Gisèle Rabesahala

As a celebrated Malagasy woman politician of the twentieth century, Gisèle Rabesahala (1929-2011) devoted her life to her country’s independence, human rights and the freedom of peoples. The first Malagasy woman to be appointed minister (1977), she is regarded as a pioneer in Malagasy politics.

Pedagogical Unit

The French colonization of Madagascar and resistance

Introduction

Gisèle Rabesahala campaigned all her life for the emancipation of individuals, the freedom of the Malagasy people and the independence of the nation. She fought tirelessly and vigorously in a political world largely dominated by men.

It was during a public demonstration in Antananarivo on 19 May 1929, a few days after Gisèle was born, that Malagasies would, for the first time, demand independence for their country. Gisèle Rabesahala’s progressive and humanist fight would be part of that same current of demands for independence.

Gisèle Rabesahala at an international conference. Rabesahala family archives.

The fall of the Kingdom of Madagascar and French colonization

The unification of Madagascar was completed in the nineteenth century, during the reign of King Radama I (1810-1828). On 12 September 1862, during the reign of King Radama II, a Franco-Malagasy treaty of friendship was signed, recognizing the kingdom’s sovereignty. However, certain clauses authorizing the takeover of land, natural resources and the use of the labour force, put this sovereignty at risk.

Radama I. Painting by Philippe-Auguste Ramanankirahina, 1905.

These privileges conceded to France gave rise to several protest movements, which the French at first tried to squash by violent means. Eager to expand and anxious to make its conquests secure,

France finally annexed Madagascar by force. It officially became a French colony on 6 August 1896.

Throughout the colonial period, France exercised total control over the economy, the administration and the army. The living conditions of the Malagasies declined and the people’s rights and freedoms were violated (hard labour, taxation, etc.). The Malagasy people saw themselves reduced to a work force (for the construction of roads, railways and ports, the cultivation of tropical crops, etc.).

The first resistance movements opposing colonization

From the very beginning of colonization, and although the power relationship was an unequal one, some Malagasies resisted the regime by meeting force with force. To begin with, acts of resistance were isolated and undertaken by underground peasant organizations like Ny Menalamba – the “Red Shawls” – (1895–1897), the Sadiavahy fighters (around 1915) in the South, and an opposition group of intellectuals, Vy Vato Sakelika, the “Iron and Stone Ramification” (1913-1915). These movements would be crushed by the colonial power.

With the Second World War (1939–1945), the living conditions of the Malagasy deteriorated further:

  • the peasants and workers were exploited (this was a time of forced labour);
  • rice was requisitioned for the war effort and the country found itself in the grip of a famine, especially the south of the island;
  • Thirty-four thousand Malagasies were called up to serve in the French army.

Forced labour for the construction of the railways: tamping ballast under the sleepers.

1946: a first venture into politics with the MDRM

After the war, in Paris in February 1946, Raseta and Ravoahangy, two members of parliament elected to represent Madagascar at the first French Constituent Assembly, along with the writer Jacques Rabemananjara, founded the Democratic Movement for Malagasy Renewal (MDRM), which brought together nationalists engaged in the fight for the country’s independence.

At 17 years of age, and having qualified as a shorthand typist, Gisèle Rabesahala was recruited as a secretary to write down the speeches of the Movement’s leaders in Madagascar.

Gisèle Rabesahala (around 25 years old). Rabesahala family archive.

The first resistance movements opposing colonization

From the very beginning of colonization, and although the power relationship was an unequal one, some Malagasies resisted the regime by meeting force with force. To begin with, acts of resistance were isolated and undertaken by underground peasant organizations like Ny Menalamba – the “Red Shawls” – (1895–1897), the Sadiavahy fighters (around 1915) in the South, and an opposition group of intellectuals, Vy Vato Sakelika, the “Iron and Stone Ramification” (1913-1915). These movements would be crushed by the colonial power.

Through these early experiences, Gisèle became involved in the fight for her country’s independence and against the oppression of the Malagasy people. However, the colonists stepped up their repression: the leaders of the MDRM (parliamentarians and activists) were arrested, tried and sentenced, either to death or to hard labour. The MDRM was finally dissolved in June 1947.

Protest of the Solidarity Committee of Madagascar for the liberation of Raseta and the amnesty for prisoners in 1947. Rabesahala family archives.