The Catholic Mission, Sport and Renewal of Elites

The emblem of Jesuit ambition was St. Michel College, built in the heart of the capital in ‘fortress’ style proclaiming the educational plan for training the country’s elites. Our intention here is to show how, within the specific framework of this Catholic establishment, the disciplinary, associative and identitary functions of gymnastics and sports played their part from the 1920s in the training and renewal of Malagasy elites, and accompanied the process of decolonisation. Over seven decades, the establishment developed evolving, pragmatic and even opportunistic strategies which were above all adaptations of policy with a view to consolidating its position in Malagasy society. Thus, in order to reinforce its opposition to the Protestant missions, the establishment initially relied on help from the coloniser. From 1906, in a political context sustained by anti-clericalism and the promotion of secular education, the Catholic missions took deeper root in Malagasy demands. Keywords: Catholic MissionSt. Michel de Tananarive Jesuit Collegesporteducation of elitesdecolonisation Notes 1. Boudou, Madagascar, la mission de Tananarive, 23. 2. See the unpublished journal of Father Finaz, cited by Reverend Father Malzac, Histoire du royaume Hova, and Hübsch, ‘Difficultés des missions catholiques à Madagascar [1820–1861]’, 241–51. 3. According to Father Tiersonnier, ‘the building with its fortress air seemed rather anachronistic in the context of the time. The builders had certainly endowed it with impressive dimensions. ... Veterans recalled the skill of the builders with great pride;they had seen them at work and knew the rather rudimentary means they had put to such good use.’ Tiersonnier, Au cœur de l’île rouge, 50 ans de vie à Madagascar, 20. 4. De Torquat, Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo 1888–1988, 4. 5. The Reformation was a Protestant movement of reaction and religious contestation which challenged universities and education. See Piard, Education physique et sport, petit manuel d’histoire élémentaire. 6. The Roman College, a unique teacher training school, was created in 1550. Its internal organisation was defined by regulations called the Ratio and the teaching syllabus by a choice of didactic works. 7. For the pedagogy developed by the Jesuits, see De Dainville, Les Jésuites et l’éducation de la société française. La naissance de l’humanisme moderne. 8. On the nature/culture problem in Jesuit pedagogy, see Ulmann, La nature et l’éducation, 60–1. 9. The first generation of Malagasy elites, essentially Merina and from the capital, was educated at the Protestant school. It emerged during the VVS affair and asserted itself in the nationalist movement in 1947. See Combeau-Mai, ‘The Protestant Mission and Youth Movements’. 10. Radama II, King of the Imerina, ceded a lakeside plot of around ten hectares to the Jesuit fathers in 1862. 11. On these issues see Raison-Jourde, ‘Dérives constantiniennes et querelles religieuses [1869–1883]’, 277–94. 12. In 1895, 6,777 pupils were enrolled in 13 Catholic schools, 53 schools of the London Missionary Society, 4 of the French Foreign Association, 9 Anglican schools and 2 Norwegian schools. De Torquat, Le collège St Michel. Antananarivo 1888–1988, 8. 13. Rules of the Society of Jesus boarding school, Collegium et convictis societatis Jesu, 1849–1850, a duplicate of the regulations of the colleges and boarding schools of the province of Toulouse, which included Antananarivo. St Michel College archives at St Paul Theological College, Antananarivo. 14. General Gallieni sought to turn Madagascar into a model colony able to attract an influx of French settlers in search of land and profits. 15. Instructions from Governor-General Gallieni No. 812, Official Gazette dated 20 June 1903. 16. General Gallieni granted the Jesuits a 4 hectare plot in the city of Antananarivo for the construction of a French-language college on 1 November 1896. The new establishment of Amparibe was opened in 1898. De Torquat, Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo 1888–1988. 17. Unpublished letter from General Gallieni to Le Myre de Vilers, 25 April 1898. Quoted by Vidal, La séparation des églises et de l’Etat. 18. The French laws of 1901 challenging the role of religious orders in education were not applied in Madagascar until the arrival of Governor Augagneur in 1906. 