Raphaël Louis Thomas Tardon (October 27, 1911 – January 16, 1967) was a French writer, novelist and essayist of Martiniquais origin. He was posthumously awarded the

Prix littéraire des Caraïbes The Prix littéraire des Caraïbes (''Caribbean Literary Prize'') is a French literary award which was created in 1964 by l’Association des Écrivains de langue française (Association of French language writers). The award honors a writer from ...

in 1966 for his complete body of work. He was the father of screenwriter Bruno Tardon.

Biography

Born into a wealthy family in

Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the ...

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

, Tardon attended at the Lycée Schoelcher in

and studied law and history in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served briefly in the French army and later in the resistance in southern France."Tardon, Raphaël", in

Donald E. Herdeck Donald E. Herdeck (November 19, 1924 – April 20, 2005) was an American academic and publisher, and the founder in 1973 of Three Continents Press. Biography Donald Elmer Herdeck was born on November 19, 1924, in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Dra ...

(ed), ''Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical-Critical Encyclopedia'', Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1979, pp. 510–11. His sister,

Manon Tardon Yvonne Renée Manon Tardon, known as Manon Tardon (17 August 1913–23 December 1989) was a landowner and French Resistance fighter from Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island ...

, also fought in the Resistance. After the war, he worked in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

as a journalist, and subsequently worked for the Ministry of Information, in

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 ...

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

and

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

. His first published book was a collection of stories, ''Bleu des Isles''. It was followed by the novels ''Starkenfirst'' (1947), which deals with the slave trade, ''La Caldeira'' (1948), and ''Christ aux poing'' (1950). In 1951, Tardon published the biography ''Toussaint Louverture, le Napoléon noir'', and in 1963 a study of race entitled ''Noirs et blancs''. Tardon died in Paris in 1967. ''Rue Manon-et-Raphaël-Tardon,'' a street in the Didier district of Fort-de-France, is named after Tardon and his sister.

List of works

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

: ''Bleu des Isles'' (stories), Fasquelle (Paris) *

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

: ''Starkenfirst'' (novel), Fasquelle (Paris) *

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

: ''La Caldeira'' (novel), Fasquelle (Paris) - republished in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

by Ibis Rouge Éditions *

: ''Le combat de Schoelcher'' (non-fiction), Fasquelle (Paris) *

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

: ''Christ aux poing'' (novel), Fasquelle (Paris) *

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

: ''Toussaint Louverture, le Napoléon noir'' (non-fiction), Éditions Bellemand *

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

: ''Noirs et blancs. Une solution: l'Apartheid?'',

Éditions Denoël Éditions Denoël is a French culture, French publishing house founded in 1930. Acquired by Éditions Gallimard in 1951, it publishes collections spanning fiction, non-fiction and comic books. It published some of the most important French authors ...

(Paris)

References

Biography of Asthon Tardon, father of Raphaël

1911 births 1967 deaths People from Fort-de-France Martiniquais writers French male writers 20th-century French male writers {{Martinique-writer-stub