France Returns Skull of Madagascar's King Toera After 128 Years

Sun Sep 14 2025 01:20:27 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

King Toera’s skull, killed by French troops in a colonial conflict, is returned to Madagascar, marking a significant moment in the repatriation of colonial-era artifacts.

In a historic ceremony, the skull of King Toera, a Malagasy monarch killed by French forces in 1897, has been returned to Madagascar after being housed in a Paris museum for over a century. This return is part of a broader effort by France to repatriate human remains taken during the colonial era, following pressure from the descendants of King Toera and the Malagasy government.

The head of a Malagasy king killed by French troops during a colonial-era war has been formally returned to Madagascar.

The handover of King Toera's skull - and those of two other members of his court - took place at a ceremony at the culture ministry in Paris.

The skulls had been brought back to France at the end of the 19th Century and stored at the Museum of Natural History in the French capital.

This marks the first use of a new law intended to expedite the return of human remains from French collections.

In August 1897, a French force sent to assert colonial control over the Menabé kingdom of the Sakalava people in western Madagascar massacred a local army.

King Toera was killed and decapitated; his head was sent to Paris and placed in the archives of the Museum of Natural History.

Nearly 130 years later, pressure from the king's descendants, alongside the government of Madagascar, paved the way for the skull's return.

This event reflects a growing trend within France to return human remains acquired during the colonial period, although this is the first instance under the recent law that simplifies the repatriation process.

It is estimated that over 20,000 human remains from around the world remain in the Museum of Natural History alone.