19. Appointed Governor-General in replacement of General Gallieni in November 1905. He held the post until 1910. A Socialist, highly influential Freemason and former mayor of Lyon, Victor Augagneur was fiercely anti-clerical. See Vigen and Tronchon, ‘Dynamisme ecclésial et affrontements [1896–1913]’, 325–45. 20. See note 6 by Laurence Ink in Paulhan, Lettres de Madagascar 1907–1910, 70. 21. With his Polytechnique education, its attendant prestige and his personal worth, the positions taken by Monsignor de Saune were of great influence in Catholic circles. 22. Victor Augagneur succeeded in curbing the religious orders, despite the principle of free religious expression defined by the constitution of the Third Republic and the Convention of Zanzibar signed on 5 August 1890 by France and Great Britain. Victor Augagneur was haunted by what he called the danger of ‘Ethiopianism’, a church entirely in the hands of the indigenous population. He endeavoured to stifle any stirrings of autonomy in the Malagasy. In 1906 he ordered the closure of all schools held in churches. See Vigen and Tronchon, ‘Dynamisme ecclésial et affrontements [1896–1913]’. 23. On these questions see Arnaud, Le militaire, l’écolier, le gymnaste, naissance de l’éducation physique en France [1869–1889]. 24. La Mission de Madagascar, 6, December 1913, Vicariat de Tananarive, 103–4. 25. Colin and Suau, Madagascar et la mission catholique, 95. 26. Victoire Rasoamanarivo, beatified by John-Paul II in 1989, was the driving force behind this young women's movement, along with her sister Angélina Ranjavelo; they belonged to the family of Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony. Lupo, ‘L’entre-deux-guerres franco-malgache [1883–1895]’, in Hübsch, Madagascar et le christianisme, 299–305. 27. See Combeau-Mari, ‘Vitality of Associations and the Expansion of Sport’. 28. On the departure of Governor-General Augagneur, succeeded by Governor-General Albert Picquié who stayed on until 1914. 29. See Combeau-Mari, ‘The Protestant Mission and Youth Movements’. 30. Ralaimihoatra, Histoire de Madagascar, 250. 31. See Combeau-Mari, ‘The Protestant Mission and Youth Movements’. Reverend Ravelojaona was considered the spiritual father of the movement, with his charisma and influence over the young. 32. The son of Ignace Manifatra, grandson of King Linta and nephew of Father Basilide Rahidy, he studied at the apostolic school of Bordeaux after a stay in Reunion Island. It is worth noting that the mission's superiors [Europeans] appointed the young Malagasy scholastic to Ambohipo on his return from Europe, thus showing the importance they attached to the orientation of training and teaching at the new College. In 1893, Father Vénance, now a priest, returned to the College to teach the 1st class and Latin. De Torquat, Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo 1888–1988, 5. 33. The Apostolic Vicar of Madagascar at that time. 34. A French protectorate from 1841. 35. On 16 February, the court handed down 8 sentences of hard labour for life, 26 of 15 to 20 years and 7 acquittals. Among the sentenced featured Robin and Ravoahangy, the future standard-bearers of Malagasy nationalism. Reverend Ravelojaona also received a life sentence, but was acquitted in May 1916 after retractions by Robin. He exiled himself to France and joined the French army. In 1921, a general amnesty gradually saw the prisoners released. They made up the most active core of Malagasy nationalism until 1947. Koerner, Madagascar: colonisation française et nationalisme malgache au XXème siècle, 171. 36. Rajaonah, ‘Les élites malgaches d’Antananarivo et l’émergence d’un nationalisme moderne: l’organisation secrète Vy, Vato, Sakelika’, 319–46. See also Randriamandimby-Ravoahangy-Andrianavolona, ‘La VVS, Vy, Vato, Sakelika, contribution à l’étude sur le nationalisme malgache’, and the Master's Dissertation by Eléonore Randrianatsimbazafy, ‘La VVS dans le pays Betsileo’, U. of Aix en Provence. 37. The Administration specified that they had to be civil servants. 38. Letter dated September 1921, from Director of Native Affairs Berthier to the Head of the College. Bulletin de l’ASM, 1, 1922, St Michel College Archives at St Paul Theological College, Antananarivo. 39. Extract from the speech made by Joseph Rajoelina, President of the St Michel Association, on 26 December 1921. Bulletin de l’ASM, 1. 40. Gergaud, ‘La formation d’une élite malgache au collège Saint Michel de 1888 à nos jours’, 103. 41. The students of the medical school were the precursors of the nationalist movement and were remarkable for their participation in VVS. Rajaonah, ‘Les élites malgaches d’Antananarivo et l’émergence d’un nationalisme moderne: l’organisation secrète Vy, Vato, Sakelika’, 319–46. 