Aimé Césaire the poet and politician from Martinique will be honored by the French Republic on April 6, 2011 with a national tribute and ceremony at the Pantheon in Paris. Two years after the renowned writer and statesman passed away, a plaque will be sealed in the heart of the famous French monument dedicated to the burials of personalities acknowledged as great men by the French Republic.
According to Unesco it will be the third plaque which pays tribute to a man of African descent. Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803) and Louis Delgrès (1766-1802) were similarly honored in 1998. In accordance with his wishes, Aimé Césaire’s ashes will remain in Martinique hence they won’t be transferred into the monument.
(Alexandre Dumas, père was reburied in 2002 in the Pantheon 132 years after his death.)
On the occasion of the 2004 International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition, UNESCO awarded the Toussaint Louverture Prize to the author, in acknowledgement to his contribution to the struggle against domination, racism and intolerance.
Worldwide considered as a humanistic and universal poet, his candidature was proposed for the Nobel Prize of peace by two European universities in Belgium and Sweden in 2006.
Commemorating his death, UNESCO also paid a special tribute to the Poet of Negritude on 22 May 2008.
* Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803) is a freed slave who led the fight for Haiti’s independence.
* Louis Delgrès (1766-1802) is a revolutionary soldier who took part into the resistance while the re-establishment of slavery by the Napoleonean troups in Guadeloupe. (Source: UNESCO)
The ceremony will be broadcasted live on France 2 and the overseas network channels first (France Ô).
A tribute to Monsieur Aimé Césaire
Remembering Aimé Césaire, 1913-2008
In this video Aimé Césaire speaks about his first encounter with
Léopold Sédar Senghor in Paris in the 1930s. Alongside Léon-Gontran Damas, and Léopold Sédar Senghor, Aimé Césaire established the concept of Négritude. Négritude helped to guide Sénégal into independence with pride