FRENCH GUYANA
See also ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERACHY IN FRENCH GUYANA 1848 - 1945
FRENCH COLONY OF GUYANA
The first French reached the coast of Guyana - at that moment formally within the
zone of Spanish influence (1) - ca 1604. They established their first permanent
settlement on the island of Cayenne - seat of the future capital- in 1634, but real
colonization only started in 1643.
French Guyana was at first privately owned (Compagnie du Cap Nord, Compagnie des
douze Seigneurs, ...) but in 1674 the administration was taken over by the French
crown.
Except for a Portuguese occupation in 1809 - 1817 it remained a French possession
ever since.
In 1930 French Guyana was divided into 2 distinct units :
- the actual Colony of Guyana, which only covered the coastal area with the town of
Cayenne.
- the Teritory of the Inini, which covered the inland area.
(1) "Spanish Guyana" actually was the name given to the coastal area extending
from Eastern Venezuela to Northern Brazil.
After several wars and diplomatic negotiations, the area was finally
divided between :
- Brazil (Amapá)
- France
- the Netherlands (Suriname)
- the United Kingdom (British Guyana)
- Venezuela (Bolivar)
The French colony gained a bad reputation after a major penal settlement
for political prisoners and dangerous criminals was established on some
of its minor islands - like Devil's Island - in 1852.
__________________________________________________________________________________
FRENCH CHIEF ADMINISTRATORS
Governors
Gouverneurs
1846 - 1850 André Aimé Pariset (in 1848 Commissioner
General entrusted with the abolition
of slavery) 1795 - 1872
1850 - 1851 Louis Eugène Maissin* 1811 - 1851
1851 Jean François Marie Félix Stanislas
Vidal de Lingendes* 1796 -
1851 - 1852 Octave Pierre Antoine Henri de
Chabannes-Curton 1803 - 1889
1852 - 1853 Joseph Napoléon Sarda-Garriga 1808 - 1877
1853 - 1854 Martin Fourichon 1809 - 1884
1854 - 1855 Capt. Louis Adolphe Bonard 1805 - 1867
1855 - 1856 Antoine Alphonse Masset*
1856 - 1859 Adm. Auguste Laurent François Baudin 1800 - 1877
1859 - 1864 Capt. Louis Marie François Tardy de
Montravel 1811 - 1864
1864 - 1865 Antoine Favre*
1865 - 1870 BrigGen. Privat Antoine Agathon Hennique 1810 - 1870
1870 J. A. A. Noyer*
1870 - 1877 Col. Jean-Louis Loubère (*1870 - 1871) 1820 -
1877 A. E. Bouet*
1877 - 1880 Marie Alfred Armand Huart 1826 -
1880 P. A. Trève*
1880 - 1883 Charles Alexandre Lacouture 1829 - 1917
1883 - 1884 Henri Isidore Chessé 1839 -
1884 - 1885 Jean Baptiste Antoine Lougnon* 1843 -
1885 - 1887 Léonce Pierre Henri Le Cardinal 1830 -
1888 - 1891 Anne Léodor Philotée Metellus
Gerville-Réache 1849 -
1891 - 1893 Louis Albert Grodet 1853 - 1933
1893 Paul Émile Joseph Casimir Fawtier 1837 - 1903
1893 - 1895 Camille Charvein 1834 -
1895 - 1896 Henri Félix de Lamothe 1843 - 1926
1896 - 1898 Henri Éloi Danel 1850 -
1898 Henri Charles Victor Amédée Roberdeau 1849 - 1916
1899 Louis Mouttet 1857 - 1902
1899 - 1903 Émile Joseph Merwart
1904 - 1905 Louis Albert Grodet (2x)
1905 Charles Emmanuel Joseph Marchal
1905 - 1906 Victor François Ferdinand Rey
1906 Louis Alphonse Bonhoure 1864 - 1909
1906 - 1907 Édouard Picanon 1854 - 1939
1907 - 1909 François Pierre Rodier 1854 -
1909 - 1910 William Maurice Fawtier 1867 -
1910 Fernand Ernest Thérond
1910 - 1911 Paul Samary 1848 - 1911
1911 Denys Joseph Goujon 1863 -
1911 - 1914 Pierre Jean Henri Didelot 1870 -
1914 - 1916 Fernand Ernest Lévecque