42. Extracts from the speech made by Father Delom on 16 October 1921. Bulletin de l’ASM, 1. 43. Membership reached 489 in 1925. 44. Bulletin de l’ASM, 3, 1924. 45. Bulletin de l’ASM, 2, 1923. 46. Published in the Official Gazette of 9 June 1923. See the newspaper Afon Dasy, feu de camp, 1954, CAOM, POM 957/B. The first administrative board was made up as follows: President: Mr Trouve, sub-agent for the Compagnie Lyonnaise de Madagascar, Vice-president: R. P. du Mas de Peysac; Secretary: Adolphe de Guiran, Chief Secretary of the Public Prosecutor's office; Treasurer, Mr De La Hogue, chief accountant at the Madagascar Credit Foncier; Consultant: Mr Verdier, book-keeper. The venture met with some reticence on the part of the local mission. Father Sevin's perseverance was decisive. In May 1923 he sent Father du Mas a letter appointing him district delegate for Antananarivo, along with his chaplain's card, books and insignia. He also wrote Monsignor de Saune a very persuasive letter, supported by a recommendation from H. E. Cardinal Dubois, Archbishop of Paris. See the newspaper Afon Dasy, feu de camp, 1954. 47. See Delval, ‘Les débuts du mouvement Scout et notamment du guidisme à Madagascar’, 289. 48. Founder of the Scouts of France movement in 1920. See Laneyrie, ‘Les Scouts de France entre les deux guerres. Idéologie, prescriptions et pratiques pédagogiques’, 175–84. 49. There were 16 of them initially. André and Louis Prévost, Guy and Roger Nialeau, René Motais de Narbonne, René Luchucène, Charles and Noël Thébault, Raymond and Charles Vergoz, Raymond Pichon de Bury, Raymond Lacouture, Charles and Maurice Bénard, Jean and Maurice Monclar, Guy Boyer. Afon Dasy, feu de camp, 1954. 50. Ibid. 51. Association report, meeting of 23 September 1923. Bulletin de l’ASM, 3, 1924. 52. Created by Victor Augagneur in 1908, the state school was named ‘Lycée Condorcet’ in 1918 and ‘Lycée Gallieni’ in 1924. It is now known as Lycée Andohalo. 53. A man of experience, Léon Cayla took up his post as Governor-General on 2 May 1930. On arrival he expressed his point of view in no uncertain terms in a speech delivered at the residence: ‘I give to those who seek to compromise them [our affection and concern] this first and final warning. I would like to be able to leave the matter there, but I am ready to act as quickly and vigorously as necessary, in the knowledge that such is my duty, and that to do so is to act in the higher interests of our country.’ Cayla immediately confined Ravoahangy and Ralaimango to residence at Maintirano and Port Bergé. He began his governorship by voting for the decree on violation of press laws. Ralaimihoatra, Histoire de Madagascar, 262. 54. Lhande, Notre épopée missionnaire, Madagascar 1832–1932,18. 55. Patriotic commitment characterised the personality of Bernard de Gevigney. Father Tiersonnier rediscovered it in 1944 on the field of battle. After leaving the island in 1943, he served as chaplain to France's second Armoured Division which had just cleared the approaches to Strasbourg. On recovering from a recent shrapnel wound to the face he prepared for the attack on Berchtesgaden, ‘Hitler's eagle's nest’. Tiersonnier, Madagascar, les missionnaires acteurs du développement, 37. 56. Father de Gevigney displayed noteworthy animosity towards the Freemasons and an aversion for Communism, which was becoming widespread among Malagasy intellectuals in the late 1930s. The Communist Party of the Region of Madagascar [PCRM] was constituted in August 1936. Randrianja, Le Parti communiste de la région de Madagascar 1930–1939. 57. De Torquat, Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo 1888–1988, 86. 58. Letter from Governor-General Cayla to the Father-Rector dated 4 September 1934. St Michel College Archives at St Paul Theological College, Antananarivo. The schools policy of Léon Cayla, which was based chiefly on the dominant role of the French language in learning, broke with the strictly secular mark left by his predecessors. 59. The European pupils did not have the same school calendar as the Malagasy pupils. The former began their school year in October, the latter in January. The school holidays were different. 60. The nationalist opposition, which grew stronger in the 1930s, enjoyed the support of the left wing parties of mainland France, particularly the Communist Party. 61. Quoted by De Torquat, Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo 1888–1988, 92. 