Marcel Henry

Who is Marcel Henry?

Marcel Henry was born on 30 October 1926 in Mayotte and became one of the most influential political figures in the island's modern history. In 1963 he helped found the Mouvement Populaire Mahorais (MPM), the movement built around the demand that Mayotte remain a French territory even as the rest of the Comoro archipelago pushed for full independence. Henry campaigned through the 1960s and 1970s for a separate referendum for Mayotte, arguing that the island's population, more closely attached to its ties with metropolitan France, should not be forced into an independent Comoros against its will. Following the April 1976 referendum in which Mahorais voters chose overwhelmingly to remain French rather than join the newly independent Comoros, Henry was elected to represent Mayotte in the French Senate, a seat he held from 1977 until 2004, a tenure of 27 years. During his long Senate career he was Mayotte's leading advocate for full departmentalization, the process of converting the island's special collectivity status into that of a full French department with equal rights and administration. Although he retired from elected office in 2004, he remained active in public life, and in 2009 he campaigned for the departmentalization referendum, which passed with the support of about 95 percent of voters, leading Mayotte to formally become France's 101st department on 31 March 2011. He died on 30 August 2021 at the age of 94.

Sources: Marcel Henry, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Henry · HENRY Marcel, Sénat français, senat.fr · Décès de Marcel Henry, Élysée, elysee.fr