The head of King Toera, a Malagasy monarch murdered by French troops in 1897, has been officially returned to Madagascar. The ceremonial handover included two additional skulls of members from his court and was held at the French culture ministry in Paris.
The skulls, taken to France at the end of the 19th century, had been preserved at the Museum of Natural History in the capital. This event represents the first application of a new French law designed to facilitate the return of human remains from its collections back to their countries of origin.
At the ceremony, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati made a poignant statement regarding the manner in which the skulls were acquired, framing it as a violation of human dignity against a backdrop of colonial oppression. King Toera had met a violent fate during a colonial conflict as French forces sought to assert control over the Menabé kingdom of the Sakalava people.
Pressure from King Toera's descendants and the Madagascar government has led to this pivotal moment, nearly 130 years after his death.
While there is no conclusive DNA evidence to confirm the identity of the skull as that of King Toera, a traditional Sakalava spirit medium verified it as belonging to the monarch. Madagascar's Culture Minister Volamiranty Donna Mara described the return of the skulls as a significant gesture, affirming that their absence had long been a source of pain for the nation.
This return is not unprecedented, as France has previously repatriated remains from the colonial era, yet it stands out as the first under the recent law that streamlines the repatriation process. Estimates suggest that the Museum of Natural History alone holds over 20,000 human remains brought to France for scientific purposes.
