Firmin Viry is a singer from Réunion known for maloya music, born on March 11, 1935 in the Ligne Paradis neighborhood of Saint-Pierre.[1]
Firmin Viry | |
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Biography
editHe developed his musical talents in the sugar cane fields while fighting for the rights of sugar cane cutters, a job he himself held all his life between Saint-Pierre and Le Tampon. At 23, he made the instruments necessary for maloya, the bob, the roulèr, the kayamb, and the piker, thanks to Gustin Miza (a Mozambican).[2]
Close to the Réunion Communist Party at its foundation, he then proposed, according to Françoise Vergès, the first maloya sung and danced in public[3] in 1959, at the Rio cinema in Saint-Denis.[2] Firmin Viry led another relentless fight for the abolition of the ban on Maloya. It was upon his arrival in power that President François Mitterrand lifted the ban.
Discography
edit- 1972: A nous même danser Maloya, Disques Jackman, 45 RPM.[4]
- 1976: Le maloya, Ediroi (PCR), 33 RPM.
- 1976: Peuple de la Réunion, peuple du maloya, Ediroi (PCR), 33 RPM. Participation of Firmin Viry with the troupe Résistance, the troupe Gaston Hoareau, and the troupe René Viry.[5]
- 1977: Le Maloya de la Réunion, Disques Jackman, 45 RPM.
- 1983: Ti crie a moin anin / Dimanche grand matin, Disques Issa, 45 RPM.
- 1989: Cent An Boner, SEDM Oasis Studio, Cassette.[6]
- 1998: Ti Mardé, Indigo.
- 1999: Ile de la Réunion: maloya, Ocora.
- 2006: Memwar in pep, Best Maloya.
- 2017: Maloya, Ocora.
Controversy
editIn October 2009, Firmin Viry canceled an invitation to Dieudonné[disambiguation needed] for the Kabar on December 20,[7] during which he was supposed to present his film Sans forme de politesse: regard sur la mouvance Dieudonné in a preview. The screening of this film in Paris had also been canceled following the disagreement of the mayor, Bertrand Delanoë.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Firmin Viry celebrates his 80th birthday at the Téat plein air de Saint-Gilles: VIDEOS - Oté rwa Firmin, larg out maloya" (in French). Imaz Press Réunion: the news of Réunion in photos. 2015-12-12. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
- ^ a b "Île de la Réunion - Firmin Viry - Maloya". Radio France Edition. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
- ^ Monsters and Revolutionaries: Colonial Family Romance and Métissage, Françoise Vergès, Duke University Press, 1999 – ISBN 978-0822322948.
- ^ "VIRY Firmin. |". www.reunionnaisdumonde.com (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
- ^ Croisier, Brigitte (2 October 2013). "La longue marche du maloya". inforeunion: Un regard info politique - Ile de La Réunion - Océan Indien (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
- ^ Firmin Viry discography at Discogs
- ^ Journal de l'ile et Quotidien de la Réunion du 16 octobre 2009
- ^ During his show J'ai fait le con, Dieudonné had brought Robert Faurisson, a promoter of Holocaust denial, on stage to award him "the prize of unacceptability and insolence," presented by a comedian dressed as a Jewish deportee, all in front of Jean-Marie Le Pen and his wife.
