The issue of the restitution of Sakalava skulls could see progress by the end of December during the visit of Jean-Luc Martinez, former director of the Louvre Museum and currently thematic ambassador for international cooperation in the field of heritage.
The trip to Antananarivo takes place against a significant historical and diplomatic backdrop for France and Madagascar. The former director of the Parisian museum has been tasked with advancing a dossier long advocated by the Malagasy capital: the restitution of human remains, tragic witnesses to the colonial era.
Last October, French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati and her Malagasy counterpart, Volamiranty Donna Mara, sent a strong signal by initiating the work of a joint expert committee to evaluate Madagascar’s restitution request. This committee, comprising French and Malagasy specialists, is to decide the fate of three Sakalava skulls, including that of the presumed King Toera, who was beheaded in 1897 during a French military campaign in the island's western region, a year after Madagascar’s annexation by France under General Gallieni. This step could end a long wait for Madagascar and pave the way for a symbolic healing of the historical wounds left by colonization.
The December meeting aligns with the French law passed in December 2023, which facilitates the restitution of human remains acquired under unacceptable conditions, as an exception to the inalienability of public collections. This legislation is part of the memorial policy championed by Emmanuel Macron, who, since taking office in 2017, has made the restitution of cultural and human artifacts a central element of reconciling memories between France and its former African colonies, as highlighted by Rachida Dati. The restitution of the Sakalava skulls would follow the return of the canopy crown of Madagascar's last queen, Ranavalona III, in November 2020, although this return still requires legal measures to guarantee its permanence.
This symbolic gesture follows years of demands by descendants of the Sakalava royal family, who have long called for the return of the skulls of their ancestors, decapitated and sent to Europe as war trophies. The attack on the royal village of Ambiky, where King Toera was captured and beheaded by colonial troops, remains a major traumatic event in Madagascar's history. The incident, occurring during the night of August 29–30, 1897, was part of a painful period when colonial troops sought to "pacify" the Menabe region, massacring an estimated 100 to 5,000 people, depending on the source. The severed heads, including Toera’s, were sent to France as war trophies.
The decapitation of Sakalava royalty, particularly King Toera, deeply impacted the collective memory of the Malagasy people. Historian Klara Boyer-Rossol, in an op-ed published in Le Monde in December 2016, reflected on this trauma, emphasizing the importance of the symbolic act of restitution to heal the wounds of the past. At the time, she urged the National Museum of Natural History to address a DNA request made by descendants of the royal family, a plea that went unanswered for years.
Research on the Sakalava skulls conducted in 1898 confirmed that heads, including those of Toera and two of his soldiers, were sent to France. DNA samples taken in 2018 from these skulls and a skeleton attributed to King Toera, housed at the Natural History Museum, were inconclusive due to the poor quality of the samples.
In this context, Jean-Luc Martinez's visit as ambassador for heritage takes on symbolic significance. It represents a potential turning point in relations between France and Madagascar.
