Alfred Albert Martineau (18 December 1859 in Artins – 25 January 1945 in Varennes) was a notable historian and colonial administrator in the French Colonial Empire.
He wrote extensively on colonial affairs and the history of French colonial expansion, in particular a six-volume Histoire des colonies françaises et de l'expansion française dans le monde (1930–1934) co-authored with former French Foreign Minister Gabriel Hanotaux.[1] Upon retirement from colonial service in 1921 he taught colonial history at the Collège de France until 1935.[2]
He was a founding member of the Société de l'histoire de l'Inde française, the Societe francaise d'Histoire d'Outre-Mer (1912) and the Académie des sciences coloniales (1922).[3]
Early life
[edit]Martineau was born on 18 December 1859 in Artins, which was then part of the Second French Empire.[4] He graduated from the École Nationale des Chartes, where he trained as an archivist-paleographer.[5]
Political career
[edit]In 1888 he joined the executive committee of the far-right nationalist Ligue des Patriotes.[6] He was soon elected as a Member of Parliament of the French Parliament for Paris's 19th arrondissement in October 1889.[5] In January 1890, he left the league, which resulted in him being booed and beaten by his constituents, to which he promised to resign.[6] However, he joined the Republican majority government soon after.[6] In 1893 he was elected to the Superior Council of the Colonies as a delegate of Nossi Bé, where he advocated to the council for the establishment of a French protectorate over Madagascar.[7]
Titles
[edit]See also
[edit]- Colonial heads of Djibouti (French Somaliland)
- List of colonial governors in 1899
- List of colonial governors in 1900
- Colonial heads of the Comoros
- Colonial heads of Gabon
References
[edit]- ^ Alfred Martineau / Œuvres fr.Wikisource. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ Dictionnaire des orientalistes de langue française. IlSMM. 2008. p. 650. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ "MARTINEAU Alfred Albert". cths.fr. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ La chambre de 1889. Government of France. 1889. p. 475. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ a b he Revolution and the French Establishments in India, 1790-1793. Setu Prakashani. 2019. p. 24. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ a b c "Alfred Martineau, fondateur de la Société de l'histoire des colonies françaises". Cent ans d'histoire des outre-mers. SHOM, 1912-2012. 99: 281–300. 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ La construction du discours colonial - L'empire français aux XIXe et XXe siècles. Karthala Editions. 2009. p. 110. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ Henige, David P. (1970). Colonial governors from the fifteenth century to the present: a comprehensive list. University of Texas: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 33. ISBN 9780299054403.
