The administrative name of the Pointe-à-Pitre Raizet aerodrome was renamed after the novelist who died last April. This includes all airport facilities, namely the runways and related logistics. The commercial name of the airport remains Guadeloupe Pôle Caraibes.
Fervent defender of Guadeloupean identity
That the Guadeloupe airport bears the name of Maryse Condé is primarily the pride of the family of the late writer. Particularly for his eldest daughter, Sylvie-Anne Condé, president of the Kaz association in Condé. For her, this decision is symbolic and carries a certain number of values. “She is a woman who did a lot of work very young on her Guadeloupean identity, who did a lot of work to claim, in any case, a certain form of thought, of autonomy. She is a woman who highlighted all the problems of the island, all the problems experienced by the black man, both black American, descendant of slavery, of the slave trade. She is a great fighter who campaigned a lot, in any case, for the defense of Guadeloupean and Caribbean identity and who did a lot for the emancipation of black men in the world. There is a link, somewhere, with her, with all the founding fathers like Aimé Césaire, who also gave his name to the Martinique airport. They are poets, writers who have worked hard to promote their island throughout the world.”
“An honor for our Region”
A year of consecration which ends on a high note, because the Guadeloupe Region had made it the year of homage to Maryse Condé. The President of the Region is also the first to instigate this initiative. This promise was made to the family by Ary Chalus the day after the death of Maryse Condé and announced during the tribute paid to MACTe. This proposal was approved by President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the tribute paid to the National Library. This change was recorded by a decree published in the Official Journal.
It was also on his return to Guadeloupe that he once again justified this choice: “On the plane, when we were not too far away, I heard the commander, and it surprised me, say ‘we are arriving at Guadeloupe-Maryse Condé airport’, well people applauded in the plane, you had to hear that. It was a big surprise because I didn’t expect it even though I saw the publication of the decree. I think it’s a good thing for us, for the Guadeloupean that she was. She is one of the rare overseas women to have this Nobel Prize (editor’s note: alternative literature). His name will continue to carry Guadeloupe even further. So really, it’s a source of pride. Now it’s up to us to make this happen. “It’s an honor for our region and it’s one of, I believe, very rare cases where an international airport is named after a woman.”
But this decision is not unanimous. Many people would have opted for the name Teddy Riner instead. To which the President of the Region reminds that in general “we do not give the name of national buildings to living people”.
By RCI Guadeloupe
