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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 - webGuinée




in 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