The cumbersome memory of Marc Pulvar, independence leader accused of incest

By Raphaëlle Rérolle

Posted on March 24, 2021 at 2:12 a.m. – Updated on March 24, 2021 at 3:15 p.m.

On the day of his funeral, in February 2008, the crowd was so dense in Rivière-Salée that part of the audience had to follow the ceremony from outside the parish hall. Friends, comrades in the struggle, representatives of the political, trade union, artistic circles, all had flocked to this Martinican town for a last tribute. Think about it, a personality of the caliber of Marc Pulvar!

Fighting independentist, shock unionist, tenor of the industrial tribunal, the one nicknamed “Loulou” passed for a defender of the weakest. His comrades saw him as a hero. A few hours before the funeral, against the advice of the family who wanted a discreet ceremony, they had insisted on exhibiting his coffin in the Maison des unions in Fort-de-France. Some even began to dance, singing his praises to the sound of the drum. Under the large portrait plastered on the wall, a funeral inscription solemnly proclaimed Marc Pulvar “Father of the Martinican nation”.

Thirteen years later, all it took was a short text, no more than two pages, for the statue to be shattered. In a letter made public in early February, three women – Barbara Glissant, Karine Mousseau, Valérie Fallourd – curtly rewrote the epitaph of the deceased: “Marc Pulvar (1936-2008), Martinican hero, pedophile and rapist”.

Those who were very little girls when he attacked them say they found the strength to speak up after the publication of Camille Kouchner’s book, La Familia grande (Threshold, 206 pages, 19 euros). Or rather to speak more, since all had already done so, including by trying to file a complaint twenty years ago, but without succeeding in forcing the wall of silence erected around “Loulou”. “It was the uncle of the family, the favorite, already adored by all, they write in their text. A total trust, which still lasts posthumously today and which we have decided to break, once and for all. ”

Read also Marc Pulvar, figure of Martinican unionism, accused of pedocriminality

Karine and Valérie live in Martinique, where these words have caused considerable emotion. Very quickly, the earthquake crossed the borders of the island to spread ” in France “, as the West Indians say. And, there too, she woke up pains, there too, she made noise.

The evil is often the same, in these kinds of cases: an individual’s misdeeds spread far and wide, throwing tentacles into hearts, bodies and minds, far beyond the direct victims. The magnitude of the explosion is due to the notoriety of the aggressor, but also that of his victims and his relatives.

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