Guadeloupe
Éboué Common Design Type of 1945
Common Design Type Stamp of 1945 and Monument to Félix Éboué in Pointe-A-Pitre, Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe was one of thirteen French colonies to issue a common design type stamp in 1945 to commemorate Félix Éboué, the first colonial administrator to declare his resistance to German occupation after the French surrender in World War II.
Éboué was born in Cayenne, French Guiana on December 26, 1884. Having graduated in law from the École Nationale de la France d'Outre-Mer, he built a career in the Colonial Service where he was a champion of education of colonial peoples, the preservation of Black cultures and the promotion of colonial peoples in administration. He was posted to Oubangui-Chari for twenty years before being transfered to Martinique. In 1936 he was appointed Governor of Guadeloupe, the first Black man appointed to a governorship of a French colony. In 1939 he was transferred back to Chad where he played an important role in organizing colonial support for Charles De Gaulle and the Free French.
Bibliography
"Félix Éboué." Wikipedia. 26 Feb. 2013. Wikimeida Foundation, Inc. Web. 28 Apr. 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Eboue.
"Guadeloupe." Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue.
Rossiter, Stuart and John Flower. The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald and Co., 1986.
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