Monument aux morts des Abymes, War memorial in Les Abymes, Guadeloupe.
Monument aux morts des Abymes is a six-meter obelisk whose pyramidion resembles a shell. Four ceramic panels made in mainland France decorate its faces, including a Black Marianne cradling a dying soldier. It stands on Place Frédéric-Jalton, formerly Place de la Liberté.
The mayor Max Clainville-Bloncourt commissioned the memorial, made by the Payot-Khan-Farcy firm for 136,000 francs and designed by Armenian sculptor Ardaches Baldjian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide and a pupil of Antoine Bourdelle. It was inaugurated on 26 December 1937 on what was then Place de la Liberté, now Place Frédéric-Jalton, with Governor Félix Éboué present. It was listed as a monument historique on 10 December 2013.
The ceramic panels display a Black Marianne cradling a dying soldier, a rare choice in French memorial art. This imagery reflects how the local community saw itself in the story of sacrifice and remembrance.
The memorial sits in a public plaza and remains open throughout the year for visits and ceremonies. Its location next to city hall makes it straightforward to find and reach.
The sculptor Ardaches Baldjian, an Armenian survivor of the genocide and a pupil of Antoine Bourdelle, had settled in Martinique in 1934. The monument was commissioned by mayor Max Clainville-Bloncourt and built by the firm Payot-Khan-Farcy for 136,000 francs. The 43 names of the dead are inscribed on its base.
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