The Statue of Victor Schœlcher (French: Statue de Victor Schœlcher) is a bronze statue sculpted in 1896 by Louis-Ernest Barrias, then dedicated the following year in Cayenne in French Guiana, then a colony of France. The work celebrates Victor Schœlcher, who played a leading role in the abolition of slavery in 1848, representing him alongside a recently emancipated slave.
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It was classified as a historic monument in 1999. Criticized for its paternalism and lack of attention to the role of free and enslaved black people in the abolition movement, it was covered during protests in 2017. Then in 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and reactions to the murder of George Floyd, it was the object of vandalism before being taken down.
Location
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The statue is located in Cayenne.
It stood until 2020 in Victor-Schœlcher Square, previously Victor-Hugo Square.[1] This square is located at the intersection of rue Louis-Blanc, rue du Docteur-Sainte-Rose, and rue des Peuples-autochtones (previously rue Christophe-Colomb).[2]
The statue was taken down in 2020 and placed in a city warehouse.[3]
References
edit- ^ Judith Kagan, "Bronze cassé ? Bronze caché ? Bronze classé ! La protection de la statuaire monumentale au titre des monuments historiques en France - un exemple lointain d'intérêt historique majeur," in Catherine Chevillot and Laure de Margerie, La sculpture au xixe siècle : Mélanges pour Anne Pingeot, Paris, Nicolas Chaudun, 2008.
- ^ Base Mérimée: Statue de Victor Schœlcher, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French).
- ^ Jacqueline Lalouette (2021). "Victor Schœlcher (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane)". Les statues de la discorde. Paris: Passés Composés (Humensis). p. 238. ISBN 978-2-37933-640-9..