From September 6 to 26, the main hall of the Alliance Française in Antsiranana is hosting a historical exhibition dedicated to the seventy years of the Antsiranana province, spanning from 1956 to 2026.
Through portraits, documents, and other traces of the past, the exhibition immerses the people of Antsiranana in seven decades of history. Personalities who have left their mark on the political, administrative, and social life of the region hold a special place, reminding us that the history of a territory is also written through the women and men who shaped it.
Organized at the initiative of Iss Heridiny, a journalist and historian, in collaboration with the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of the University of Antsiranana, this exhibition commemorates the seventy-year history of Antomboko, also known as Diego-Suarez or Antsiranana.
Beyond celebrating this anniversary, the exhibition aims to be a space for transmitting and valuing local memory. The goal is to remind residents that their region has its own history, rich in figures and personalities who contributed to its development.
“What is regrettable is that the Antsiranana population still knows too little about its history,” laments the exhibition’s initiator. According to him, this lack of knowledge reflects a form of forgetting regional history, which is an essential element of collective identity. He believes it is futile to claim to build strong regions if their own history remains unknown.
Thirty political, administrative, and social figures are honored, including former President Albert Zafy, the progressive King Saïd Achimo, trade unionist Francis Sautron, historian Cassam Aly, Madagascar’s first female senator Fatima Achimo, and Governor Jean Robert Gara, among others.
This gallery of portraits tells the story of the city and its region through the lives of its people. For the younger generations, it serves as a first encounter with figures whose paths now belong to local history, which is precisely where the exhibition finds its true meaning.
Captured & Published at: 2026-09-23 06:08:46 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/09/antsiranana-les-grandes-figures-des-70.html