HOUSE-MUSEUM OF FÉLIX ÉBOUÉ

A descendant of slaves, Guyanese politician and humanist, Félix Eboué had been colonial governor of Chad since July 1938 when he joined the Free French following General de Gaulle's Appeal of June 18, 1940. He was soon followed by the other countries of French Equatorial Africa, illustrating his patriotism as a hero of the Liberation. He was the "first resistance fighter from overseas France", but also the first black man to achieve such a high rank when he was appointed governor of Guadeloupe in 1936.

In 1883, Félix Eboué's father acquired a plot of land at 37 rue Richelieu. He had a single-storey colonial house built on the corner of the street, which today bears his son's name. As in most Creole houses of the period, the kitchen was located outside, in the courtyard. Acquired by the General Council of French Guiana in 1989, Félix Eboué's birthplace has since been transformed into a museum. It presents the history of the resistance fighter and his political career, from his posting to Oubangui-Chari to his governorship of Chad, via his years of interim governance in Guadeloupe. Explanatory panels and period artefacts provide an insight into the life of "this great African Frenchman" - as General de Gaulle described him on his death - the first black man to be buried in the Pantheon on May 20, 1949, at the same time as Victor Schœlcher, author of the decree abolishing slavery.