The Foundation for the Memory of Slavery [La Fondation pour la mémoire de l’esclavage (FMA)] recently expressed their sadness about the death (August 13, 2025) of Jacques Martial—actor, director, cultural leader, and elected official of the City of Paris, who sat on the Foundation’s Territorial Council. Here are excerpts from the FMA, who also underlines that, in his honor, France TV is broadcasting Aimé Césaire’s Cahier d’un retour au pays natal until February 8, 2026.
A man of culture and conviction, Jacques Martial dedicated his life to artistic creation and the promotion of Afro-diasporic cultures. Former President of the Public Establishment of the Parc and the Grande Halle de la Villette, he was also the first director of the ACTe Memorial in Guadeloupe, helping to make it a major center for the transmission of the history and memory of slavery.
His commitment to the Foundation’s Territorial Council demonstrated his constant commitment to fostering dialogue between memories, promoting the values of equality and fraternity, and speaking in the public sphere about the legacies of colonial history and slavery.
An actor and director performed the great classics, he was a specialist in Aimé Césaire, whom he shared around the world with Cahier d’un retour au pays natal, embodying his words with conviction.
The Foundation salutes his memory and his work, and extends its most sincere condolences to his family, loved ones, and all those who knew him.
To rediscover the text he loved so much, France TV is broadcasting Cahier d’un retour au pays natal until February 8, 2026.
For more information, see https://memoire-esclavage.org/la-fme-rend-hommage-jacques-martial
Also see https://www.france.tv/spectacles-et-culture/theatre-et-danse/4269496-cahier-d-un-retour-au-pays-natal.html and https://www.larevueduspectacle.fr/Un-Jacques-Martial-transcendant-dans-Cahier-d-un-retour-au-pays-natal-d-Aime-Cesaire_a3402.html
[Photo above by AKO – Audrey Knafo Ohnona. From La Revue du spectacle.]
The Foundation for the Memory of Slavery [La Fondation pour la mémoire de l’esclavage (FMA)] recently expressed their sadness about the death (August 13, 2025) of Jacques Martial—actor, director, cultural leader, and elected official of the City of Paris, who sat on the Foundation’s Territorial Council. Here are excerpts from the FMA, who also underlines
