France returns skulls of Malagasy King Toera and Sakalava ancestors after 128 years

Three human skulls taken from Madagascar during French colonial rule have been returned after 128 years in a Paris museum.

The restitution was formalised on Tuesday at the French Ministry of Culture, where officials confirmed the remains included those of King Toera, executed by French troops in 1897, and two others from the Sakalava ethnic group.

A Franco-Malagasy scientific panel verified that the skulls belonged to the Sakalava but said it could only presume that one was King Toera’s.

French soldiers beheaded Toera during a brutal crackdown in 1897 and shipped his skull to Paris as a war trophy. It was later added to the collections of the National Museum of Natural History, which holds thousands of human remains from former colonies.

Footage of the handover showed three boxes wrapped in traditional Malagasy cloth being carried through the ministry’s offices before the formal exchange.

Violated human dignity

"These skulls entered the national collections in circumstances that clearly violated human dignity and in a context of colonial violence," French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said at the handover.

Madagascar’s Culture Minister, Volamiranty Donna Mara, said the removal of the remains during colonisation had left a lasting scar on the nation, describing it as a wound that had remained open for more than a century. She added that the skulls carry deep symbolic value for the country.

The transfer marks the first repatriation of human remains since France passed a law in 2023 allowing the return of such artefacts to their countries of origin.

It could also pave the way for further restitutions, as nearly one-third of the 30,000 items at Paris’s Musée de l’Homme are human remains. Argentina and Australia are among the countries that have already submitted requests for similar returns.

The skulls will be flown to Madagascar on Sunday, with plans for their burial during a ceremony coinciding with the anniversary of King Toera’s execution.

Other Topics To Read

• France
• King Toera
• Malagasy royal remains
• colonial restitution
• Madagascar French colonial rule
• Paris museum
• Sakalava ethnic group
• France returns skulls of Malagasy King Toera and Sakalava ancestors after 128 years
• Africa