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Victor Mazuline

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Victor Petit-Frère Mazuline
Representative to the National Constituent Assembly for Martinique
In office
9 August 1848 – 26 May 1849
Personal details
Born(1789-07-21)21 July 1789
Fort de France, Martinique
Died28 January 1854(1854-01-28) (aged 64)
Paris

Victor Petit-Frère Mazuline (21 July 1789 in Fort-Royal, Martinique – 28 January 1854 in Paris) was a French politician from Martinique. He was elected as a people's representative in the first legislative elections held after the abolition of slavery in the colonies, the first black deputy from Martinique.

Life

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Victor Mazuline was born in Fort-Royal (Martinique) on 21 July 1789; his father and mother were both enslaved. He left Martinique in 1802 with his master, Marshal Mottet, chief of the gendarmerie, who took him to the United States aged thirteen, then to France, where Mottet freed him. Mottet died in poverty at the Val-de-Grâce hospital.[1]

Mazuline was later hired as coachman of Pierre Paul Nicolas Henrion de Pansey. When de Pansey's daughter married Joseph Marie de Pernety, a general of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Mazuline followed to the new household. He married Anne Claude Chapuis, maid to de Pansey's daughter, who was originally from Haute-Saône.[2] Mazuline and his wife had two daughters, one who died quite young, and another named Madèleine Uranie Victorine. Uranie Mazuline studied well, passing her aptitude exams at the Hôtel de Ville. She founded a girl's boarding school in Martinique.[3]

Political career

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Mazuline eventually left the service of de Pernety, becoming a rentier in Paris. He was an active campaigner, acting as the general treasurer of "Les Enfants de l'Afrique" an abolitionist association, and took part in the editorial committee of Cyrille Bissette's publication, Revue des colonies.[4] The French revolution of 1848 removed the ruling monarchy, and during the turmoil affecting the whole French empire, slavery had been abolished in Martinique on 23 May by governor Rostolan.[5] The provisional government of the new regime decreed universal suffrage, banned the death penalty, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press and the abolition of slavery, which came into effect on Martinique on 9 August, the day elections were to take place. Legislative elections were held throughout 1848 in each of the French colonies. He was elected as the representative of Martinique to the Constituent Assembly, by 18,504 votes out of 20,698 voters, as a substitute for Bissette, whose election was annulled because of a former conviction. Mazuline was therefore elected, being next on the list.[6][7]

Mazuline's first appearance in the Palais Bourbon, walking the length of the meeting hall of the Deputies to reach his seat as a people's representative, was reported internationally.[8][9][10] Victor Mazuline fought to defend the abolition of slavery in the Constitution adopted on 4 November, providing a stability to new freedoms.[11]

He paid tribute to the newly constituted state in the following terms:

He voted against the sanction of the Constitution by the people, for the Constitution as a whole and against the proposal of Jean-Pierre Rateau. He obtained a leave of absence and took no part in the subsequent votes. He did not stand in the 1849 elections to set up the National Assembly. After retiring from political life, he died at his townhouse in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, on 28 January 1854.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Victor, Petit-Frère Mazuline - Base de données des députés français depuis 1789 - Assemblée nationale". www2.assemblee-nationale.fr. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Victor MAZULINE". Une autre histoire (in French). 13 May 2021. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Victor, Petit-Frère Mazuline : Martinique A nu". martiniqueannu.com. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  4. ^ Circulaire à tous les compatriotes et amis . (Signé : le trésorier principal, Mazuline.). Mazuline. S. l. n. d. A cet effet, dans la réunion du 26 septembre 1844 il a été nommé : Un Trésorier principal.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ Lépine, Edouard de (1999). Dix semaines qui ébranlèrent la Martinique : 25 mars-4 juin 1848. Paris: Servédit.
  6. ^ "Victor Mazuline, député de Martinique né esclave". Martinique la 1ère (in French). 10 November 2018. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  7. ^ Liste générale des représentants du peuple composant l'Assemblée nationale avec l'indication de leurs demeures dans Paris: session de 1848. France, Imprimerie Bonaventure et Ducessois, 1848. p 29.
  8. ^ Illustrated London News 1848-10-28: Vol 13 Iss 341. Illustrated London News. 28 October 1848.
  9. ^ The Critic 1848-11-15: Vol 7 Iss 183. Open Court Publishing Co. 15 November 1848.
  10. ^ The National Era. Oberlin College Library. Washington [D.C.] : L.P. Noble. 1848.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ^ "Victor Mazuline, député de Martinique né esclave". Martinique la 1ère (in French). 10 November 2018. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Victor, Petit-Frère Mazuline - Base de données des députés français depuis 1789 - Assemblée nationale". www2.assemblee-nationale.fr. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2022.