Tombeau Marragon
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At Union, in the heights of Baie aux Huitres, at Rodrigues Island, “Tombeau Marragon’ is home to a place of remembrance; that of Philibert Marragon born in 1750 at Auterive, France. He came across the Mascarene Archipelago at the time he was a Sergeant in the Royal Comtois Regiment, then under Louis XIV reign. In 1778, he settled at Petite Rivière, in Mauritius. His first visit to Rodrigues dates back to 1791, but it was after his marriage to Marie Jeanne Elisabeth Gillou de Neuville (a native of Reunion Island) in Port Louis in 1794, that he was appointed first civil administrator in Rodrigues. He then started developing the island’s agriculture and animal breeding with the help of some European settlers and slaves brought from Mauritius, ancestors of the current Rodriguans.
Listed as a national heritage since May 3, 2016, this monument, a pyramidal remembrance stone, dating back to the 18th century is also a place of commemoration of the abolition of slavery. If in Mauritius, the abolition of slavery was formalized in February 1835, at Rodrigues, it was not until four years later, on June 4, 1839 that it was proclaimed. This is where the reconstituted slaves’ cemetery is located and where lie side by side, Philibert Marragon and his wife.
NadElle
Source: La Gazette Mag