France returns Malagasy royal skulls kept in its museums.
Paris, Aug 26 (EFE).
France on Tuesday formally returned three skulls of Sakalava dignitaries, including that of King Toera, to Madagascar, which were taken by French troops at the end of the 19th century during a colonial war.
The handover ceremony took place at the Culture Ministry in Paris and marked the first restitution of human remains under a newly adopted French law.
“This day is not just a simple protocol ceremony, it is a moment of remembrance of a recovered memory, an act of historical justice and a testament to the deep friendship that unites our two countries,” said Madagascar’s Minister of Culture, Volamiranty Donna Mara, at the ceremony.
Calling the restitution a “significant gesture,” Mara said the absence of the remains had been “an open wound in the heart” of Madagascar for more than a century.
King Toera was killed by French troops in August 1897 during a colonial war. His decapitated head was later sent to France.
In 2020, Madagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, formally requested the return of the three skulls, which had been kept in French museum collections for 128 years.
Mara said the restitution was both an act of recognition and a sign of respect for Malagasy sovereignty and culture.
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said the return symbolized “a historical and scientific process and a shared memory” between the two nations. She recalled that since 2017 President Emmanuel Macron’s government has pursued a new approach to restitution.
She pointed to a law adopted in December 2024 that provides the legal framework for returning human remains, as well as a draft law on the restitution of cultural property of foreign origin.
A Franco-Malagasy scientific committee that examined the remains was unable to conclusively confirm through written sources or DNA that one of the skulls belonged to King Toera. EFE