1916 Pierre Jean Henri Didelot (2x)
1916 - 1917 Georges Lévy 1867 -
1917 Jules Gérard Auguste Lauret 1866 -
1917 - 1918 Antoine Joseph Xavier Barre
1918 - 1923 Henri Alphonse Joseph Lejeune
1923 Julien Edgard Cantau
1923 - 1926 Marc Émile Charles Jean Chanel 1882 - 1943
1926 - 1927 Gabriel Henri Joseph Thaly
1927 François Adrien Juvanon 1875 -
1927 - 1928 Émile Buhot-Launay
1928 - 1929 Camille Théodore Raoul Maillet
1929 - 1931 Bernard Jacques Victorin Siadous,
also first Governor of Inini (s.b.) 1879 -
1931 - 1933 Louis Joseph Bouge 1878 - 1960
1933 - 1935 Julien Georges Lamy
1935 - 1936 Charles Max de Masson de Saint-Félix
1936 Pierre Tap
1936 - 1938 René Veber
1938 - 1942 Robert Paul Chot-Plassot
1942 - 1943 René Veber (2x)
1943 - 1944 Jean Alexandre Léon Rapenne, appointed
by the CFLN (2) 1901 - 1952
1944 - 1946 Jules Eucher Surlemont 1897 - 1983
(2) In 1939 French Guyana and Inini became part of the Theater Atlantic West and
remained loyal to the Vichy regiime established in France in 1940 after the
German victory.
In 1943 a popular revolt forced Governor Veber to rally to the Free French
administration of Gen. Henri Giraud (1879 - 1949) which soon afterwards
merged with the French National Committee of Gen. Charles de Gaulle (1890 -
1970) to form the French Committee for National Liberation (Comité Français
de Liberation Nationale-CFLN)
FRENCH TERRITORY OF THE ININI
The creation of the distinct Territory of the Inini in 1930 was a consequence of the
way the French wanted to deal with the cultural and economic conditions in inland
Guyana, which were quite different from those in the coastal area.
They planned :
- to revive economic live in the area after the decline of gold mining,
- to prevent an uncontrolled economic exploitation of the richnesses of the area,
- to give some protection to the traditional communities of Native Americans and of
Maroons, who were granted a kind of "tribal self-government".
__________________________________________________________________________________
FRENCH CHIEF ADMINISTRATORS
Governors
Gouverneurs
1930 - 1946 The Governors of French Guyana s.a.
__________________________________________________________________________________
HEADS OF THE BONI COMMUNITY
The Boni community was among the most important of the "self-governing" communities
of the Inini.
It was one of the 6 Maroon (3) communities that were established in the course of
the early 18th century by revolted or escaped black slaves from Dutch Guyana taking
refuge in the jungle.
After some defeats against the Dutch and the Djuka Maroons - who considered them as
their subjects - the Boni started migrating from the Dutch to the French zone at the
end of the 18th century.
A general peace treaty - recognizing the Boni as an independent community - was
signed in 1860 and the following year those living in the French zone were placed
under French protection. In 1892 most of those still living in the Dutch zone also
moved to French Guyana.
(3) For the other Maroon - then mostly called Boschnegers, Busch Negroes,
Nègres-des-Bois, Bushinengé, Neg nan Bwa - communities see Dutch Guyana
(to be added)
Granmans
(spiritual, political and military leaders of the community)
Lo-Dikan Clan
1842 - 1870 Obi Adam 1... - 1870
Lo-Yakubi Clan
187. - 1876 Atíaba 1... - 1876
1876 - 1890 Anató 1... - 1890
Lo-Dikan Clan
189. - 1915 Osyi, moved to French Guyana 1... - 1915
1915 - 1917 none
1917 - 1936 Awensaï 1... - 1936
193. - 196. Difu 1... - 196.
HOME
INDEX