Félix Éboué | |
|---|---|
 Éboué, picturedc. 1944 | |
| Governor General of French Equatorial Africa | |
| In office 11 August 1941 – 15 February 1944 | |
| Preceded by | Edgard de Larminat |
| Succeeded by | André Bayardelle |
| Governor ofChad | |
| In office 1938–1940 | |
| Acting Governor ofGuadeloupe | |
| In office 1936–1938 | |
| Secretary-General ofMartinique | |
| In office 1933–1934 | |
| Personal details | |
| Pronunciation | French:[adɔlfsilvɛstʁfeliksebwe] |
| Born | Adolphe Sylvestre Félix Éboué (1884-12-26)26 December 1884 |
| Died | 17 March 1944(1944-03-17) (aged 59) |
| Resting place | Panthéon,Paris,France 48°50′46″N2°20′45″E / 48.84611°N 2.34583°E /48.84611; 2.34583 |
| Political party | SFIO |
| Spouse | Eugénie Éboué-Tell (1889–1971) |
| Relations | Léopold Sédar Senghor (son-in-law) |
| Education | Lycée Montaigne |
| Alma mater | École nationale de la France d'Outre-Mer |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
| Allegiance |  Free France |
Adolphe Sylvestre Félix Éboué (French:[adɔlfsilvɛstʁfeliksebwe]; 26 December 1884 – 17 May 1944) was aFrenchcolonial administrator.[1][2] He was the first black French man appointed to a high post in the French colonies, when appointed acting governor ofGuadeloupe in 1936. As governor ofChad in 1940, he was early and exceptional in supportingCharles de Gaulle'sFree French movement,[3] and was influential in the calling and the conduct of the 1944Brazzaville Conference on colonial reform. He supported educated Africans and placed more in the colonial administration, as well as supporting preservation of African culture. He was the first black person to be buried in thePanthéon inParis.
Born inCayenne,French Guiana, the grandson ofslaves, Éboué was the fourth son in a family of five brothers. His father, Yves Urbain Éboué, was a gold prospector, and his mother, Marie Josephine Aurélie Léveillé, was a shop owner born inRoura. She raised her sons in the Guiana Créole tradition.
Éboué won a scholarship to study at secondary school inBordeaux. Éboué was also a keenfootballer, captaining his school team when they travelled to games in bothBelgium andEngland.[4]
In 1908, Éboué graduated in administrative law from theÉcole nationale de la France d'Outre-Mer in Paris. He served as a colonial administrator inOubangui-Chari for twenty years, and then inMartinique. Himself aSocialist and aFreemason, in 1936,under thePopular Front government, he was appointed acting governor ofGuadeloupe. Éboué was first man of black African descent to be appointed to such a senior post anywhere in the French colonies.
Soon in conflict with the local elite, Eboue lasted only two years before being sent back to central Africa as Governor ofChad, arriving inFort Lamy on 4 January 1939. After the fall of France, in August 1940 he accepted de Gaulle’s authority and soon persuaded the authorities elsewhere inFrench Equatorial Africa to do likewise, giving theFree French movement a territorial base from which to exercise sovereignty and organize military forces.[4]
As governor ofFrench Equatorial Africa between 1940 and 1944, Éboué publishedThe New Indigenous Policy for French Equatorial Africa, which set out the broad lines of a new policy that advocated respect for African traditions, support for traditional leaders, the development of existing social structures and the improvement of working conditions. The document served as a basis for the 1944 Brazzaville Conference of French colonial governors that sought to introduce major improvements for the peoples of the colonies.[5]
He classified 200 educated Africans as "notableévolués" and reduced their taxes, as well as placing someGabonese civil servants into positions of authority.
Éboué marriedEugénie Tell. In 1946 one of their daughters, Ginette, marriedLéopold Sédar Senghor, the poet and future president of independentSenegal.
In 1922, Éboué was initiated as a freemason at "La France Équinoxiale" lodge inCayenne. During his life he frequented "Les Disciples dePythagore" and "Maria Deraismes" lodges. He is considered to be the first freemason to have joined theResistance.[6] His wife, Eugénie, was initiated atDroit Humain inMartinique[7] and his daughter Ginette atGrande Loge Féminine de France.[8]
Éboué died in 1944 of astroke while inCairo. His mortal remains were reburied in thePanthéon in Paris in 1949, making Éboué the first black French man honored in this manner.[4][9]
Éboué was awarded an Officer of theLegion of Honour, decorated in 1941 with the Cross of the Liberation and was made a member of theCouncil of the Order of the Liberation.
In 1961, theBanque Centrale des États de l'Afrique Équatoriale et du Cameroun (Central Bank of Equatorial African States and Cameroon) issued a 100-franc banknote featuring his portrait. The French colonies around the world issued ajoint stamp issue in 1945 honouring his memory.[10]
Within France, a square, Place Félix-Éboué, in12th arrondissement of Paris is named for him, as is the adjacent Paris Métro stationDaumesnil Félix-Éboué. A primary school inLe Pecq bears his name and offers bilingual English/French education. A small street nearLa Défense was named for him.
The main airport of Cayenne, French Guiana, which was previously named after thecomte de Rochambeau, was named in his honor in 2012.
The Lycée Félix Éboué in N'Djamena is one of Chad's oldest secondary schools. Founded in 1958 as a general education college, it was made alycée in 1960, the year that Chad became an independent country. In 2002, it was split into two separate schools, each with about 3000 students.[11]
There was much support for the Vichy regime among French colonial personnel, with the exception of Guianese-born governor of Chad, Félix Éboué, who in September 1940 announced his switch of allegiance from Vichy to the Gaullist Free French movement based in London. Encouraged by this support for his fledgling movement, Charles de Gaulle traveled to Brazzaville in October 1940 to announce the formation of anEmpire Defense Council and to invite all French possessions loyal to Vichy to join it and continue the war against Germany; within two years, most did.
