2007 after author and politician Aimé Césaire.- Passenger airlines :- Charter :-...
on 15 January 2007.
An national commemoration ceremony was held on April 6, 2011, as a plaque in Aimé Césaire's name was inaugurated in the Panthéon
Pantheon
-Mythology:* Pantheon , the set of gods belonging to a particular mythology* Pantheon * Pantheon, Rome, now a Catholic church, once a temple to the gods of ancient Rome* Any temple dedicated to an entire pantheon-Other buildings:...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Works
Each year links to its corresponding "[year] in poetry" article for poetry, or "[year] in literature" article for other works:Poetry
- 19391939 in poetry— W. H. Auden, from "September 1, 1939"Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Last issue of The Criterion is published....
: Cahier d'un retour au pays natal, Paris: Volontés, OCLC 213466273 . - 19461946 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* W. H. Auden becomes a U.S. citizen...
: Les armes miraculeuses, Paris: Gallimard, OCLC 248258485 . - 19471947 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Dorothy Parker divorces Alan Campbell for the first time....
: Cahier d'un retour au pays natal, Paris: Bordas, OCLC 369684638 . - 19481948 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Sometime this year, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase Beat Generation to describe his friends and as a general term describing the underground, anti-conformist youth gathering in New York at that...
: Soleil cou-coupé, Paris: K, OCLC 4325153 . - 19501950 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Charles Olson publishes his seminal essay, Projective Verse. In this, he called for a poetry of "open field" composition to replace traditional closed poetic forms with an improvised form that should...
: Corps perdu, Paris: Fragrance, OCLC 245836847 . - 19601960 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* August Derleth launches the poetry magazine, Hawk and Whippoorwill....
: Ferrements, Paris: Editions du Seuil, OCLC 59034113 . - 19611961 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20–Robert Frost recites his poem "The Gift Outright" at United States President John F...
: Cadastre, Paris: Editions du Seuil, OCLC 252242086 . - 19821982 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Final edition of This Magazine published....
: Moi, laminaire, Paris: Editions du Seuil, ISBN 978-2020062688 .
Theatre
- 19581958 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Brazilian manifesto for concrete poetry, which focuses on visual and other sensory qualities...
: Et les Chiens se taisaient, tragédie: arrangement théâtral. Paris: Présence Africaine; reprint: 1997 - 19631963 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 26 – Raghunath Vishnu Pandit, an Indian poet who wrote in both Konkani and Marathi languages, publishes five books of poems this day* The Belfast Group, a discussion group of poets in...
: La Tragédie du roi Christophe. Paris: Présence Africaine; reprint: 1993; The tragedy of King Christophe, New York: Grove 1969 - 19691969 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* FIELD magazine founded at Oberlin College...
: Une TempêteUne TempêteUne tempête is a 1969 play by Aimé Césaire. It is an adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest from a postcolonial perspective: Prospero is a white master, while Ariel is a mulatto and Caliban is a black slave. Caliban favors revolution over Ariel's non-violence, and rejects his name as the...
, adapted from The TempestThe TempestThe Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
by William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
: adaptation pour un théâtre nègre. Paris: Seuil; reprint: 1997; A Tempest, New York: Ubu repertory 1986 - 19661966 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Raymond Souster founds the League of Canadian Poets...
: Une Saison au Congo. Paris: Seuil; reprint: 2001; A season in the Congo, New York 1968, A play about Patrice LumumbaPatrice LumumbaPatrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis...
External links
- Aime Cesaire, biography, by Brooke Ritz, Postcolonial Studies website, English Department, Emory University. 1999.
- Aimé Césaire, bibliography, biography, and links (in French), "île en île", City University of New York, 1998-2004.
- Aimé Césaire, biography and bibliography, Pegasos literature related resources, 2002.
- Khalid Chraibi, an interview with Aimé Césaire, (in French) on occasion of the Paris première of "La Tragédie du Roi Christophe" in 1965.
- Tribute site to Aimé Césaire, Official site,
- "Out of Defeat: Aimé Césaire's Miraculous Words". Tribute by Colin Dayan
- Aime Cesaire, 1913-2008: Remembering the Life and Legacy - video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...