Marcel Cabon (born, ''Jacques Marsèle'') (February 29, 1912 at

Curepipe Curepipe () also known as ''La Ville-Lumière'' (The City of Light), is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District, the eastern part also lies in the Moka District. The town is administered by the Municipal Council of Curepipe ...

– January 31, 1972) was a writer, journalist, and poet.

Life

Marcel Cabon grew up in the village of Petite Rivière Noire on the west side of the island of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. At the age of 19, he published his first verses in '' L'Essor,'' a national daily newspaper. In 1946, Marcel frequently traveled to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

; a year later, he was no longer welcomed by local journalists, and the authorities deported him to Mauritius. Despite the forced deportation, Cabon's time in Madagascar inspired him to write ''Kélibé-Kéliba'' in 1956. After spending some time working as a radio broadcaster, Cabon returned to

print media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information e ...

. In 1956, he became the editor of the ''Mauritian''. He also held the same position at ''Advance'', a pro-labor daily newspaper. His novel ''Namasté'' earned him the literary

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Marcel Cabon. The hero in the novel, Ram, is a young

Indo-Mauritian Indo-Mauritians are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to Indian subcontinent or other parts of South Asia. History During the administration of the French East India Company (until 1767) and subsequent French rule at least 12,000 work ...

who inherits a piece of land and becomes popular in his village. He encourages the peasants to help each other by building a school and a road, but when his wife is killed by the collapse of his house during a tropical storm, Ram loses his purpose. ''Namasté'' was reissued in 1981 and later reprinted to accommodate the educational institutions that have included his novel in their programs. In 1970, Cabon left the management of ''Advance'' to become the Chief of Information Service of the Mauritian Radio-Television, associated with the

Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) is the national public broadcaster of the Republic of Mauritius, that is the islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues, and Agaléga. The headquarters of the MBC is found at Réduit, Moka, it also operates a s ...

Works

* ''Gochu'', novel (1965). Port Louis: Eds. of the Indian Ocean, 1981. * ''Brasse-au-Vent'', novel (1968). Port Louis: Eds. of the Indian Ocean, 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabon, Marcel 1912 births 1972 deaths 20th-century journalists Mauritian journalists Mauritian poets Mauritian writers People from Plaines Wilhems District