An extraordinary destiny
Aimé Césaire was born into a modest family in Basse-Pointe, on the north coast of Martinique, on June 26, 1913. Even as a child, he was fascinated by literature. A brilliant student, he won a scholarship to Paris, where he attended the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in 1931, then the École Normale Supérieure. It was here that he met his loyal friends, notably the Senegalese Léopold Sédar Senghor, who would later become the very first president of independent Senegal, as well as his wife Suzanne, also from Martinique, a committed intellectual and activist for antillanité, whom Aimé Césaire married in July 1937.
In Paris, Aimé Césaire discovered Africa through the prism of colonialism. In 1935, he founded L'Étudiant Noir, a corporative and combat journal whose aim was to put an end to the tribalization and clan system in force in the Latin Quarter. Aimé Césaire went on to invent the concept of "négritude". He wrote: "If assimilation is not madness, it is certainly foolishness, because to want to be assimilated is to forget that no one can change fauna; it is to ignore the otherness that is the law of Nature". Césaire's fight against racism and colonialism, which he denounced in his famous Discours sur le colonialisme in 1950, was later pursued in politics. At just 32, he was elected deputy for Martinique, joining the Communist Party to "work for the construction of a system founded on the right to dignity of all men without distinction of origin, religion or color", as he explained in the brochure Pourquoi je suis communiste, and became rapporteur for the bill to create the overseas departments. A member of parliament for 48 years, he was also mayor of Fort-de-France for 55 years, from 1945 to 2001. In 1956, Césaire broke with the Communist Party and founded the Parti Progressiste Martiniquais, an anti-colonialist movement inspired by socialist ideals.
A home in his image
In 1956, Aimé Césaire and his wife Suzanne bought a house in the Redoute district of Fort-de-France, to accommodate their six children. It was in this authentic family home that Césaire would spend the last forty years of his life. Located at 131 route de Redoute, the house was bought by the city of Fort-de-France after Césaire's death, and is now a listed historic monument. It has been awarded the "Maison des illustres" label in 2019, a distinction that "honors houses that preserve and transmit the memory of the men and women who lived in them and distinguished themselves in the political, social and cultural history of France". Typically Creole in architecture, with wide openings and louvered windows for ventilation, this house is set on a site overlooking Fort-de-France, yet nestled in the heart of a generous natural setting, with a verdant garden below.
At first glance, the house strikes the visitor with its extraordinary sobriety, in the image of its owner: simple and unadorned, lost among the other dwellings. Even when he was honorary mayor of Fort-de-France (i.e., no longer in office), Martiniquais continued to come every morning to bring their grievances to his front door, proof of Césaire's extraordinary generosity. Nothing seems to have changed since the death of the author of Cahier d'un retour au pays natal. Everywhere, the poet's presence is palpable, through objects and souvenirs that once belonged to him. You're immediately drawn in by the strong emotion that emanates from these premises, which have remained as intact as when he lived there.
As soon as you enter, you slip into the intimacy of Césaire's daily life, as you enter his bedroom, which also served as an office: his wardrobe is filled with his jackets, shoes and ties. On his bedside table sits the radio he loved to listen to, along with several watches, a pair of spectacles, a handkerchief and his electoral card. Above his desk, alongside the cupboard separating it from the bed where a dozen of his favorite books are scattered (Césaire slept little and read a lot at night), such as Michel Leiris's L'Âge d'homme and Sacarabani's L'Indien au sang noir, a wall of photos plunges us into the poet's private sphere. Pinned up on the wall are photos of Fort-de-France, which he loved so much and which was so kind to him, his wife Suzanne's 'Famille nombreuse' travel card when she lived in Paris, and a photo of a cheese tree that is said to have survived the eruption of 1902. Césaire, a nature lover, was fascinated by this mythical tree. There's also a check for 4,823.65 francs that Césaire never cashed for his contribution to Tropiques magazine.
