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 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 (, , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. History Before it was ceded to France by Spain in 1635, the area of Fort-de-Fra ...

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, Tardon attended at the Lycée Schoelcher in

and studied law and history in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served briefly in the French army and later in the resistance in southern France."Tardon, Raphaël", in Donald E. Herdeck (ed), ''Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical-Critical Encyclopedia'', Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1979, pp. 510–11. His sister, Manon Tardon, also fought in the Resistance. After the war, he worked 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 journalist, and subsequently worked for the Ministry of Information, in

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

and

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

. 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 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

: ''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 i ...

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

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

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

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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 ...

: ''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 Uni ...

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

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

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

Éditions Denoël Éditions Denoël is a 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 of the interwa ...

(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