Jean Suret-Canale (27 April 1921 – 23 June 2007) was a French historian of Africa,
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
theoretician, political activist, and World War II
French Resistance
The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
fighter.
Suret-Canale was born to father Victor Suret-Canale (1883–1958), an engraver educated at
École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs
The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (; ÉnsAD) also known as Arts Decos' and École des Arts décoratifs, is a public grande école of art and design, constituent member of PSL Research University. The school is located in the R ...
, and Thérèse Suret-Canale, a German painter educated first in Germany and then at the
Académie Julian
The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...
in Paris.
As a student, he won scholarships to study in the colony of
Dahomey
The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...
(
Benin
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...
) in 1938 and
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
in 1939. He returned to France, and was an underground member of the ''jeunesses communistes'' resistance from 1940 to 1944. During this time he met his wife, Georgette, a feminist journalist, novelist and poet. He received a degree from the
Université de Paris (1946) in geography, specialising in the countries of
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
and
African studies
African studies is the study of Africa, especially the continent's cultures and societies (as opposed to its geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of Africa's History of Africa, history (pre-colonial, Colonisation of Af ...
.
Returning to
French West Africa
French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...
after the war, he engaged in political and trade union organizing, taught secondary school in
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
, but was forced to leave the then colony by the French government under military order. He was present during the 1947
Dakar–Niger railway strike on which
Ousmane Sembène
Ousmane Sembène (; 1 January 1923 or 8 January 1923 – 9 June 2007), was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The ''Los Angeles Times'' considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and he has often been called the "father o ...
later based his seminal novel ''
God's Bits of Wood
''God's Bits of Wood'' is a 1960 novel by Senegalese author Ousmane Sembène. It is a fictional treatment based on an historic railroad strike in colonial Senegal of the 1940s. It was written and published in French language, French under the titl ...
''.
Back in France, Suret-Canale found a teaching post in
Laval, Mayenne
Laval () is a town in western France, about west-southwest of Paris, and the capital of the Mayenne departments of France, department.
Its inhabitants are called ''Lavallois''. The commune of France, commune of Laval proper, without the metropo ...
and pursued his political writing while keeping active in the Communist party.
When
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
became independent he returned to Africa, first teaching in
Conakry
Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973.
The current population of C ...
(''Lycée Classique''), becoming head of the former local branch of
Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN) (later the ''Institut National de Recherche et Documentation'': the National Library, Archives and Museum of Guinea). Suret-Canale was later head of the Teachers College at
Kindia (''Ecole Normale Supérieure''). In the late 60s, he was again forced to return home by the French government under threat of having his nationality revoked.
While in France Suret-Canale continued his active work in the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...
, but was critical of the
Stalinist
Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...
leadership under
Maurice Thorez
Maurice Thorez (; 28 April 1900 – 11 July 1964) was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1930 until his death. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister of France from 1946 to 1947.
Pre-war
Thorez, ...
. Following Stalin's (and Thorez's) death, Suret-Canale became one of the founders of the parties academic center, the ''Centre d'etudes recherches marxistes'' (C.E.R.M.) in 1960, where he is most known for developing
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
theories on the
Asiatic mode of production that were later adopteded by theoreticians of national liberation movements in the
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...
. For some time was a member of the
Central Committee of the PCF, despite having criticized the Politburo as an overly-rigid ruling body.
In retirement he continued to be politically engaged, writing occasional articles for the French paper
l'Humanité
(; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist."
History ...
and continuing his work with ''AFASPA'' (''Association française d’amitié et de solidarité avec les peuples d’Afrique''). He died at his home in
Gironde
Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749. , 16 June 2007 and was buried at
La Roquille (Gironde).
[Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch]
L’histoire africaine perd son premier interprète
l'Humanité
(; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist."
History ...
, 26 June 2007.
Shortly before retiring to
Périgord
Périgord ( , ; ; or ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is divided into f ...
(where he had been in the resistance during the war) Suret-Canale submitted his Doctoral dissertation, a practice common in French academia. His "''Africa and Capital''" (''Afrique et capitaux'') brought together much of his research since the fifties or earlier.
His master work is considered to be the three volume ''L'Afrique Noire Occidentale et Centrale''. Only the second volume, covering the colonial period in French controlled Africa, has been translated into English.
Works
* ''Afrique Noire: l'Ere Coloniale'' (Editions Sociales, Paris, 1971); Eng. translation, French Colonialism in Tropical Africa, 1900-1945 (
Hurst, New York, 1971).
* ''Afrique Noire: de la Décolonisation aux Indépendances'' (Editions Sociales, Paris, 1972).
* ''Afrique Noire, Géographie, Civilisation, Histoire'' (Editions Sociales, Paris, 1973).
*''Les Groupes d'Etudes Communistes (G.E.C.) en Afrique Noire''.
*''La République de Guinée'', Paris. Editions sociales, 1970.
*''Essays on African History: From the Slave Trade to Neocolonialism''. Preface by Basil Davidson. Translated from the French by Christopher Hurst. C. Hurst & Co., London, 1969.
*''Etablissement industriel guinéen''.
*"La Guinée dans le système colonial," ''
Présence africaine'' 29 (Dec. 1959-Janv. 1960).
*''Notes sur l'économie guinéenne''.
*"La Guinée face à son avenir," ''Nouvelle revue internationale'' 9 (Feb. 1966).
*''The Fouta-Djalon Chieftaincy: West African Chiefs: Their Changing Status under Colonial Rule and Independence''.
*"La fin de la chefferie en Guinée," ''
Journal of African History'', 7, No. 3. 1966.
*"Découverte de Samori," ''
Cahiers d'études africaines''. 1977 (17)66: 381-388.
*"Tableau économique de la Guinée," ''Bulletin d'Afrique noire'', 12 (Jan. 10) 1966.
*''Touba, haut-lieu de l'Islam en Guinée''.
*''Histoire de l'Afrique Occidentale'' (with
Djibril Tamsir Niane), 1961.
* contributions to ''
The Black Book of Capitalism'', 1997.
References
Death Notice of Jean Suret-Canale l'Humanité
(; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist."
History ...
, 26 June 2007.
*A. I. Asiwaju, Review of ''Essais d'Histoire Africains de la Traite des Noires au Neocolonialisme'' by Jean Suret-Canale, ''The International Journal of African Historical Studies'', Vol. 15, No. 3 (1982), pp. 557–559
Jean Suret-Canale - webGuinéein Etudes guinéennes (nouv. série). Conakry, n°s. 1-2-3-4. 1964 (janv.-déc.), pp. 3–35
*
Short bio on fr:Wikipedia.
*R.W. Johnson,
Forever on the Wrong Side" ''London Review of Books'', 27 September 2012, pp. 27–28.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suret-Canale, Jean
1921 births
2007 deaths
University of Paris alumni
French Africanists
Historians of Africa
French communists
French Marxists
French trade unionists
French Marxist historians
Communist members of the French Resistance
French male writers
20th-century French historians
French people of German descent
French people in French Indochina
French people in French West Africa