62. A project which came to nothing in the face of their reluctance. 63. Official diary of Father-Rector Gevigney for 23 April 1934. St Michel College Archives at St Paul Theological College, Antananarivo. 64. De Torquat, Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo 1888–1988, 223. 65. In 1941 the diocese included around 20 churches, over 170 chapels and 37,000 faithful. 66. Le Messager du cœur de Jésus, July 1939. 67. De Torquat, P.F. Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo, 1888–1988, 105. 68. See Combeau-Mari, ‘The Cult of Maréchal Pétain and the Enrolment of Youth under Governor Annet [1941–1942]’. 69. De Torquat, P.F. Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo, 1888–1988, 111–12. 70. On Scouting in Madagascar, see Delval, ‘Les débuts du mouvement Scout et notamment du guidisme à Madagascar’, 290. 71. Posted to Tamatave in 1929, Father du Mas de Peysac initiated the creation of an essentially creole Scout troop. Afon Dasy, feu de camp, 1954. 72. In 1936 Father Derville created a wholly Malagasy troop which acquired a reputation for the quality of its Scouting. Afon Dasy, feu de camp, 1954. 73. Official Gazette. 74. See on these matters Ramanantsoa Ramarcel, B. ‘Les sociétés secrètes nationalistes à Madagascar dans la première moitié du XXème siècle, Vy, Vato, Sakelika [1913–1915], PANAMA [Parti National Socialiste Malgache 1941–1947], JINY [Jeunesse nationaliste 1943–1945]’. Doctoral Thesis, U. of Paris VII, 1985–1986. 75. Near Antananarivo, a training school for Jesuit seminarists. 76. Also elected a député [MP], Jacques Rabemananjara conducted a very violent electoral campaign in his constituency. Jacques Tiersonnier witnessed this propaganda in November 1946:‘Although he had spent the whole period of the occupation in France, marrying a Frenchwoman and pursuing successful studies and a career ... he dared to say during his electoral tours in late 1946-early 1947: Have you the souls of slaves? Why do you respect the French? I saw them during the war, they ate swedes and bran, like pigs. Do you respect pigs?’ And another time: ‘Kill the French, cut them up and throw the pieces in the river.’ Quoted by Tiersonnier, J. S.J. Madagascar, les missionnaires acteurs du développement, 41. 77. Ravoahangy and Raseta, Protestant former members of the VVS, were elected MPs and sat in the French National Assembly. 78. The statutes of the MDRM, a Christian party dominated by the people of the High Plateaus, were drawn up in Paris by Jacques Rabemananjara with the help of the Jesuit Reverend Father Dunan, head of the information section of the Madagascar mission. Spacensky, A. Madagascar, cinquante ans de vie politique, de Ralaimongo à Tsiranana. Paris: Nouvelles éditions latines, 1970: 47. In reaction, the statutes of the PADESM [Party of the Disinherited of Madagascar] were registered in June 1946 by personalities from the coastal region, including Philibert Tsiranana, and with the support of the colonial administration which sought a return to the ‘old policy of races’ advocated by Gallieni at the beginning of his governorship in order to destroy Merina hegemony. 79. The Madagascar uprising of 1947 gave violent expression to post-war armed nationalist demands. It was put down by the colonial with over The nationalist were La de des and La sur les de Madagascar, Tananarive, Tronchon, malgache de 1947. Among them He was of the the newspaper of the Catholic which for the first in de Madagascar, de de See et le de la société The of Madagascar called on Jean de a at to up the He was by Father With his and the Father his the people to help them of the and they commitment and positions part of his as as the colonial In December he was under an by the administration of the He his in Reunion Island. Tiersonnier, Au cœur de l’île rouge, 50 ans de vie à Madagascar, Letter from the of Madagascar to their dated 26 November by Lupo, P. et à 66. made on June 1947 by Father General of the Society of during a to Bulletin du collège St Michel, June St Michel College Archives at St Paul Theological College, Antananarivo. Father Tiersonnier had just his training as a by his in the first as a as chaplain to a at the of the war, he had and a of He at the head of the establishment from to He supported the Malagasy nationalist Tiersonnier, J. S.J. Au cœur de l’île rouge, 50 ans de vie à Madagascar: 20. Letter dated 26 July from a of the Malagasy to the In De Torquat, Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo 