Three skulls from Madagascar's Sakalava ethnic group, including one believed to be of King Toera, were returned to Madagascar from a Paris museum https://t.co/cQapQ1SFOJ https://t.co/ZMb5xBBH99
France returns skull of beheaded king to Madagascar https://t.co/CEyOZl4KC1 https://t.co/bf4ms1HRCQ
France returns three colonial-era human skulls to Madagascar https://t.co/I0CstNvdWK https://t.co/I0CstNvdWK
France on Tuesday formally returned three human skulls taken from Madagascar during the colonial era, including one believed to be that of King Toera, who was killed and decapitated by French troops in 1897. The remains, stored for more than a century at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris, were handed over to Malagasy officials at a ceremony in the French Culture Ministry. The transfer—witnessed by French Culture Minister Rachida Dati and her Malagasy counterpart Volamiranty Donna Mara—comes 128 years after the skulls were removed from the island and marks the first use of a 2023 French law that streamlines the restitution of human remains held in public collections. Dati called the event “historic,” while Mara said the return closes “an open wound” for the Sakalava community. The skulls will be flown to Madagascar and are due to be buried on 31 August, in ceremonies timed to coincide with the anniversary of King Toera’s death. Paris has portrayed the hand-over as part of a broader effort to confront its colonial past; officials noted that other countries, including Australia and Argentina, have pending requests under the new restitution framework.
