Statue of Toussaint Louverture in La Rochelle

A statue in memory of Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803), former slave who became governor of Haiti and fought for its independence, was inaugurated in La Rochelle (former slave port) on the 20th of May 2015. It is a bronze statue measuring 2.80 meters and weighing 683 kg, sculpted by the Senegalese artist Ousmane Sow. The association Mémoria from La Rochelle, which strongly supported the project, the association Mémoires et Partages from Bordeaux and the Cifordom, developer of the first statue of Toussaint Louverture in 1989 in Massy, were present at the inauguration. The statue is located in the courtyard of the Museum of the New World in La Rochelle. This location is symbolic since the Museum of the New World was formerly the Hotel Fleuriau, named after the naturalist Louis-Benjamin Fleuriau, whose family made a fortune from the slave trade. However, the location of the statue sparked the anger of some associations, protesting against the fact that the statue will be less visible to the public if it is inside the museum.