1888–1988, 86. The of a new on 9 August under a Les du collège St Michel of St Michel be as a in the associative of the It was by Adolphe de Guiran, a former from the years The of the drawn up by Adolphe de Guiran, to the and by European ‘The of the of St Michel College is now at It all those who this school, who its and who studied ... in its played so in its that the were in 1906 it was to the [Europeans] our at the that no return to our and the that have to our all the was to an to so I say the the of those who the Bulletin du collège St Michel, 1, The President: Raymond Vice-president: Secretary: Roger Bulletin du collège St Michel 2, The the and Bulletin du collège St Michel, 2, See A. Les archives du et société en France 51. See Combeau-Mari, on the High A of and Catholic by in 1898. 92. had in the coastal Tamatave was considered a The first had built in the late 1930s. It was in of these personalities were Father Paul Father Michel cinquante ans St Michel 95. The was first to the in joined the Madagascar attached to the French the Association St Michel of the most in Antananarivo. He was until The most active to have under Father and St Michel with Father in the Bulletin St Michel, St Michel College Archives at St Paul Theological College, Antananarivo. Bulletin St Michel, 1, The of the European and 103. The Antananarivo was and so to for A and Madagascar, and by the See Combeau-Mari, E. ans de à La 105. See Combeau-Mari, and The April that of was not included as an in the in the district of at in this son was a of French secular 20 he his teaching in Antananarivo. After years of he the to an school teacher and left for France in to his Malagasy of his generation to France to their The of the personalities who had to St Michel College were included in the Philibert Minister of to the Jacques Foreign Minister and above all General head of the In the of these personalities by their to made them a the attached to the of The and had the of by the of the A young including Reverend de advocated and considered that their mission was not with political Spacensky, A. Madagascar, cinquante ans de vie politique, de Ralaimongo à Tsiranana, The Reverend Father Jacques Tiersonnier, of the College, supported the Spacensky, A. Madagascar, cinquante ans de vie politique, de Ralaimongo à Tsiranana, The of the church influence over the population. served as an and political In the the College educated a of Malagasy who reached the of the and were among See the the of Catholic schools in ‘Les du à Madagascar: et Doctoral in under the of Bernard U. of Reunion October 35. In 1954, the Scout movement included of 25 and a Malagasy in Antananarivo. The Scout included seven in Antananarivo, a troop at a troop at a troop at and a at La were were Afon feu de 1954. de France et les de in and et les catholiques de et Catholic were in the capital until Association St Michel and A. ‘Les la colonisation à Madagascar dans la construction de la et Doctoral in under the of Raison-Jourde, U. of Paris VII, du October 1954. Afon Dasy, feu de camp, was a new to the of Catholic Scouting in It the that Scouting to by the colonial et and Quoted by A. ‘Les la colonisation à Madagascar Delval, R. ‘Les débuts du mouvement Scout et notamment du guidisme à Madagascar’, Michel a College elected mayor of was of Christian the most in terms of and political the Lycée Gallieni had taken in of Malagasy pupils. with at College, on 8 June Ibid. Bulletin St Michel, 3, September St Michel College Madagascar of and with at College, on 8 June St Michel Madagascar of President of the St Michel Association 1989, on October Antananarivo. The of Antananarivo was by decree on July by Father-Rector de in the Bulletin St Michel, Jacques Rabemananjara was Foreign Minister in the Gergaud, ‘La formation d’une élite malgache au collège Saint Michel de 1888 à nos jours’, For see Gergaud, ‘La formation d’une élite malgache au collège Saint Michel de 1888 à nos jours’, Letter from of in Spacensky, A. Madagascar, cinquante ans de vie politique, de Ralaimongo à Tsiranana, Gergaud, ‘La formation d’une élite malgache au collège Saint Michel de 1888 à nos jours’, 92. De Torquat, P.F. Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo Quoted in Le 50 ans St Michel Antananarivo, Madagascar, with at College, on 8 June In the Bulletin St Michel, dated June the Father-Rector made a for the promotion of education in a rather De Torquat, P.F. Le collège St Michel, Antananarivo 1888–1988

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