The commemoration of the 128th anniversary of the birth of Gaston Monnerville took place this Thursday (January 2), at the Cayenne botanical garden.
The event was organized by the Society of Friends of President Gaston Monnerville (SAPGM).
The SAPGM wants this new year to be that of the former mayor of Cayenne (between 1943 and 1945), with the aim of making known his work which is still little-known.
A grandson of slaves of modest origins
As a reminder, this Guyanese, grandson of slaves, was notably a lawyer (he pleaded in the Galmot affair), a deputy then senator of Guyana and the first and only black president of the Senate for more than 20 years, between 1947 and 1968.
Pour Georges Patient, senator from Guyana and president of the Society of Friends of President Gaston Monnerville, his journey must be part of the collective memory of the Guyanese and be taught at school.
Monnerville led a great political activity in Guyana, where he was mayor and deputy, but also in France, in Tarn. And above all, he was a resistance fighter under the name of Commander Saint-Just. Through his very strong friendship with Eboué, he was able to have the necessary contacts to bring Africa back to France during the Second World War. And then, he was president of the Senate for 22 years. I know many who are in the Pantheon who have done much less than him. His life is a model. We want to pass on to all our young people the example of Monnerville, which proves that even starting from nothing, you can reach the highest summit in the State. He was the second person in the French state. He even almost became President of the Republic.
A French Barack Obama
Pour Georges PatientGaston Monnerville was the equivalent of a French Barack Obama, but before his time.
Monnerville was born in 1897. He arrived in France in 1912. He entered second grade, he left his little Guyana. You realize what it must have been like at the beginning of the 20th century. We must see everything he could have suffered due to his modest origins and his black color. Despite everything, he manages to be first everywhere. He was elected in Guyana, then in Lot. At the start, he was parachuted in, but he was appreciated and he was subsequently elected for more than 20 years in the Lot. He arrives at the Senate. He was first vice-president and, afterwards, he took the presidency of the Senate which he kept until he left of his own accord after his disagreement with General de Gaulle.
A desired pantheonization
Former president of the CTG Rodolphe Alexandre wrote a thesis on Gaston Monnerville. A person he knew and who, according to him, deserves to enter the Pantheon.
For me, beyond the Guyanese, he is a statesman. This is France's conscience regarding the Constitution. History proved him right when de Gaulle imposed article 11 for the election by universal suffrage of the President of the Republic. Today, history shows that article 11 was not the reference, article 89 perhaps, but which required consultation of Parliament. Given the role he played with France, I would have liked, along with many others, that pantheonization would have been open to him. There are pages of history that we deserve to develop and show to young people.
Several events are planned to make Gaston Monnerville's work known to as many people as possible, such as oratory workshops in schools, conferences and exhibitions.