Each object brings us a little closer to the man. Then there's the living room, where Césaire loved to read and consult his old botanical encyclopedias, Exotica and Tropica, especially when he returned from his long walks across the island, his arms laden with foliage and branches to identify each leaf. You can also read the long reply written by Maurice Thorez following his resignation from the Communist Party in 1956.
Surmounted by a Senghor poster put up by Césaire on the occasion of the Senegalese president's death in 2001, a corridor leads to two bedrooms and a library. The latter houses some 4,000 books that belonged to Césaire, repatriated to Martinique when he resigned as a member of parliament in 1993!
No one knows whether this gifted intellectual and polyglot (he read and spoke several languages fluently) read them all, but what is certain is that he practically 'handled' and browsed through them, as most are highlighted and scribbled on. A veritable treasure trove, this library is particularly well stocked with poetic and philosophical works. On our way back to the living room, where a number of lithographs dedicated to flora and fauna are displayed, and then to the terrace, we can see the bench where Césaire, facing his garden, liked to read the newspapers every day, comparing the different editions, while sipping an iced coffee. This press briefing was a ritual for him, as were his afternoon walks across Martinique.
An ambitious restoration programme
Today, the house is the subject of a vast restoration project with a view to creating an art center around Aimé Césaire. The aim is to restore the house and bring it to life, while preserving its spirit, so that not only the Martiniquais can make it their own, but also artists from all walks of life and the public who visit it, so that people will want to create, read and listen to Césaire's poetry. Renovation work was scheduled to start in 2025, but for the time being, no reopening date has been announced. A team of architects, landscape architects and researchers is currently working on a number of renovation and staging scenarios for the house, which is set to become a place for exchanges, meetings and cultural events linked to the memory of Aimé Césaire, accompanied by a modern museography. Some of Aimé Césaire's objects and memorabilia can be used and complemented as part of a scenography based on his life and work.
Depending on their artistic or political sensibilities, visitors will be able to go further: read, consult short films, listen to stories told by people who were close to Césaire, or listen to Césaire's verses in different languages. And, of course, the scenography will be adapted to suit the public: schoolchildren, artists, visitors... Loans of collections will also be considered to reconstitute this house, which was nourished by encounters with others, notably the friendships Césaire had made throughout his life and which remained strong throughout his life: Léopold Sédar Senghor, the writer Michel Leiris, or the Cuban painter Wifredo Lam..
The spirit of the place will be preserved as faithfully as possible. The atmosphere of the office, living room and bedroom will be soberly enhanced with modern tools, including audio guides, QR codes for smartphones and tablets, and digital orientation tables accessible to young visitors. The house's other interior and exterior spaces will be transformed to remind visitors of Aimé Césaire's life, his links with Africa, surrealism, art and theater. To draw visitors into Aimé Césaire's daily life, particularly his love of reading, various books will be freely available. As for the 4,000 books in his personal library, currently being inventoried, they will be protected and displayed in showcases, indexed and classified by theme.
The former children's rooms will be transformed into a place of artistic emulation, creating a link between past and contemporary creation. Creations by contemporary artists, writers and visual artists, will punctuate this evocation of the past and pay tribute to Césaire's creative genius and political commitment. Similarly, the former outdoor kitchen will be demolished and converted into a space dedicated to art, sheltered by a transparent glass roof. The latter will offer a bird's-eye view of the gardens, which will also undergo a complete overhaul: eventually, they will house a medicinal garden, a marvellous garden evoking Absalon, a dreamlike garden, not to mention an open-air theater where cultural and artistic events will take place.
The aim of this vast rehabilitation project is to make the site a cultural landmark in Martinique. Aimé Césaire's house was visited by the Minister for Overseas France, Manuel Valls, during his official visit to Martinique on March 17, 2025. The Minister expressed his admiration for Aimé Césaire, 'an important figure, a considerable character for the Martiniquais, for the whole of Overseas France and for France'.
