page_title: Ranavalona III
section_title: Réunion Island
hierarchical_section_title: Ranavalona III / Exile / Réunion Island
caption_attribution_description: English: Ranavalona III, last queen of Madagascar. Photo taken during her exile in Reunion Island, April 1897. Deutsch: Ranavalona III, Exkönigin von Madagascar, im Exil auf Reunion. (Phot. im April 97) Geografische Zuordnung: Afrika südlich der Sahara\Indischer Ozean\Reunion 16,5 x 12 cm Museum für Völkerkunde Wien, Fotosammlung Inv.-Nr. VF_5493 Schenkung: Franz Sikora
context_page_description: Ranavalona III was the last sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar. She ruled from July 30, 1883 to February 28, 1897 in a reign marked by ultimately futile efforts to resist the colonial designs of the government of France. As a young woman, she was selected from among several Andriana qualified to succeed Queen Ranavalona II upon her death. Like both preceding queens, Ranavalona entered a political marriage with a member of the Hova elite named Rainilaiarivony, who largely oversaw the day-to-day governance of the kingdom and managed its foreign affairs in his role as prime minister. Ranavalona tried to stave off colonization by strengthening trade and diplomatic relations with foreign powers throughout her reign, but French attacks on coastal port towns and an assault on the capital city of Antananarivo led to the capture of the royal palace in 1895, ending the sovereignty and political autonomy of the century-old kingdom.
context_section_description: Together, the family sailed on La Peyrouse to the port of Pointe des Galets, a site twenty kilometers (12.5 miles) from the capital of St. Denis, to secure a discreet arrival. Despite this effort, a crowd of French onlookers jeered and shouted as the boat docked, angry at the queen for the loss of French lives incurred during France's campaign to occupy Madagascar. After waiting for the crowd to disperse, the captain escorted the queen and her party into a horse-drawn buggy, the first Ranavalona had ever seen, and drove to the Hotel de l'Europe in St. Denis. Young Razafinandriamanitra, suffering from the emotional and physical strains of the journey into exile, went into labor shortly after reaching the hotel. She gave birth to a little girl on her second day in Réunion, but could not recover her strength and died five days later. The infant was named Marie-Louise and was baptised a Catholic to avoid antagonizing the French.  Marie-Louise, who could have become heir-apparent according to the traditional rules of succession, was adopted by Ranavalona as her own daughter.
  Within a month the party had been moved to a house owned by a Madame de Villentroy, located at the corner of rue de l'Arsenal and rue du Rempart near the French government offices in St. Denis. Ranavalona was reportedly pleased with the two-story house, which had a large walled garden and featured a peaked roof and wrap-around veranda reminiscent of the traditional highland homes of Madagascar. In addition to the queen and her aunt, sister, and grand-niece, the royal household included two secretaries, a cook, a maid, three servants for Ranavalona, and several more servants for her aunt and sister. The queen's private pastor was authorized to make visits freely to the royal household.
  The queen's party occupied the house in Réunion for just under two years. As tensions between the United Kingdom and France began to mount once again, this time over the conflict in Sudan, the French authorities became concerned that elements of the population in Madagascar might seize the opportunity to launch a new rebellion against French rule. The queen's proximity to Madagascar was seen as a possible source of encouragement for would-be Malagasy rebels. French authorities made an abrupt decision to remove Ranavalona and her party to Algeria, a more distant location. On February 1, 1899, with very little forewarning, Ranavalona and her family were ordered aboard the Yang-Tse accompanied by a secretary-interpreter and several maids. During the 28-day journey to the French port of Marseilles, the passengers stopped over at such ports as Mayotte, Zanzibar, Aden and Djibouti.  Throughout the trip, the various captains responsible for the journey were under orders to prevent Ranavalona from speaking with anyone who was not French. The party was held for several months at Marseilles before being transferred to a villa in the Mustapha Superieur area in Algiers. Ranavalona had hoped to continue on to Paris and was greatly disappointed to learn she was instead being sent to Algeria, reportedly bursting into tears and remarking, "Who is certain of tomorrow? Only yesterday I was a queen; today I am simply an unhappy, broken-hearted woman."
caption: The queen in exile on Réunion
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