Joseph-François Lambert, the "Duke of Imerina" (1824–1873) was a French adventurer, businessman, and diplomat who fathered the Lambert Charter.
Early years
Lambert was born in
Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine in 1824. He was the brother of
Henri Lambert. He traveled to
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
where, at the age of 22, he married a wealthy widow and accumulated further wealth by entering the slave trade. In 1854 he relieved a garrison in Madagascar held by Merina troops that had come under threat by a coastal community rebelling against the rule of Queen
Ranavalona I
Ranavalona I (born Rabodoandrianampoinimerina; 1778–16 August 1861), also known as Ramavo or Ranavalo-Manjaka I or Ranavalona reniny, was the sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861. After positioning herself as queen fol ...
. As a reward, he was invited to a royal audience with the queen at her
royal compound in
Antananarivo
Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...
. There he met
Jean Laborde
Jean Laborde (16 October 1805 in Auch – 27 December 1878 in Mantasoa, Madagascar) was an adventurer and early industrialist in Madagascar. He became the chief engineer of the Merina people, Merina Kingdom of Imerina, monarchy, supervising the cr ...
, a Frenchman who had established an armament industry for the Merina army. Lambert also made the acquaintance of the queen's son and future heir, Prince
Rakoto.
Lambert Charter
According to Lambert, the prince gave him the exclusive right to exploit all minerals, forests, and unoccupied land in Madagascar in exchange for a 10-percent royalty payable to the Merina monarchy, although the
true events are far more complicated. In years to come, the French would use this "Lambert Charter" and a letter of the prince to
Napoléon III
Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...
asking for French protection to justify the
Franco-Hova Wars and the annexation of Madagascar as a colony. The Lambert Charter was signed on 28 June 1855. The authenticity of the documents has been questioned and, in any case, the prince had no official French authority at that time and his actions could have been treacherous.
[Oliver, Samuel. ''Madagascar: An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Island and its Former Dependencies, Volume 1.'' Macmillan and Co., 1886.]
Attempted coup
With these documents, Lambert went to London and Paris to try to elicit help and support to overthrow the ruling queen and have her replaced by her son. Although no official help was forthcoming, he returned to Madagascar in 1857 to implement the plotted coup himself. The world traveler
Ida Pfeiffer was a member of his travel party and thus an unwitting participant in the coup attempt, which ultimately failed. Queen
Ranavalona executed the locals who were involved and banished the Europeans implicated, including Lambert,
Laborde, and Pfeiffer.
[Pfeiffer, I. and Riaux, F. ''Voyage à Madagascar.'' Librairie Hachette et Cie., 1881.] Lambert with the survivors embarked and returned to
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
.
Compagnie de Madagascar
After the Queen's death in 1861, prince Rakoto succeeded her as King
Radama II, and Lambert saw his chance to have the agreement put in place. The new king confirmed the charter and bestowed on him the title of "Duke of Merina" (duc d'Imerina). Lambert and other businessmen founded the ''Compagnie de Madagascar'' in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
as a
joint stock
A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...
company to take advantage of the charter; its official title was ''La compagnie de Madagascar financière, industrielle et commerciale'' and it was authorized by imperial decree of 2 May 1863.
The special privileges accorded to Joseph-François Lambert and his partners under the Lambert Charter – including the implementation of public works projects (fallen trees, making roads, building canals etc.), control over minting coinage, exclusive mining rights and more as part of the purview of Lambert's proposed ''Compagnie de Madagascar'' (French Madagascar Company) – were especially controversial. The citizens' concern stemmed from clauses in the agreement that would have permit Lambert's company to become permanent owners of Malagasy lands. Until this point, land in Madagascar, which was viewed by the populace as the sacred ground of the ancestors, could only ever be temporarily possessed by foreigners until their death, at which point the land would revert to the crown. The threat of permanently losing any part of sacred Malagasy soil to foreigners was deeply troubling and galvanized many in Radama's court against him.
Radama was assassinated on 12 May 1863. The new government under Queen
Rasoherina and Prime Minister
Rainivoninahitriniony sought to renegotiate the charter, leading to considerable friction between the ''Companie de Madagascar'' and the French government versus the Merina. It would still take three decades and several French interventions to make Madagascar a French colony. Breaking of the Lambert Charter was one of the pretenses for later French military involvement in the Franco-Hova war that led to the French conquest of the island.
As the situation in Madagascar had turned unfavourable after the death of Radama II, Lambert moved to the
Comoro Islands
The Comoro Islands are a group of volcanic islands in the Mozambique Channel, an arm of the Indian Ocean lying between Madagascar and the African mainland. Three of the islands form the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign nation, while Mayotte bel ...
in 1865 where he ruled as Regent of
Mwali from 1868–71. He died in 1873.
Notes
Sources
Timeline (in French) accessed 5/21/2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Joseph-Francois
1824 births
1873 deaths
British Mauritius people
Expatriates in Madagascar
People from Ille-et-Vilaine
19th-century French diplomats
19th century in Madagascar
Sultanates on the Comoros