Writer Maryse Conde, laureate of the “Alternative Nobel Prize”, has died

In France, on April 2, the famous writer Maryse Conde died. She became one of the first writers who consistently talked about the problems of colonialism and racial inequality in Africa and the islands of the Caribbean. She was 90 years old.

Conde was born in 1934 in Guadeloupe, studied at universities in France. She belonged to Marxist circles, worked as a journalist and teacher in different countries of the world.

She published her first novel “Eremakhonon” at the age of almost 40. Her third novel, Segu, which takes place in Africa at the end of the 18th century, brought her wide fame. The New York Times called “Sega” “the most significant novel about black Africa in many years.” Among the other famous books of the writer are “I, Tituba, witch from Salem”, “Incredible and sad fate of Ivan and Ivan”, “Life as it is”. In total, Conde wrote 20 novels, as well as short stories, plays, and children’s books.

Maryse Conde is the winner of the 2018 “Alternative Nobel Prize for Literature” established by the Swedish New Academy and many other literary prizes. She is a knight of the French Order of the Legion of Honor, commander of the Order of Arts and Literature.

As a public figure, Conde fought for the reinterpretation of Europe’s colonial heritage. She headed the Slavery Remembrance Committee, established in France in 2004. On her initiative, since 2006, May 10 has been considered the Day of Remembrance of Slavery in France.