Historian Julien Durup launches new book    |25 August 2022

Copies of the book

‘The Seychelles 1770-1903, Its Laws and other Interesting Topics’

Well known historian and author, Julien Durup, launched his fourth book yesterday titled ‘The Seychelles 1770-1903, Its Laws and other Interesting Topics’. The book has been sponsored by the National Arts and Culture Fund (NACF) and was printed by the National Information Services Agency (Nisa).

This oeuvre covers the origin of the first set of laws and regulations to the lawyers and judicial officials including early Seychellois jurists up to 1903.

When introducing the author and the book, Bernard Georges, who also prefaced the book, noted that “in his inimitable way, the author only uses the theme as an excuse to explore far wide and gather together information from the four corners of the globe to tell his story. These are his ‘other interesting topics’ and the result is nothing other than a tour de force. No statement is without its anecdote and this is Julien Durup!”

He further added that Mr Durup refers to himself as a ‘student of history’ and shows clearly how he enjoys what he does.

“Julien Durup’s books leave the reader wanting more and his last offering is no exception,” said Mr Georges.

The author, a person well known to share what is on his mind, did not miss the opportunity to share his experiences while working on the book.

“My primary aim was to write down a short history on the Laws of the Seychelles with the hope of providing a rich source for the future. I wanted to focus on its sequential history and its evolution during the French and British epochs until 1976 when the Seychelles became an independent state.”

‘The Seychelles 1770-1903, Its Laws and other Interesting Topics’ is the fourth and biggest book from the author consisting of 18 chapters and nine appendices.

“In writing this book I wanted to enlighten students of history on our early laws that historians, jurists and church leaders do not write about – the Code Noir Religious regulations, Republican Calendar, Code Civil Cadastral surveys etc.”

The biggest challenge faced by the author was the non-access to proper documents – old records of cases and old government files that disappeared.

“I was not allowed to see some of the court records of over a hundred years, which had been transferred to the National Archives over 25 years ago. This has led me to concentrate instead on the history of our original laws and other interesting topics more or less in line with the title of the book.”

Mr Durup also shared that he decided to stop in 1903 when the Seychelles became a separate colony and reproduced in extenso many interesting Judicial Orders etc.

“This task was the most difficult part of the book. Those in the Seychelles were in a brittle state, in pieces and many missing parts. To complete the task I had to go to the UK National Archives at Kew to find other Judicial Orders and parts of those that were missing in the Seychelles and to transcribe them in their originality.”

The only regret for the author is that he has not been able to write a chapter of some bad court judgements.

Mr Durup thanked the people who helped him put the book together and had a special mention for her granddaughter Éva for the inspiration for the book cover.

Julien Durup was born in Praslin and was educated at La Digue and Mahé. In 1972 he studied Bookbinding and Print Finishing restoration of archival documents at London College of Printing and the British Museum Library of London and at the National Archives in Paris. He thereafter became a professional archivist.

Mr Durup has contributed immensely towards the protection and conversation of the history of Seychelles.

The launch ceremony, which was held at the Mayor of Victoria’s office, was attended by the secretary general of the Institute of Culture, Heritage and the Arts David Andre, the principal secretary for culture Cécile Kalebi, Cultural ambassador Patrick Victor, the author’s families, friends and supporters.

‘The Seychelles 1770-1903, Its Laws and other Interesting Topics’ will be sold at R650 in various bookshops across the islands and at the National Museum of History.

Text & photos by Vidya Gappy