Césaire, Aimé Fernand (1913–2008)

Martinique left-wing politician, poet, and playwright. He represented Martinique in the French National Assembly from 1946, was mayor of Fort-de-France 1945–83, and became president of the Martinique Regional Council in 1983. Originally a communist, he opposed the USSR's invasion of Hungary in 1956 and left the party to form the Martinique Progressive Party (PPM), which has advocated autonomy for the island. His works include the play The Tragedy of King Christophe (1963) and the poem ‘Notebook of a Return to my Native Land’ (1939).

In his writings Césaire emerged as a fierce critic of colonialism, developing the positive concept of négritude, which reflects awareness of black heritage, values, and culture and was used to rally decolonized Africans in the 1950s.

Césaire studied at the prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, and returned to Martinique in 1939 to become a college lecturer. Thereafter he pursued a dual career in literature and politics.