Claude Ribbe (born 13 October 1954) is a French writer, activist and filmmaker.

Early life and education

Ribbe was born in Paris and is alumnus of the Ecole normale superieure.

Career

Ribbe has specialised in the history of colonialism in the Caribbean. He has also been active in promoting civil rights in France for people of ethnic African and Caribbean origin. Through his books and films, he has supported the recognition of figures such as Eugene Bullard, Chevalier de Saint-George, and Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, who was the first black man to be promoted to general in the French Army in 1793. In his book '' Le Crime de Napoleon'' (2005), Ribbe accused

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

of having used sulphur dioxide gas for the mass execution of more than 100,000 rebellious black

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

s when trying to put down slave rebellions in

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to ref ...

(now Haiti) 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 ...

. He said this was a model for

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

nearly 140 years later.

Books

* ''Le Cri du Centaure'' (2001) * ''Alexandre Dumas, le dragon de la Reine'' (2002) * ''L'Expedition'' (2003) * ''Le chevalier de Saint-George'' (2004) * ''Une Saison en Irak'' (2005) * ''Le Crime de Napoleon'' (2005) * ''Les Nègres de la République'' (2007) * ''Le Nègre vous emmerde'' (2008) * ''Le Diable Noir'' (2008) * ''Mémoires du Chevalier de Saint-George'' (2010) * ''Eugene Bullard'' (2012) * ''Une autre histoire'' (2016)

Films

* ''Le Diable Noir'' (2009) * ''The Legendary Chevalier de Saint-George'' (2011) * ''Eugene Bullard'' (2013)

References

École Normale Supérieure alumni 1954 births French people of Guadeloupean descent Living people French male writers {{Guadeloupe-bio-stub