Sabine Andrivon-Milton, (born 22 February 1970) is a French historian specialising in the military history of Martinique, a teacher, author and board game designer.

Biography

Education

She went to Sainte-Thérèse B primary school, collège de Sainte-Thérèse, completing her baccalaureate at the lycée de Bellevue. She studied at the University of the French Antilles in Schœlcher in Martinique and at

Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (), also known as Paris 1 (or Paris I) and Panthéon-Sorbonne University (or, together with Sorbonne University and Sorbonne Nouvelle University, simply as the Sorbonne), is a Public university, public rese ...

. She defended her doctoral thesis, entitled ''La Martinique et la Grande Guerre'' in December 2003 and has specialised in military history.

Historical and commemorative work

President of the Association Histoire Militaire de la Martinique, she is the driving force behind the inclusion of forgotten soldiers' names on war memorials, and the importance of popularising knowledge of Martinique's war history: she discovered nearly 150 names of Martinique soldiers who died during the First World War and who had been awarded the distinction "

Mort pour la France (, ) is a legal expression in France and an honour awarded to people who died during a conflict, usually in service of the country. Definition The term is defined in L.488 to L.492 (bis) of the ''Code of Military Disability Pensions and War ...

" (died for France) were not inscribed on war memorials. Several municipalities in Martinique have agreed to add names: Vauclin, Saint-Joseph, Basse-Pointe, Ajoupa-Bouillon, Sainte-Marie, Trinité, Fort-de-France, Marigot, Fonds-Saint-Denis, Gros-Morne. She also campaigned for war memorials to be erected in communes that didn't have one, including Sainte-Luce, Saint-Pierre and Rivière-Pilote. Through the Association Histoire Militaire de la Martinique, she organised the "Monuments aux morts en lumières" event, marking the commemoration of the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed in a railroad car, in the Compiègne Forest near the town of Compiègne, that ended fighting on land, at sea, and in the air in World War I between the Entente and their las ...

by illuminating war memorials during the week of the anniversary. The

Ministry of Overseas France The Minister of the Overseas () is the official in charge of the Ministry of the Overseas in the Government of the French Republic, responsible for overseeing Overseas France. The office was titled Minister of the Colonies (''Ministre des Col ...

in Paris was the venue for a conference she held on the former French colonies and the Great War, bringing together specialists from

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

(Ary Broussillon), Reunion (Rachel Mnémosyme),

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

(Sylvette Boyer represented by Sarah Mohammed) and

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

(Virginie Brunelot). On 8 November 2011, this conference moved to Martinique, taking place at Fort Desaix.

First World War centenary

As part of the commemoration of the

First World War centenary The First World War centenary was the four-year period marking the centenary of the First World War, which began in mid-2014 with the centenary of the outbreak of the war, and ended in late 2018 with the centenary of the 1918 armistice. Partic ...

, she spoke about martiniquais women's part in the French war effort from research into correspondence and local reporting in ''Les femmes martiniquaises dans la guerre'' (Martinique women in the war) at the symposium ''La Caraïbe et la Première Guerre mondiale'' (The Caribbean and the First World War), organised by the Archives départementales de la Guadeloupe and the Société d'histoire de la Guadeloupe. On 8 July, she took part in a round table discussion at the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, presenting a paper entitled ''Les soldats antillo-guyanais dans la Grande Guerre''. In it she described initial conscription and volunteers, their privations, the battles they fought in and the number lost, naming two men in particular, the aviators Jean-Marie Guibert and Pierre Réjon. She later organised ''La Martinique et sa filleule Étain'' (Martinique and her godchild Étain); an event which received the Label Centenaire and appeared in the official national programme. A delegation of 94 Martiniquais people visited

Étain, Meuse Étain () is a Communes of France, commune in the Meuse (department), Meuse Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Geography Étain is situated on the river Orne (river), Orne, approximately to the east north ea ...

, a town destroyed during the Great War and reconstructed using funds contributed to by Martinique. 54 young people from the colleges of Terreville and Vauclin and the Robert LPA, accompanied by their teachers, veterans and friends, attended the commemoration of the beginning of the battle of Verdun on

21 February Events Pre-1600 * 452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine. * 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery. *1440 – The P ...

in the Bois des Caures, the signing of the twinning agreement between Étain and Vauclin, and ceremonies to honour Martinique's soldiers.

