Monument Demba et Dupont

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monument Demba et Dupont (2012)

The Demba et Dupont monument is a war memorial in Dakar , Senegal . It was built in 1923 and consists of two bronze statues of an African and a French soldier standing on a pedestal .

Location and design

The monument is located in the Dakar Plateau district on the Place du Tirailleur Sénégalais , in front of the Dakar train station . It is one of the listed objects in the Dakar region .

On a brick base stand two bronze statues, a local Tirailleur sénégalais and a colonial soldier from Metropolitan France , who symbolically march together to victory. The former was named "Demba", the latter "Dupont". The names were chosen because of their wide distribution in West Africa and Metropolitan France. The fact that “Dupont” puts a hand on “Demba ”'s shoulder is interpreted as a paternalistic gesture.

history

In the years after the First World War there were efforts from various sides to erect monuments to the soldiers from the French colonies in sub-Saharan Africa . Proponents of this movement included the French Colonial Minister Henry Simon , the Senegalese MP Blaise Diagne, and a group of military personnel around General Louis Archinard and General Charles Mangin . In addition to the Demba et Dupont monument , the monument to the heroes of the black army , which was erected identically in Bamako and Reims , is one of the most important of these monuments, which were created from private and public funds.

The monument Demba et Dupont is the work of the French sculptor Paul Ducuing , who created numerous monuments in public places, especially in southern France . It was unveiled on December 30, 1923 and was initially located at the Rond-point de l'Étoile in Dakar, a centrally located intersection of streets named after the pioneers of the French colonial empire. Its official name was initially Monument aux créateurs disparus et à la gloire de l'armée noire de l'AOF ("Monument to the deceased creators and the glory of the black army of French West Africa").

The location of the colonialist monument near the National Assembly meant that it was relocated to the Bel Air Catholic Cemetery on the outskirts in 1983 . With this step, the Senegalese president at the time, Abdou Diouf, tried to influence public opinion towards his government, which was accused of being close to neo-colonialist aspirations in France.

Location of the monument in front of Dakar station (2018)

At the instigation of President Abdoulaye Wade , the Demba et Dupont monument was moved to its current location in the city center in 2004 as part of commemorative events for the Tirailleurs sénégalais. At the base of the monument there were originally relief portraits of General Louis Faidherbe and Governors General Noël Ballay , François Joseph Clozel , William Ponty and Joost van Vollenhoven . These reliefs were removed in the course of the repositioning.

literature

  • Ruth Ginio: African Colonial Soldiers between Memory and Forgetfulness: The Case of Post-Colonial Senegal . In: Outre-Mers. Revue d'histoire . No. 350–351 , 2006, pp. 141-155 ( persee.fr ).

Web links

Commons : Monument Demba et Dupont  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arrêté ministériel n ° 8836 MCPHC-DPC en date du 12 September 2007 portant publication de la liste des sites et monuments historiques classés. In: Journal officiel de la République du Sénégal N ° 6383. January 5, 2008, accessed on February 5, 2019 (French).
  2. ↑ a b c d Marc Michel: L'Afrique dans l'engrenage de la Grande Guerre (1914-1918) . Karthala, Paris 2013, p. 198-199 .
  3. ↑ a b Statue de "Demba et Dupont". RFI, May 28, 2014, accessed February 5, 2019 (French).
  4. ↑ a b L'histoire de Demba et Dupont. In: au-senegal.com. February 3, 2016, accessed February 5, 2019 (French).
  5. ↑ Ducuing Paul. In: Base du patrimoine Mobilier-Palissy. Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, accessed on February 5, 2019 (French).
  6. ^ Liora Bigon: French colonial Dakar. The morphogenesis of an African regional capital . Manchester University Press, Manchester 2016, ISBN 978-0-7190-9935-9 , pp. 171 .
  7. ↑ Ruth Ginio: African Colonial Soldiers between Memory and Forgetfulness: The Case of Post-Colonial Senegal . In: Outre-Mers. Revue d'histoire . No. 350–351 , 2006, pp. 144–145 ( persee.fr [accessed February 5, 2019]).

Coordinates: 14 ° 40 ′ 29.8 "  N , 17 ° 25 ′ 58.6"  W.