History/ Culture: France returns skull of Malagasy King Toera after 130 years in historic repatriation
In a landmark ceremony in Paris, France has returned the skull of King Toera of Madagascar, along with those of two members of his court, more than a century after they were taken during colonial rule. The remains were handed over to a Malagasy delegation at the French culture ministry under a new law expediting the restitution of human remains.
King Toera was decapitated in 1897 after French forces massacred his army in western Madagascar. His skull was sent to Paris and stored in the Museum of Natural History.
Although DNA tests were inconclusive, a Sakalava spirit medium confirmed the identity of the king’s remains.
The culture minister of Madagascar described the return as healing a “century-old wound.”
This is the first restitution under France’s new repatriation law, which acknowledges that many human remains in French collections were acquired through colonial violence and violations of human dignity.
An estimated 20,000 human remains from around the world are still held in French institutions.