Educator and public historian

Andrivon-Milton is committed to teaching of history from a young age - in October 2017, she devised a 9-card family game, ''Je découvre la Martinique'' then in 2018, the board game ''La Martinique au bout des doigts''. Other educational games have followed, including "la Martinique en jeux de société", "la Martinique en jeux de société", "la Martinique en multijeux" and Martinik Mémory. A well-known historian in Martinique, she gives numerous talks in schools, associations and other organisations to explain the role of Martinique and the Martiniquais in the Great War. She hosts a programme called ''Une île une histoire'' (An island, a history) on Martinique première radio. On 19 March 2021, Sainte-Thérèse B Elementary School in Fort-de-France became the Sabine ANDRIVON-MILTON Elementary School.

Television

She has produced a number of history programmes broadcast on Martinique Première: * November 2013 : ''Propos de guerre'' * November 2014 : ''Lettres de poilus martiniquais'' * November 2015 : ''Des soldats martiniquais de la Grande Guerre'' * She has featured in several documentaries: * ''Jean Jules Joseph, un soldat créole'', David Hunger et Daniel Picouly, 2014 * ''On a retrouvé le soldat Borical'', Barcha Bauer, La Lanterne, 2013 * ''Gwadloup en Argonne'', Fred Foret, 2011. * ''Antilles, la guerre oubliée'' by Frédéric Monteil, 2019 * ''Martinique, à jamais dans nos cœurs'', by Jil Servan, Palaviré production, France O, December 2021 A programme was dedicated to her on "Ziétaj" a cultural review programme on Martinique Première, November 2021

Offices and memberships

* President of the association "Histoire Militaire de la Martinique". * Member of the commission mémoire et solidarité du conseil départemental des anciens combattants. * Member of the Comité départemental du Centenaire 14–18. * President of the association Martinique-Étain Member of the commission mémorielle de la ville de Schoelcher * Member of commission mémoires et transmissions de la ville de Fort-de-France * Commander in the Réserve citoyenne.

Publications

* ''La Martinique, base navale dans le rêve mexicain de Napoléon III (1862-1867). SAM éditions'' (November 1996) * ''La Martinique et la Grande Guerre'', Éditions L'Harmattan (November 2005) * ''Le livre d'or des soldats martiniquais morts pendant la Grande Guerre. SAM éditions'' (November 2006) * ''Lettres de Poilus martiniquais. SAM éditions'' (November 2008) * ''La Martinique pendant la Grande Guerre, recueil de poèmes et de chants. SAM éditions'' (November 2009) * ''Anatole dans la tourmente du Morne Siphon'', L'Harmattan, (July 2010) * ''La Martinique en 200 questions-réponses'', Orphie (October 2011) * ''Belle la Martinique vue du ciel'', Orphie (text and captions) * ''Le Fort Desaix et le 33e RIMa, une histoire de marsouins aux Antilles'' (novembre 2012), contribution * ''Fort-de-France en 200 questions-réponses''. Orphie (July 2014) * ''Quizz, la Grande Guerre, les Antilles et la Guyane''. SAM éditions (July 2014) * ''La Martinique et la Première Guerre mondiale en 100 questions-réponses''. Orphie (July 2016). Label Centenaire. * ''Les histoires de Sabine'', volume 1 (SAM éditions, April 2019) * ''La Martinique en multijeux''. SAM éditions (August 2019) * "Les histoires de Sabine", volume 2 SAM éditions (May 2021) * "La Martinique en multijeux", volume 2 SAM éditions (July 2021)

Honours

* Chevalier de l'

ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

* Médaille de bronze du service militaire volontaire * Médaille de bronze du Souvenir Français * Chevalière de la

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

* Médaille de bronze de l'ONAC ( Office Nationale des Anciens Combattants)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrivon-Milton, Sabine 21st-century French historians Culture of Martinique Martiniquais writers Board game designers French military historians Living people 1970 births People from Fort-de-France French women historians