Name La Solitude | ||
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La Mulâtresse Solitude (circa 1772-1802) is a historical figure of the fight against slavery on Guadeloupe. She has been the subject of legends and a symbol of the struggle against slavery.
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Guadeloupe Solitude, as she is also known, is being currently considered for inclusion in the French Pantheon, that celebrates the memory of distinguished French citizens.
Fani carenco la mulatresse solitude
Biography
Born around 1772, daughter of slaves, she saw the abolition of slavery in 1794 and joined a Maroon community in Guadeloupe.
In 1802, when Napoleon Bonaparte enacted the Law of 20 May 1802, reinstating slavery in the French colonies, she was among those who rallied around Louis Delgrès and fought by his side, for freedom. She survived the battle of May 8, 1802, but was imprisoned by the French. Because she was pregnant at the time of her imprisonment, she was not to be hanged until November 29 of the same year, one day after giving birth.
In 1999, a statue by Jacky Poulier was placed on Héros aux Abymes Boulevard in Guadeloupe in her memory.
In 2007, another statue was erected in her memory, this time in the île-de-France region of Hauts-de-Seine, for the celebration of the abolition of slavery and the slave trade. The statue is made of iroko, a kind of African wood and steel. According to its sculptor Nicolas Alquin, it is the first memorial to all "enslaved people that resisted".
