Paulette Nardal
| Paulette Nardal | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
12 October 1896 Le François, Martinique |
| Died | 16 February 1985 (aged 88) Martinique |
| Nationality | Martiniquais/French |
| Occupation | writer, journalist, activist |
| Known for | First black person to study at the Sorbonne |
Paulette Nardal (1896-1985) was an Afro-Martiniquais writer and journalist and one of the drivers of the development of a black literary consciousness. She was one of the authors involved in the creation of the Négritude genre and introduced French intellectuals to the works of members of the Harlem Renaissance through her translations.
Born into the upper-middle class on Martinique, Nardal became a teacher and went to complete her education in Paris. She was the first black person to study at the Sorbonne and established an influential literary salon with her sisters which explored the experiences of the African diaspora. As a journalist and author, she published works which advocated a Pan-African awareness and acknowledged the similarities of challenges faced by people due to racism and sexism. Though an ardent feminist, she was not radical, encouraging women to work within the existing social structures to achieve political influence.
At the beginning of World War II, Nardal fled France, but was injured when a submarine attacked her ship, causing a lifelong disability. Returning to Martinique, she established feminist organizations and newspapers encouraging educated women to channel their energies into social improvement. She sponsored home economic training and founded nursery schools for impoverished women. Thanks to her understanding of issues facing the populations of the Caribbean, she was hired to work as an area specialist at the United Nations. Nardal was the first black woman to hold an official post in the Division of Non-Self Governing Territories at the UN.
When she returned to Martinique after her UN position, she worked to preserve the music traditions of the country. She wrote a history of traditional music styles for the centennial celebration of the abolition of slavery on the island and developed a choir which celebrated the African-roots of the music of Martinique.
Paulette Nardal was born on 12 October 1896 in Le François, Martinique, to Louise (née Achille) and Paul Nardal. Her father was a construction engineer, who had been trained in France and her mother was a piano teacher. She was the eldest of seven sisters in the family, which was a part of the island's small upper-middle class black community. She attended school at the Colonial College for Girls and studied English in the West Indies. After graduating from high school, Nardal became a teacher, but decided to continue her education in Paris. At age 24, she enrolled to study English at the Sorbonne, the first black person to attend the university. She quickly became involved in the artistic circle of the French intelligentsia, coming under the influence of the Harlem Renaissance writers. Hosting a salon, with her sisters Jane and Andrée, Nardal brought together black intellectuals from Africa, the Caribbean and the United States to discuss their experiences of being black and being part of the diaspora.
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